Do a lot of wards do this?

[HEthePrimate]

In two wards that I've been in, if a month has five Sundays, they'll have a special musical sacrament meeting where people pick their favorite hymns, and everybody sings them. In a singles ward I used to attend, anybody could get up, name the hymn, explain why they liked it, and then lead it, if they knew how. In my current ward, the bishopric assigns a certain number of people to pick hymns and give a somewhat longer talk about the hymn first, and then the congregation sings it.

That's what we did today, even though it's not a fifth Sunday. Don't know why we did it today, but I'm certainly not complaining, as these are some of my favorite meetings! Oh, and the ward choir (of which I am a member) also sang today, and I loved it. We sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need," arranged by Mack Wilberg. :)

So I'm curious, do lots of wards have these "favorite hymn" sacrament meetings?

[Backroads]

All the singles/college wards I've ever been to have done it. I've always liked it.

[LDSJewess]

I remember this being done in the first ward I belonged to although not necarily the 5th Sunday. I did like it though.

[applepansy]

Interesting. I've never been in a ward that did that on any Sunday. I think it would be nice.

I do know our stake/ward has meeting on the 5th Sunday that are not held at other times.

[Palerider]

In the part of the midwest I live in we do not do this....this is the first I have heard of this.

[john doe]

Our ward will occasionally do a 'Music Sunday' where they will ask people ahead of time to tell their favorite hymn, talk a little about why it means so much to them, and then we sing them.

[classylady]

Occasionally my ward has done this--not on a regular basis, though. I love it. For me, music can be so spiritually uplifting.

[Jenamarie]

I WISH I lived in a ward that did this! I've honestly never heard of it!

(although I'd think it'd be an awfully nervewracking Sunday for the poor organist! )

[KrazyKay]

This is neat. I have been in about 6 or 7 wards in my life - yes I lost count, lol. None of them did this. Maybe I can suggest it to my bishop.

[Blocky]

I've never done this ever. We have a smaller ward though, so even when we're all singing it's never too huge. 5th Sunday of the month is always High Council Sunday. I rather like it, but it's always the subject of jokes.

[HEthePrimate]

Very interesting. Guess it just depends on what ward you attend, huh?

I like it a lot. Even though I'm not a trained musician, and don't claim to have a beautiful singing voice, I do enjoy singing in a choir. In my ward, being a member of the ward choir is not technically a calling, but I consider it my main calling all the same! :) One thing to be grateful for is that other people in my ward, like the choir director, are musically trained, and I can follow along and learn from them. That, and we don't just sing out of the hymnbook, either, but get to sing a variety of stuff.

On Sundays like today, we get to see what songs people like, and why.

[Backroads]

I always suggest "Lead Kindly Light" or "How Great Thou Art"

[Truegrits]

In two wards that I've been in, if a month has five Sundays, they'll have a special musical sacrament meeting where people pick their favorite hymns

I would love doing that. The closest thing to that I have experienced is, my current ward sent out forms for us to choose 10 of our favorite hymns, and they would be incorporated into the Sunday program. So far this year I have heard only two of my choices and we are a small ward.

I realize that the choices are dependent upon the ability of the pianist...which is why, most likely, we sing the same selection over and over and over and over...