Mary Lee Talbot
Staff writer
So, there will be an “Old-Fashioned Hymn Sing,” at the Sacred Song Service at 8 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater — what does that mean? What is going to happen? Can you see people shouting the names of their favorite hymns at the stage?
A good definition of a hymn sing is “a worship service focused on congregational singing of hymns, … a time for collective praise and worship through song, and can range from simple gatherings to more elaborate events with choirs, instrumentalists and scripture readings.”
The purpose of a hymn is to engage the congregation in a celebration of faith through music. This Sunday’s Sacred Song Service will involve some key elements including congregational singing.
Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist, selected the hymns and will follow a specific theme: “A Journey Through the Church Year.”
There will be an order of service, printed, and will include scripture readings and prayers, presided over by the Rt. Rev. Eugene T. Sutton, senior pastor for Chautauqua Institution.
There will be a choir, singing anthems and joining with the congregation and instrumentalists, principally on the Massey Memorial Organ.
The “Journey Through the Church Year” during the hymn sing will begin with Advent and move through Nativity, Epiphany, Lent, Passion, Easter, Ascension and on to Pentecost. There are some older hymns, like “Just as I am” and “In the Garden,” and a newer hymn-anthem, “Too Splendid for Speech, but Ripe for a Song,” music by Frederick Swann and text by Thomas Troeger.
