Hymns...

...are my favorites part of going to church.


In my church, the congregation sings hymns as a regular part of the worship services. Every week, as a group, we sing three to four hymns during the hour-long Sacrament Meeting.


I love it. Something I figured out about myself a long, long time ago is that I feel closer to God through music. That's how I worship. I enjoy singing, and it's something I'm good at. 


The chorister (the person who leads the congregation in singing the hymns) in the branch I attend is something of an elitist when it comes to music. She tends to choose more obscure hymns that nobody knows and when she deigns to choose a hymn that everyone knows well, she sings her own descant, belting out notes above the rest of the congregation.


Last week, after the first verse of the rest hymn we were singing, she stopped the hymn and told us we were singing it incorrectly. That really irritated me, enough that I left the room for the duration of the hymn. With how I feel about music, it felt like she told me I was worshiping wrong. I didn't like it.


Yesterday, as I got ready to sing the opening hymn, I noticed that the chorister was absent. Yay! All the hymns we were going to sing were hymns that I knew and loved. Double yay! I was really enjoying myself. 


Apparently she was just late to services, as she showed up to direct the rest hymn. As the congregation was standing, she made her way directly to the podium to give us some thoughts on what the hymn means. I thought that was unnecessary, and couldn't figure out why she was doing that until I realized that she was hinting how to sing the hymn correctly.


This time, I stuck around to sing the hymn, mostly because she didn't stop us after one verse to correct us. 


Now, I've been in choirs since I hit puberty in the eighth grade. If I'm in a choir and the director wants the song sung a particular way, that's fine. That's what choirs do. A congregation is NOT a choir. 


Okay, this rant's over. There may be another, but I'm not sure.