Does Your Church Have a Hymn Board

So we've moving ahead with getting a hymn board at my church as a way to reduce paper usage on the bulletin. I wanted to do an informal survey on the question, then. Does your church have a hymn board?

And, as a followup, does you have or use a bulletin?

Are you referring to the hymn board that lists the hymns to be sung like in the first photo? Or a screen that projects the words of the hymn like in the second photo?

GratiaCorpusChristi said:

So we've moving ahead with getting a hymn board at my church as a way to reduce paper usage on the bulletin. I wanted to do an informal survey on the question, then. Does your church have a hymn board?

And, as a followup, does you have or use a bulletin?

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We have both a bulletin and a hymn board.

EvangelCatholic said:

Are you referring to the hymn board that lists the hymns to be sung like in the first photo? Or a screen that projects the words of the hymn like in the second photo?

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A list on a physical board, like the first photo.

GratiaCorpusChristi said:

A list on a physical board, like the first photo.

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Good

I am not a fan of projected screens for hymns.

hymn board and bulletin

EvangelCatholic said:

Good

I am not a fan of projected screens for hymns.

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We have projection screens. I can understand why people are opposed for aesthetic reasons, but is there another reason you dislike them?

Resha Caner said:

We have projection screens. I can understand why people are opposed for aesthetic reasons, but is there another reason you dislike them?

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I don't want to speak for EC, but personally, I don't like the ephemeral nature of them. The sanctuary is supposed to be a point of constancy, a rock at the center of Christian life. Having constant changes up at the front detracts from that.

I also just don't see the need for it. The hymns in the LSB were approved for a reason, and thank God they include the actual music (something projection screens rarely allow, and which some of us find absolutely necessary). Between a hymn board and the physical book, everything you need for a service is presented in a timeless, traditional way.

GratiaCorpusChristi said:

I don't want to speak for EC, but personally, I don't like the ephemeral nature of them. The sanctuary is supposed to be a point of constancy, a rock at the center of Christian life. Having constant changes up at the front detracts from that.

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That's an interesting view of it that I would classify as part of the aesthetic nature of worship. If I were designing a church, I wouldn't include screens. But, neither do they cause me to walk out in protest.

GratiaCorpusChristi said:

I also just don't see the need for it. The hymns in the LSB were approved for a reason, and thank God they include the actual music (something projection screens rarely allow, and which some of us find absolutely necessary). Between a hymn board and the physical book, everything you need for a service is presented in a timeless, traditional way.

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I also like having the actual music, but the number of people who read music is small. I've heard people argue in favor of the benefits of screens as well. As mentioned, boards are hard to read from certain locations within the church, and screens can fix that. Further, when one has a young family, trying to balance children (and whatever diaper bags were dragged along with) as well as a hymn book is a challenge.

Finally, when I first switched from the Methodist to the Lutheran church, I found the service very confusing and hard to follow. Screens are helpful to seekers. (Though if you want a really confusing service, try the EO).

Resha Caner said:

That's an interesting view of it that I would classify as part of the aesthetic nature of worship. If I were designing a church, I wouldn't include screens. But, neither do they cause me to walk out in protest.

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I certainly don't think I'd walk out in protest, but it would definitely count as a negative on the ledger if I was deciding on a new church in a new area.

I also like having the actual music, but the number of people who read music is small. I've heard people argue in favor of the benefits of screens as well. As mentioned, boards are hard to read from certain locations within the church, and screens can fix that. Further, when one has a young family, trying to balance children (and whatever diaper bags were dragged along with) as well as a hymn book is a challenge.

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I think the solution there is that the hymn board just needs to be placed as prominently as a screen would be and be large enough. The pastor also needs to be very clear in announcing the hymns and texts for the day.

Finally, when I first switched from the Methodist to the Lutheran church, I found the service very confusing and hard to follow. Screens are helpful to seekers. (Though if you want a really confusing service, try the EO).

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That much I completely agree with. Rather than giving people screens, we print out special laminated visitor bulletins (and large-print bulletins for the hard-of-seeing) that put the whole service, beginning to end, in one single format. Those introduce people to the liturgy in a more accessible way (I would even have them annotated if I were in charge of them), but they also direct people to the LSB so that they are eventually weened off of them. But in our quest to go paperless, we've agreed that that's one aspect of paper-usage that we have no intent to eliminate. There will always been new visitors, and those new visitors will always need assistance to make the liturgy more accessible.

Hymn board and bulletin.

Yes, there's a hymn board in local churches that shows the hymn as number.

GratiaCorpusChristi said:

I don't want to speak for EC, but personally, I don't like the ephemeral nature of them. The sanctuary is supposed to be a point of constancy, a rock at the center of Christian life. Having constant changes up at the front detracts from that.

I also just don't see the need for it. The hymns in the LSB were approved for a reason, and thank God they include the actual music (something projection screens rarely allow, and which some of us find absolutely necessary). Between a hymn board and the physical book, everything you need for a service is presented in a timeless, traditional way.

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GratiaCorpusChristi sums it up nicely.

Maybe it is mostly not wanting too much technology in worship. Most of us can recite the Liturgy by heart and use the hymnal for psalms/ hymns/ chant settings. I am not a huge fan of incense but prefer smoke rather than screen.

I must admit walking into a rather striking Lutheran parish that had a screen. It is a great way to keep the youth focused on the Word/ Sacrament.

Any thoughts on this parish?

We do. But it's off to the side, not terribly practical. The hymn numbers are also printed in the order of worship/bulletin, which I find far more helpful and practical. I don't think I've ever really bothered to look at the hymn board beyond seeing that it's there.

-CryptoLutheran

EvangelCatholic said:

GratiaCorpusChristi sums it up nicely.

Maybe it is mostly not wanting too much technology in worship. Most of us can recite the Liturgy by heart and use the hymnal for psalms/ hymns/ chant settings. I am not a huge fan of incense but prefer smoke rather than screen.

I must admit walking into a rather striking Lutheran parish that had a screen. It is a great way to keep the youth focused on the Word/ Sacrament.

Any thoughts on this parish?

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That's rather tasteful. I'm not opposed to projection screens necessarily, although I wouldn't attend a church that had one for the reasons I gave above and if I was the pastor of a church with one I'd seek to have it removed. But I do have a problem with what tends to come with them (blended or contemporary worship, alternative liturgical texts, etc.).

Hymn board and bulletin. I wish we would just follow the order of service as written in the hymnal though instead of changing it up on paper.

LilLamb219 said:

Hymn board and bulletin. I wish we would just follow the order of service as written in the hymnal though instead of changing it up on paper.

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Yeah, that's another problem with the paper. It opens up many opportunities for changing the rubrics, which 90% of the time goes in a bad direction.

We have two hymn boards, one to either side of the altar area and a bulletin where the service is laid out complete with the day's readings.

We have a hymn board that is used faithfully every Sunday. We also have a bulletin but only the scripture readings are spelled out there - not the liturgy.

We do have a flat screen TV in the front, off to the side. It is rarely used - generally when we watch the WELS Connection video or when a visiting preacher has a presentation to make (the same TV is also down in the basement).

It would be very easy to just put the hymn verses up there on the screen but I'd have to wonder why. It's not like CW is really that hard to follow. And for me, I really don't like screens if they're IN PLACE of hymnals because I READ MUSIC!