Singing from the same playlist

John Murdock introduces the new PCI Worship Hub.

As part of its commitment to resourcing congregations for aspects of their weekly activities, the committee for Congregational Life has developed a new PCI Worship Hub. It is hoped that this will be a valuable tool to help those who plan and lead worship in our congregations.

Beyond the old congregational playlist

Gone are the days when all our congregations simply used hymn books in the pews, usually one of the versions of the Church Hymnary or the Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook, perhaps supplemented by copies of Glory to God or Mission Praise. Back then, whoever was responsible for choosing the items of praise simply selected from these possibilities based on the theme of the service.

Now there are many other books of hymns and songs, as well as an enormous amount of material available digitally from which psalms, hymns and songs can be selected. Many congregations project the words on screens and in some cases the hymn books, which were removed for health and safety reasons during the Covid pandemic, have not returned to the pews. Both of these developments have significantly expanded the range of possibilities in choosing praise.

Finding just the right song

While it is a great advantage in having so much material available to us, the downside is that the sheer volume of options can be overwhelming and it can be difficult to choose what to use to fit with a particular theme. The advantage of using a hymn book is that the content is thematically arranged as in our denominational hymn books, or it may have a good thematic or scriptural index at the back. However, this is not so easy with downloadable material. This is where the PCI Worship Hub aims to help ministers, praise group leaders, organists and anyone who even occasionally needs to choose items for worship.

What will be on the hub?

The Worship Hub will provide links to a variety of worship resources under various tabs, as follows:

Psalms in contemporary versions. The psalms traditionally have been at the centre of Irish Presbyterian worship. Indeed, until the end of the 19th century, only metrical psalms would have been sung, unaccompanied, during services of worship. With so many new hymns and songs being available today, the traditional metrical psalms, with a few well-known exceptions, have largely been squeezed out. Perhaps we are beginning to notice what we have lost; however, it becomes difficult to imagine a revival of singing the psalms if that is limited to versions in which language, idiom and tunes are difficult to navigate now that musical styles and tastes have changed.

This psalms section of the hub will contain a downloadable list of a range of versions of all 150 psalms in contemporary language – in a form that is easy to introduce to congregations. The list will indicate where to find the words and music, the author, the metre, suggested tunes with vocal range, and a web link where available. There will also be a list of psalm books, downloadable psalm versions, and suggestions for hymns and worship songs that are largely based on a psalm.

Worship songs for seasons. Finding worship songs that relate to a particular season of the church year, or special occasions, can be challenging. The ‘songs for seasons’ section of the hub will provide links to suggested songs for Christmas, Easter, harvest thanksgiving, remembrance and the celebration of the sacraments.

It is hoped to add new suggestions for each season annually, which will be signposted via posts on social media. Hopefully this will facilitate a mix of praise that includes the time honoured, traditional old favourites as well as some fresh possibilities to expand the range of what we sing and provide new angles on what God has done and fresh words and tunes to which we can respond.

Worship resources. This more general section of the hub will contain links to resources for help with planning and preparing worship. It will include digital links for finding songs and hymns, the PCI Book of Public Worship, tips and tools for digital ministry, as well as information on using copyrighted materials and how to obtain the relevant licenses to reproduce words, music, and video.

It is also hoped to populate a section containing new songs by local authors/ composers. So, if you have written any hymns or songs that you would be willing to share with the church at large, please do contact the Council for Congregational Life and Witness at clw@presbyterianireland.org with your composition.

A work in progress

The PCI Worship Hub is, and will continue to be, a work in progress. Our aim is that it will be updated as new materials and useful information become available. The group overseeing the hub will be glad to receive suggestions of psalms, hymns, songs or resources that you have used that are not included, but that you think might be helpful and appreciated by other congregations. Again, these can be sent to the email address above.

The PCI Worship Hub is available at: www.presbyterianireland.org/worshiphub

Rev John Murdock is minister of Killead and Loanends Presbyterian Churches and project coordinator of the PCI Worship Hub.