Singing in Church

Hildagard mentioned Percy Vere. My mother talked about her two friends who had got her through very tough times - Percy Vere and Will Power. She used to say that her mother had known them too...

In my childhood I thought that what I heard as 'our men' at the end of prayers was in tribute to those who had died in the war - we had recently moved into Oxfordshire and I was mishearing the local accent.

Give us this day our daily bread - as a child I was baffled, as no-one I knew would have been at all happy if they had only had a loaf of bread and nowt else to eat!

I’m not a churchgoer but my singing voice is so bad that when I do attend (weddings,funerals,baptisms) I mime.

I have always enjoyed communal singing and used to sing in our church choir. But daily use of an asthma inhaler has made my voice croaky so now I struggle to hold the notes. Nevertheless it doesn't stop me from joining in and I don't give a damn what people think of me. Everybody can sing, we may not all sound the same, but everyone has a voice. I have often attended weddings where, despite there being a packed church, the hymn singing has been disappointing because people are shy of singing out with gusto. As the saying goes: Sing like no-one is listening!

I sang hymns every morning of my school life from the age of about 4 to 18. In senior school we sang psalms every day too, to Anglican chant. I loved every minute, and can still remember most of the words. I am not religious at all - it was the singing and the words I loved. The old hymns often had wonderful poetic words with a wide vocabulary, not like the largely trite and repetitive modern ones. Psalms were from the Authorised Version.

It’s where my love of singing started. Church congregational singing was quite disappointing compared with the sound of hundreds of young girls singing their hearts out at 8. 30 a.m!

Being Mothering Sunday yesterday, our church was packed to the rafters! Everyone joined in the singing, it was wonderful, made my day.

I was brought up with a love of singing in Chapel, my Mum still sings along to Songs of Praise at home. Happy memories of my Granddad (served in WWI) singing along & being told off my Mum as he would start singing the rude version of hymns

We had a lady who sat in the back pew & sang very loudly, she was tone deaf

My voice wouldn't win any competitions although I was in the school choir

I went to Salvation Army Sunday School when I was a child, and i remember really enjoying the songs we sang, and the tambourines with ribbons we played. Such a happy place to be.

It's easier to be charitable about folks exceptional antics if they don't belong to yourself, I used to cringe over some of Mom's behaviour.
My daughter-in-law however was fantastic, she would say "Whoops Nan, off we go again" and she would assist her on her way. I would vanish in the opposite direction!

I still laugh remembering both my mum and her mum and how we all giggled in church when my mum would suddenly start singing descant badly ! Happy days .

I loved the Salvation Army services too Starlily so cheerful.
Does anyone else remember the Cliff College groups who held outdoor services in coastal towns with lots of fun songs and activities for children.

Grandma70s.. Me too!.. I loved singing all the hymns at school and now in my 60's I remember them still so well..though I am not a churchgoer, never being particularly religious. I still sing with any song on the radio that I happen to know wherever I am..at work or home..a trait my husband didn't really understand when we first got married.. I suppose it's annoying to some people but I come from a musical family and have happy memories of my Mum singing along to everything too.. she still does!... it's not because we think we have wonderful voices, it's just something you can't suppress!... if I'm in a situation where it's not appropriate..maybe the theatre etc. I'm usually tapping my feet or hands. I can remember my mum and her sister being shushed in the theatre for joining in with one of the songs once...lol! I just love music..it is so therapeutic and I always play something appropriate if I'm feeling down or stressed..it soon brings a smile back to my face.

I used to enjoy joining in the singing when I was small both at church and school. However, when I was around 10 and practising for the church nativity play, the pianist said someone wasn't singing in tune and tested us by each singing solo. He told me I was tone deaf and couldn't sing so I never did after that. It was confirmed at secondary school where I was always picked last for any singing.

I used to sing in a church choir and behind me was a bass who had a very very wobbly voice - it was like being machine-gunned in the back of the head! He was a pillar of the church but a nasty controlling man to his wife at home.

One annoying thing about church singing is the way congregations seem to engage in an unspoken competition to see who can stand up LAST when the hymn intro is playing. On the rare occasions when I finish up in a church, I always stand up instantly and shame everyone into getting up!

I have never been much of a singer though I would love to sing in a big choir. When we were teenagers, my sister used to dig me in the ribs when we sang in church. One of our primary school teachers sat in the pew in front. She had the most raucous and tuneless voice and out-sang the rest of the congregation. We just had to and bear it! The year each of us in turn had to spend in her class was torture on the ears,

I'm in my church choir, on the rare occasions we have one, so I'm enthusiastic about singing in church. It's the sort of church where a woman singing bass isn't anything special.

My dad had a beautiful alto singing voice, and was much in demand by church choirs. However, standing next to him in church I used to find it hard to follow the main tune, as he always sang the descant. He once told me I had a deep bass voice, which compared to him I probably did! I can still hear him every Christmas, when we sing the verse beginning 'Sing choirs of angels'

I don't think anyone minds if there is a bit of random singing in church! I belong to an Anglican congregation with ages 6 months to 95 years and everyone makes their own sounds. At the moment we are singing the Lenten Prose and it is just fab.

I learned hundreds of hymns from church and from daily assembly. Most were old, full of lofty ideals and beautiful language. How about, “Lo, already on the hills the flags of dawn appear!”
I don’t go to church now because the hymns are banal, puerile, don’t rhyme or scan. There’s also the toe-curling awfulness of shaking hands with everyone around you.
My naughtiest daughter used to swoop tunelessly in imitation of the old lady in front of us.

watermeadow, how I agree about hymns! Why has it changed so much?

I can remember the words of most of the hymns in school and I loved them. But our church is going more happy clappy and repetitious 'songs' accompanied by guitars which I cannot abide. I am more of a traditionalist, and long for the hymns I know and love. Sadly I'm thinking of looking for another church now, time to move on.

It is wonderful to read that it is (mostly) with laughter that we remember the sharing of hymns and I have enjoyed each and every post you have all provided.

I too recall the misunderstanding of words, my daughter insisted that baby Jesus' dad was Joe Fish. Now, she has a father in law (to be) Joseph and his wife, naturally is Mary.

Our Father......Harold be thy name....