Favorite Hymn Survey

As the festival half of the Church Year nears completion, the WELS Hymnal project invites you to reflect on and share with us your favorite hymns.

What make a hymn a "favorite"? In the blog post introducing this survey, Pastor Daniel Bondow wrote:

You might value a hymn because you know it by heart. You might love a hymn because of the meaning it carried at a special occasion, like a funeral for a loved one or your child’s Confirmation Day. Maybe you can think of a precious hymn that takes you back to the candlelight of Christmas Eve or the trumpeted triumph of Easter morning. Maybe you feel drawn to a hymn’s unparalleled poetry. Maybe you cherish the way both melody and message are perfectly tuned and married to each other. (You get the idea…this list could go on forever!)

It is our hope that this exercise is enjoyable rather than exasperating. We want to assure everyone that this is not a vote. It shouldn't be viewed as your one and only chance to save your favorite hymns from getting cut. We simply want to know the hymns that are close to your heart. Use this survey as an opportunity to celebrate our rich heritage of hymns by sharing with us your personal treasures.

Instructions

1. The primary survey form gives you an opportunity to select favorite hymns from the following sources:
   Christian Worship (CW) and Christian Worship: Supplement (CWS)
   The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) (Hymns that were not included in Christian Worship)
   Let All the People Praise You (LAPPY)

2. In general, it is our hope that this exercise can be completed without having to sit down with a hymnal and page through it from start to finish. That being said, we recognize that some people may be interested in providing us with more extensive input. For that reason, we also invite anyone who is interested to rate the entire body of hymns found in CW and CWS on a scale of 1 to 5. A link to the form for doing so can be found below.

3. If any of your favorite hymns are not found in any of the above resources, you are welcome at any time to suggest them for inclusion in the new hymnal. You can do so here on our website.

4. Congregation leaders: Please distribute the information about this survey and encourage members of your congregation to fill it out. If there are people who want to complete the survey but do not have access to a computer or Internet connection, a printable version of the survey is available below. We ask that congregations that print out copies would collect the completed surveys and designate an individual or group to enter the results using the digital form below.

This survey will remain open through Holy Trinity Sunday, May 31, 2015.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at contact@welshymnal.com.

Thank you for sharing with us your personal and unique appreciation for the hymns with which God has blessed his Church!

This survey is now closed.