Do you have a favourite hymn or hymns ?

[WildRosie]

I'm not remotely religious so asking this question probably makes me a hypocrite but anyway. Most of us were exposed to the rite-of-passage primary school dirges such as When A Knight Won His Spurs (I'm not sure that's even a hymn) and The Golden Cockerel but I'd be surprised if the likes of these featured in a Christian Church service. But, to answer my own question, I think Abide With Me is my favourite, followed closely by Morning Has Broken. I concede these might be popular choices but I don't know that many hymns to begin with .

Think of a world without any flowers

You Shall Go out with Joy - love to see the smile on peoples' faces when they leave church to this on a Sunday.

Look at the world
Jerusalem
The day thou gavest
Most of the carols

Love this thread, so much positively. Am desperately missing singing at church just now, we make videos all doing parts at home and sit watching them in silence with our masks on.
Pretty much love all the hymns mentioned. Sang in a traditional church choir all through my youth and now in a church where we sing a mixture of modern and a few traditional so have plenty to choose from.
Singing makes me feel so much better, I'd urge you to give it a go right now! I love how so many people who don't go to church still have happy memories of singing hymns and carols, there is something special about singing together.

@KayakingOnDown

I miss congregational singing so much.

It's so depressing not being able to sing together.

Same here.

@WildRosie

At this Westminster Abbey service, the difference in height of the choirboys is quite marked - I guess there's some variation in age. Some of them don't appear to know the words either😉.

They will be aged 8-ish - 13. Some will be very new recruits to the full choir so will be less familiar with it all!

I was brought up as a Catholic so loads but my favourite is
Bring Flowers of the Rarest
We used to sing it every year in may when our convent primary school did a procession .

Tell out my soul

Be thou my vision
Guide me O thou great Jehovah (I've always known this as Jehovah, not Redeemer, but that seems to be the more common version nowadays)
I had those at my wedding, with another one I can't remember now.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind was a favourite in secondary school.

At university, we mostly sang modern worship songs. I like these, but mainly prefer traditional hymns. Especially ones my mum would call " a good going tune" she hates it when we have a slow organist!

PS - DH went to school with one of Rend Collective

Oh I love this thread! Went to a catholic school and remembering some of the hymns mentioned brings back very happy memories 😊 in fact so much so that I have just ordered a copy of hymns old and new 🤣

@x2boys Bring flowers of the rarest is one of my favourites, I love any hymn about Mary.

Come Back To Me
Played at dd's funeral.
This hymn and I watch the sunrise always make me cry, when I hear them.

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind is looking like the winner

Morning has broken.

Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer. No contest... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending

Is it too early to add a Christmas hymn? I love It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. I love the lines

Oh hush the noise ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing

Never too early Rae. Can't beat Once In Royal David's City at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from Cambridge on Christmas Eve. Sadly, I fear we won't see that service this Christmas. Plenty of past services on YouTube though.

I'm going to add Zadok The Priest to my very short list. I know it's not a hymn but it's close enough. Never mind all that Champions League shit.

What a lovely thread for those interested like me!

I always loved this one. A lapsed Irish Catholic now for many reasons, but we made our First Holy Communion traditionally in the month of May, and this brings me right back. My late mother loved it too and could sing it brilliantly. A tear or two here now...

Tell Out My Soul
Jerusalem
Lord of all Hopefulness
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
Be Still For the Presence of the Lord
Great is thy Faithfulness
The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended

Here I am Lord
In Christ Alone
A lovely thread. Thank you WildRosie

@Hepzibar

Yes!! Dear Lord and Father clearly pulling ahead here!

We should have a Mumsnet top 10, who's keeping count? 😀

@buckeejit

Neil Hannon was lovely-brought a year to my eye and reminded me of Drink to me only with thine eyes. The Duke special & Neil Hannon version wasn't what I went up the ailse to at my wedding 😍

That's so lovely 😭

Be Thou My Vision (alternative words are Lord of all Hopefulness) - makes me tearful x

The Irish Blessing was Be Thou my Vision - quite a nice arrangement. It's an ancient Irish tune.

@NannyR

I love the Chris Tomlin version of Amazing Grace with the "my chains are gone, I've been set free" bit in the middle. I grew up listening to a different last verse though - rather than "the earth shall soon dissolve like snow..." we sung the version "when we've been here ten thousand years..." which I much prefer.

I totally agree, I'm always disappointed that that version doesn't have that lovely last verse which I much prefer. Apart from that I love it.