Funeral Music: is the Hymn Dying Out?

In their recent report, the Cooperative Funeralcare reported that:

"If dress and decoration is the most visible sign of change, then choice of music is the most audible. Our study reveals that religious music is on the decline. Many people now express a preference for personal favourites or contemporary songs. Often the music chosen by the family – or specified by the person to be played at their funeral – is light-hearted."

However, the report also says that 67% of its funeral are still traditional, led by a minister. And, within the 21% classified as contemporary, hymns still often feature in the order of service. So, that's still a lot of funerals where hymns play an important part,
and increasingly we're being asked to lead the hymn singing at services.

This is probably for two reasons; mainly that not everyone feels like singing at a funeral, and also, they may not know the tune. At Singers for Funerals, we make sure we learn any new hymns before the service, so when we lead the hymn singing, we can sing the tune with confidence, and others can follow. We admit, we've had to learn a few new hymns, and we've also discovered new words to old favourites.

So, we've set up www.songsforfunerals.co.uk, where anyone can hear hymns sung or played, and find hymn lyrics for service sheets as required. And every time we sing a hymn new to us, we put it on the site too!