"Protestant" hymns

Today's was a "different" service indeed, if only for me. Not being fully recovered I almost decided not to come and did miss today's Schola Cantorum; my voice, never good at its best these days and with less range than I once had, would not have held out for long and I needed the rest. As it was, with others out ill, I agreed to fill in and serve the altar though Ranjit had to read the Epistle.

We started out with a long procession while singing the Litany; something new. Preparation for Advent, this being the last Sunday of the church year? (Sunday next before Advent.)

The big surprise came during Communion. I was startled to hear Josephine lead off playing one of my favorite hymns, though it's not in our Hymnal and I have no idea when I last heard it: How Great Thou Art. It was the theme song for a radio program that as a boy I used to listen to Sunday evenings on my vacuum-tube shortwave/AM radio (better sound than the crystal set), though I tend to mix the program title up with the classical music hour that preceded it, amusingly called both "The Hour of Great Music" and "The Great Hour of Music" by the program director.

Then when Kathy spelled her at the organ, what did I hear next but In The Garden! Almost as much a favorite as the other, but also not in our Hymnal so I've long tended to think of them as "Protestant" hymns.

Quite a difference from the Adoro Devote, Pange Lingua and other favorite communion hymns that show up from time to time.