Ideas for Relief Society Music Directors
by Camille Jennings / ga07092007
 

 
 I was recently released as the Relief Society Music Director.  I picked songs to sing in Relief Society and I led them.  My issue was trying to come up with an idea for the 5-minute music period.  In the past, I seemed to feel like those 5-minutes were just a time to sing a song we didn’t know…and I felt like the sisters were just reluctant to sing and participate.  So, through the months I came up of a list that I would review as I chose what songs to sing and what to say during the 5-minute music period.  This is what I came up with:

 

“Suggested ideas for the music period include learning hymns, discussing the use of music in the home, learning musical skills, listening to good music and discussing its qualities, and singing in parts…Most music should be from the hymnbook, though occasionally other sacred music that is appropriate for religious services may be used (“Relief Society,” section 3 of the Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 198).”

 

  • LDSLiving.com (I subscribed to their e-mail magazine which I get daily.  On Fridays it includes ideas for Sunday lessons, etc.  I have gotten some neat quotes that correlate with the lesson in Relief Society that day…Click here to subscribe.

  • Music and the Spoken Word (I love the words from this broadcast.  Click here for to browse some of the past broadcasts.

  • Invite a sister in the ward to share her testimony, discuss how she uses music in her home, or introduce a new sister and sing her favorite song

  • Learn a new hymn

  • Learn parts

  • Invite someone to perform

  • Listen to an uplifting song

  • Involve the entire Relief Society (on Mother’s Day we went around the room and we each shared something that we love/admire about our mothers…you could do the same on Father’s Day, or talk about traditions during Christmas, things we are thankful for during Thanksgiving, or things that remind us of the word ‘joy’ and sing a happy song, the list goes on…)

  • Do a mini-lesson

  • Read something out of the book about LDS Hymns

  • Sing a primary song (or maybe a song like “Scripture Power” that is new that all the kids know.)

  • Sing a song out of the Church magazines

    Click here for lots of quotes on music from the church's website. 

I hope that this list will help someone else fulfill their calling as the Relief Society Music Director. 

 

This page was  last  updated: 
July 9, 2007

 

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