Song sermon

The song sermon is a form of Christian sermon that, instead of a text from the Bible , focuses on the text and the melody of a spiritual song and interprets it for a congregation. The shorter and shorter form of a song sermon is also called song prayer .

This genre of sermon can be traced back to 1569, when Cyriakus Spangenberg published so-called "hymn book sermons" under the title Cythera Lutheri . There are 39 sermons in songs.

In the background of song sermons today there is both the life of a poet and the biblical-spiritual content on which a song is carried.

The song sermon also has an impact on the liturgy of a church service , because the song in question usually occurs in musical form during the church service: it is sung either before the sermon, between the sermon or after the sermon; this can be done by the worshiping community as well as by a choir or instrumental (e.g. organ , trombone choir ). If the sermon is surrounded by a song that is part of a cantata and this is interpreted in the sermon, this type of service is called a cantata service .

literature

Collections of song sermons

• Hartmut Handt , Armin Jetter: Full of joy. Song devotions on Sundays and feasts of the church year. Strube-Verlag Edition 9044, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-89912-071-X .
• Christian Möller : I sing you with heart and mouth. Song interpretations, song meditations, song sermons. A work break for the Evangelical Hymnal . Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-7668-3525-4 .
• Horst Nitschke: Preached from the hymn book. Gütersloh 1981.
• Martin Rößler : Fixed thoughts. Bronnweiler sermons for the church year. Katzmann-Verlag, Tübingen 1990, ISBN 3-7805-0453-7 .
• Christian Zippert : Song sermons. Johannes Stauda Verlag, Kassel 1984, ISBN 3-7982-0180-3 .

Theory and history of the song sermon with executed examples of song sermons

• Ralf Koerrenz , Jochen Remy (Hrsg.) :: Preach with songs. Song Sermon Theory and Practice. CMZ-Verlag, Rheinbach-Merzbach 1993, ISBN 3-87062-015-3 .
• Christa Reich : Gospel: sounding word. On the theological meaning of singing. Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-7668-3530-0 .
• Martin Rößler : The song sermon. History of a sermon genre. Goettingen 1976.