FAQ
Your Questions
The virtual hymnal Sing Out Love is a digital platform designed to provide access to a wide range of hymns and worship songs. It allows users to search, view, and utilize hymns for various worship settings, making it easier for congregations to engage with the music.
Features:
- Accessibility: Available on multiple devices with screen reader capability and set for various other accessibility considerations.
- Search Functionality: Easily find hymns by title or other key words.
To access simply visit our website at https://singoutlove.org . No download needed. You can browse the collection without an account, but creating an account allows you to fully access your favorite hymns, and also access additional features, like slides, key transcriptions, and sheet music.
Yes! Our Song Selection Team invites you to visit our submission guidelines before sending in your music via our submission form. Due to the easily-updatable nature of this app, we expect to add new music on a regular basis. There won’t be a “submit now or lose your opportunity” trap.
To search for hymns, use the search bar located on the full library page. You can enter keywords, titles, lyrics, arranger, or themes to find the hymns you need quickly. Or, scroll our indices for inspiration.
No. Sing Out Love contains many hymns from Singing the Living Tradition and Singing the Journey. We hope to survey Las voces del camino for hymns that are similarly in the public domain and/or present minimal copyright issues.
Depending on the hymn, there are several reasons that a hymn might be missing from Sing Out Love.
The most common reason is copyright. A large number of hymns in both the gray and teal hymnal fall under copyright restrictions that (despite our best efforts) are still inaccessible for inclusion in Sing Out Love. While we’ll keep attempting those conversations, it’s likely that some SLT and STJ hymns will never be included here.
A second reason for a hymn’s absence is that it’s understood to be problematic: either the content or composer falls outside the framework of right relationship, or is not aligned with our shared values. (For example, many BIPOC UUs have voiced deep concern about majority-white congregations singing spirituals.) Our Sing Out Love team and the new Steering Council are considering ways to include some of those hymns responsibly—i.e. with appropriate “guardrails” to help congregations engage with that music without perpetuating harm.
Finally, some hymns from our previous hymnals aren’t yet in Sing Out Love because we’re awaiting communication from composers regarding our license and usage, or because they’re in process. It takes a great deal of time and care to publish resources in Sing Out Love, and we’re moving through that queue as quickly as we can.
“Missing” hymns don’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t sing them! If your congregation owns copies of any hymnals, including Singing the Living Tradition, Singing the Journey, Las voces del camino, or other older UU hymnals, you have the freedom to sing from an abundance of options (as long as you honor existing copyright restrictions).
If you have questions about a particular hymn—and which category it falls into—please reach out to us at SingOutLove@UUA.org.
A subscription includes the following content and materials: PDFs of the sheet music (which includes the composer, lyricist, arranger, and meter information), song context, mp3 files for learning, braille compatible versions; PowerPoint and Google slides with lyrics, midi files, Music xml files, MEI scores, and transposed copies of the music.
We add new music on the first Wednesday of each month! Check back often to discover new hymns selected. which will be listed on the homepage. Additionally, each week we will highlight music in our "Featured Hymn" spot.
We’d love your help to add new hymns to Sing Out Love! The most helpful thing you can do is reach out to the composer yourself with a message like this:
“I’ve been sharing your song, X, in my congregation, and I hope you might submit it to our new UU hymnal, Sing Out Love. I’m not part of the selection team / process, but I know they’re continually seeking new music suitable for congregational singing.
Sing Out Love is an online hymnal—not a concrete/hardcopy one—that helps Unitarian Universalists live into their prophetic calling as a joyful, liberatory, and anti-oppressive faith. The hymnal’s license and payment structure keep the copyright with you, the composer.
You can both submit your song and find out more using this song submission link. Thanks for considering this invitation.”
Yes, users can print hymn content directly from Sing Out Love. Simply select the hymn you wish to print, click "explore", and click the print button available on the PDF.
Sing Out Love features a diverse collection of hymns, including traditional, contemporary, and folk music. You can find hymns suitable for various worship styles and occasions.
If you need assistance, you can contact our support team via the 'Contact Us' page in our app. We are here to help with any questions or issues you may have.
Currently, the Sing Out Love requires an internet connection to access its content. We are exploring options for offline access in future updates.
For full access to the entire library and premium features, a subscription is available at a nominal fee.
Are you part of a Unitarian community?
If yes, are you your community's responsible party for community subscription purchase?
If no, please contact your leadership for an invitation email.
If you are your community's responsible party, click on the 'Sign Up' button on the homepage, and choose a subscription plan-Small Congregation, Medium Congregation, or Large congregation.
Or, Small, Medium, Large, for Honor Congregations.Or, for an International community.
If you're not part of a Unitarian community, choose that pricing plan.
Welcome!
If you forget your password, click on the 'Forgot Password?' link on the login page. Enter your email address, and you will receive instructions to reset your password.
Unlike printed hymnals, Sing Out Love won’t be purchased; it’s available by subscription. Beginning in early August 2025, we’ll offer monthly, annual, and 3-year subscriptions.The fees reflect an ethic of care and responsibility by covering fair and equitable licensing fees for our artists; staff time to maintain and update the hymnal; and hosting/technology fees. To be equitable, there are three subscription tiers, according to congregation size. Please select "sign up" to view the prices.
Permission will be granted for ALL of its hymns, including being live streamed in worship and posted on your website or social media channel if your congregation’s subscription is active. These additional permissions apply within the context of worship: to arrange for your bands and choirs (as long as the melody, chords, and/or lyrics are not changed); to share the PDFs and slides during worship… all without the weekly “reporting” typically required in other licensing agreements. To be clear, this hymnal does not permit excerpting and sharing the song from the service or event recording. In other words, you may not post the song by itself anywhere online. It also does not permit songs to be performed in a recital or concert. It does not allow for any resale of any part of the hymnal. It does not allow arrangements that change the melody, chords, or lyrics. If an individual or congregation wishes to use the music in any of the above manners, they must seek permission directly from the copyright holder(s).
Subscriptions may be monthly, yearly, or for 3 years, depending on the plan chosen.
To update your profile, log in to your account and navigate to the 'Profile' section. Here, you can edit your information and save the changes.
