Guide

A hymn planner spreadsheet or a hymn planner app?

A spreadsheet is a fine hymn planner while it is a list of Sundays and numbers; it runs out when you want it to answer questions, such as when a hymn was last sung, whether a tune comes round too soon, or what has not been sung in a year, and when you want a board slip and a bulletin insert without retyping. A planner answers those from the same records. The planning desk is free to try with your own hymnal or the demo parish.

Last reviewed 27 September 2026. Written from the published documents listed under Sources.

What a spreadsheet does well

It is familiar, shareable and flexible: any column you want, any layout.
Sold templates add a calendar of Sundays and an indexed hymnal. The Hymn Planner, for example, is a Google Sheets planner sold as a one-time customisation at three levels (75, 125, and from 200 US dollars, as listed on its site when checked).
It keeps working for years if one careful person maintains it.

Where it runs out

Last-sung dates need lookups across every past row, and break when a row is moved or a sheet is copied for the new year.
Tune repeats need a tune column and a second lookup, which few sheets have.
A not sung in a year list is a filter most people build once and never trust again.
Board slips and bulletin inserts are copied and pasted, which is where the board and the bulletin start to disagree.
The church year has to be typed or bought each year, including the propers.

None of that makes a spreadsheet wrong. If the list is all you need, keep it. If you find yourself scrolling back through old tabs to see when you last sang something, the questions have outgrown the sheet.

Moving off a spreadsheet without losing history

Export the hymnal index tab as CSV and import it as a hymnal index.
Export the past services as one row per hymn sung (date, number, and hymnal if you use more than one) and import it as a sung history.
Export any readings tab and import it as readings.
Keep the spreadsheet as an archive; the planner can export all three back to CSV at any time.

Worked example: questions a sheet cannot answer at a glance

In the Demo Parish (invented), opened on 27 September 2026, the planner answers three questions from the same 74 services without a formula:

When was 36 Amazing Grace sung? 19 Oct 2025, 15 Feb 2026, 26 Jul 2026, 27 Sep 2026, 11 Oct 2026.
What is wrong with Proper 23, 11 October 2026? Amazing Grace was sung 2 weeks before, on 27 Sep 2026. The tune DIX is also heard 1 week before, with As with Gladness Men of Old on 4 Oct 2026. For the Beauty of the Earth is tagged for Thanksgiving Day; this day falls in Season after Pentecost.
What has not been sung in a year? 5 hymns, 5 of them never in the plan.

Common mistakes

Starting a new spreadsheet each year, which cuts the history in half every January.
Keeping hymn numbers without the hymnal, so a supplement's numbers collide with the main book's.
Moving to any new tool without importing the past, which makes every hymn look unsung.
Buying a planner for features the parish will not use; a free list may be enough.

Plan it now

Open the planning desk to pick this Sunday's hymns with last-sung dates beside them, or the library to enter your hymnal. Everything stays in this browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no account.

Open the planning desk Open the hymnal library

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free hymn planner?

Hymnwise is free today, with no account. Your hymnals and plans stay in your browser, and a plain backup file is always free to export.

Can a hymn planner share plans with the choir?

Hymnwise keeps plans in one browser, so the way to share is to print or save the quarterly music list and send it. Collaborative editing is not something it does.

Will my spreadsheet history come across?

Yes, if the past services can be exported as one row per hymn sung with a date and a number. The import reports every row it cannot place, with its row number.

Which is better for a small parish?

Whichever the musician will keep up to date. A spreadsheet suits someone who likes building one; a planner suits someone who wants the last-sung dates and prints without maintaining formulas.

Sources

Last reviewed 27 September 2026 against:

The Hymn Planner, The Hymn Planner, prices checked 27 September 2026, read 27 September 2026. Used for: A Google Sheets planner sold as a one-time customisation in three levels (75, 125, and from 200 US dollars), with pre-filled Sundays and indexed hymnals.
Revised Common Lectionary Permissions Policy, Consultation on Common Texts, read 27 September 2026. Used for: Congregations may reproduce the lectionary table for their own worship; for-sale and web resources outside the member churches need written permission, which is why readings are typed or imported by the parish here.

This guide is our own summary, not a rule book. Rules are paraphrased, never quoted at length, and if this page disagrees with the current published rules, the rules win. Hymnwise is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any church, denomination, diocese, hymnal publisher, lectionary body or licensing service, including the Consultation on Common Texts, Augsburg Fortress, Church Publishing, GIA, OCP, Hope Publishing, Hymnary.org, OneLicense and CCLI.