A Membership for Hymn Studies… Really? How the Hymn of the Month Club Came to Be

Memberships and subscriptions are everywhere these days. There are the big ones—like Amazon—where your monthly price gives you access to streaming, free shipping, and all sorts of extras.

And then there are the really niche ones, like communities built around lock picking. Or people who are into speed-cubing—solving Rubik’s cubes as fast as possible. Or even something like origami, where you learn and practice new designs over time.

When you stop and think about it, people gather around some pretty niche interests!

The Hymn of the Month Club might qualify as one of those super niche interests. As of this writing, I’ve yet to find anyone else offering quite what you'll find here.

There are others who create hymn studies and hymn-related activity sheets for kids, but the Hymn of the Month Club is a bit unique in that it offers in-depth, printable hymn studies, a weekly membership newsletter with teachable moments to guide and support busy families and teachers, and bonus resources to use throughout the month. And because I’ve been doing this for a few years now, there’s also a growing library of hymn studies for those who want to go at their own pace and choose hymns on their own terms.

And I really have the Lord to thank for every bit of this journey. He has orchestrated events, experiences, contacts, and skill-sets in a way that only He can.

A Love of Hymns. First, He placed a love of hymns in my heart—and continues to cultivate it. It started when I used a hymnal and an old Mel Bay guitar book to teach myself how to pick out notes on the guitar. It grew when I worked at a library and a book of poetry by hymn writer William Cowper caught my eye and drew me further into the world of hymnody. It deepened even more when I took a college hymnology course.

Serving Homeschool Families. Alongside that, I had the opportunity to work for a homeschool publisher for several years after grad school, where I learned a great deal about the needs of homeschool families and what resources truly serve them well.

One of my favorite parts of that work was sending email newsletters to different audiences—and interestingly, that’s still something I do every week at Hymns Illustrated!

Education and Ministry Opportunities. I’m also so thankful for my  background in biblical counseling and for the different ministries I’ve been part of over the years—from women’s Bible studies to children’s ministry to serving as a worship coordinator.

All of these experiences have helped shape how I think about applying both Scripture and hymn study to everyday life.

Online Business Experience. In my mid-thirties, I took what felt like a pretty big step of faith and left a traditional job to work from home as a virtual assistant. That season opened up a whole new world.

I began supporting online business owners—many of them running memberships, online courses, and resource-based businesses—and along the way, I learned not only how those businesses started, but what it takes to keep them going.

Kajabi. Somewhere in there, I also caught the entrepreneurial bug myself. I ended up creating my own virtual assistant course using Kajabi—a tool I had first learned through a client and came to really appreciate for how it provides everything needed (which is more than you might think!) to build and run an online business in one place.

After I built my online course, the idea of a membership centered around studying one hymn each month—while also building a growing library of studies—started to take shape.

Then and Now. Looking back, this just isn’t something I could have done 10 or 15 years ago. It developed over time—and in God’s time.

Now the Hymn of the Month Club is serving over 60 members, representing an unknown number of children who are learning hymns that, Lord willing, will stay in their minds and hearts for a lifetime.

There are so many specific stories, experiences, and people God has used to make Hymns Illustrated what it is today, and it’s my prayer that He will continue to grow it into an even stronger resource for families, homeschools, churches, schools, and anyone who wants to take time to learn hymns, their stories, and the biblical truth they help us remember.

A Final Encouragement. I’m sharing this as a reminder that I hope encourages you.

God so often uses the very things He’s already placed in our lives—our interests, our work, our experiences—to gently guide us into what He has for us next.

If you’re curious what this looks like in real life, you can explore the Hymn of the Month Club here.

P.S. If you’re someone who creates resources or has a membership idea in mind, I’m always happy to share what I’ve learned using Kajabi. It’s a tool I use every day to keep the Hymn of the Month Club organized and growing. If you’re curious, you can take a look here: Kajabi: Everything You Need to Build Your Expert Business