Since 10,000 animals are buried in animal cemeteries every year, J. Neijenhuis proposes an appropriate liturgy with which clergymen, but also lay people, can lead an animal burial at the request of grieving animal owners. At these animal burials, the focus is on the pastoral dimension. W. Jones is concerned with increasing solemnity for trade shows. Melismatic chants are said to increase the solemnity. J. Neijenhuis takes a critical look at Henning Theißen's depiction of Perceiving God's Presence, which pursues an aesthetic approach. I. Scheitler goes after forms of speech and thought in the song "Ein Lammlein geht und carries the guilt" that shaped the later pietistic expression of piety. Chr. Henzel deals with Emil Neumann's ideas on a possible practice of liturgical psalm singing with congregational participation. A. Marti works out questions of quality in the hymn. In doing so, he builds on the working paper published in this volume by the International Association for Hymnology (IAH) on the subject. A project outline for a work on Porst's hymn book is the first in a series in which future hymnological dissertations are to be presented in short form in order to promote scientific exchange. Literature reports on liturgy and hymnology as well as strophe and person registers complete the yearbook.

The liturgical part of the yearbook deals with paradigms that have guided liturgical renewal and presents paradigms that are the focus for the future development of agendas. From a historical perspective, it is about denominational music culture and the use of hymnals in denominational disputed areas. In the hymnological part, the presentations are presented that were held in 2020 at the conference on the topic "Unity grows in song" on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Working Group on Ecumenical Songs (AöL).