Our church uses a digitized version of the SDA hymnal in ProPresenter, powered by a structured XML file named Songs2.xml. While the XML already included over 500 hymns in the correct format, we discovered that 75 songs were missing.
The goal of this project was to add those 75 missing hymns into the existing XML structure — cleanly, accurately, and in a way that would be compatible with ProPresenter.
What seemed like a weekend of tedious formatting turned into a surprisingly smooth and efficient process — thanks to ChatGPT.
🎯 The Goal: Structured XML for Worship Software
Each missing hymn was stored in a simple `.txt` file with a common format. My task was to:
– Skip the first line (which contains the song number and title),
– Flatten multi-line verses and refrains into single-line XML-friendly entries,
– Format each as a <ROWSONG_SECTIONS> node,
– Assign a sequential SECTION_ID,
– Append the entries into existing <SONG_SECTIONS> and <SONG_SECTION_ORDER> nodes within the Songs2.xml master file,
– Ensure each section ended with a newline character for readability in ProPresenter,
– Avoid repeating the refrain after each verse.
This structure was required so we could import the hymns into ProPresenter as part of our upgraded worship presentation workflow.
⚙️ The Process: ChatGPT in Action
ChatGPT was able to:
1. Unzip the uploaded files.
2. Parse each song, removing the first line and identifying verses and refrains.
3. Format them into <ROWSONG_SECTIONS> XML entries.
4. Append the songs to the correct XML paths.
5. Ensure proper numbering and structure for ProPresenter compatibility.
6. Return a validated, downloadable XML containing all 75 newly formatted hymns.
To support this process, I also forked and updated a local version of this GitHub project:
➡️ https://github.com/lindsaysperring/GetHymnLyrics
This helped automate the parsing and formatting needed to ensure the hymns were ready for ProPresenter import.
✅ The Result
Within the span of one working session, I had:
– 75 fully structured hymns,
– Properly formatted for import into ProPresenter,
– Cleanly integrated into our Songs2.xml file alongside 500+ existing hymns.
🙌 Final Thoughts
By using ChatGPT:
– I avoided tedious manual edits,
– Maintained accuracy,
– And ensured compatibility with our church’s ProPresenter setup.
If you’re maintaining digital worship materials, managing a hymn database, or just trying to automate a repetitive workflow — ChatGPT is a powerful assistant to have on your team.