By Matthew Boffey | Leave a Comment
We wrote recently about how to introduce new worship songs to your church.
But that assumes you’ve found new songs to lead, which raises another question: What new songs should you be singing?
With innumerable choices, how do worship leaders pick what to lead in church?
By Matthew Boffey | 1 Comment
The Bible is the basis for our faith. It reveals our Savior (2 Tim 3:16), is how we know and believe (Rom 10:17), keeps us from sin (Psalm 119:11), works powerfully (Hebrews 4:12), and gives life (Matthew 4:4).
As such, it holds a central place in our worship services.
But how we do incorporate Scripture into our song sets so that the sermon isn’t the only time when the word is proclaimed?
A scene from Nehemiah offers a good example.
Nehemiah is about the rebuilding of the Temple after Israel’s exile. God’s people have recently returned to the land, and God commands them to rebuild the Temple so they can continue worshipping.
Nehemiah 8 depicts something like a worship service at the Temple’s rededication. There is music, preaching, and most importantly, reading from the Law:
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. (Neh. 8:5–6)
What a beautiful picture of worshiping God with the reading of Scripture. Ezra simply read God’s Word, and it had a powerful effect.
The general principle is this: let God’s people hear God’s Word read.
The word is how we understand God. The word is how we understand ourselves. And the word is central to worship. These simple tips will help us fulfill God’s command in Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
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This is a guest post by music professionals Cody Norris and Stephen Folden. Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash.
By Matthew Boffey | 1 Comment
It’s a question many worship leaders grapple with. You want to lead new worship songs, but you don’t want to be singing them by yourself. How often do you teach your church new worship songs, and how do you do it?
Here are a few questions to consider.
Before tackling how to lead new songs, it’s good to ask why new songs are important. There are at least three reasons.
First, Scripture calls us to it.
Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. (Ps. 98:1)
Second, new songs breathe new life into the worship service and help engage the congregation. It reminds those gathered that God is still working. Hearts are still being drawn to him, and new songs keep popping up because new life keeps popping up.
Lastly, singing new songs is a way to explore the beautiful body of worship music in existence today. There are so many beautiful worship songs that churches don’t even know, and each one provides language for the life of faith. Introducing a new song helps people understand God and His work in a fresh way and worship him with renewed passion.
While there’s no hard-and-fast rule, the general consensus among experts is to introduce songs slowly, being sensitive to your particular congregation.
Jeremiah Jones, a worship leader who wrote “What A Savior” (recorded by Laura Story), leads worship regularly in his local church. In an email interview with Jeremiah, he shared his thoughts on how many songs to introduce:
I heard Brian Doerkson say that he thinks churches can only absorb seventeen new songs a year (a little more than on new song a month), and I’ve found that to be true. This doesn’t include special music, but the average congregation is slow to learn new songs. (Although, this hasn’t been true in younger churches where I’ve led, which will sing anything you throw at them.)
In my context, people attend church on average between one and two Sundays a month, so even if you intro a new song or two a month, a lot of people will never hear the song when it is introduced. I’ll get asked all the time: “What was the new song you led?” and I’ve led it 3–4 times prior. That’s our culture—lots of travel, sports on the weekends, etc. So understanding each church’s individual attendance culture helps with knowing how much it can absorb and retain new material.
Practically, a good way to introduce songs would be to play it two weeks in a row and then take a break from that and do all familiar songs. A way to ease into a new song is to do it as a special song during offering or at a similar time when the congregation can soak it in and not feel pressured to learn it on the spot. In general, it’s advisable to lead new songs regularly to keep the musical portion of worship from becoming stale, but not so often that the congregation feels overwhelmed or the new songs become overplayed.
The goal of selecting music is get people engaged in worshipping with their voices. Get people singing worship. Everything relating to song selection should serve that end. So select a musical key that allows the most people to dig in and participate.
Our friend Jeremiah said:
Congregational worship (people singing their hearts out) is the end goal, even at the expense of my preferences. A good example is “Ever Be,” a song I absolutely love. I’ve tried it three times at my church, and it just doesn’t work! I love it but will most likely never do it at my church again. That’s not to say that I bow to the preferences of my people, because my job is to lead them, to challenge them to come with me to new places. But from a practical standpoint, I don’t have the margin to force something that doesn’t work.
If you’re looking to expand your congregation’s musical pallet, move from familiar to unfamiliar in small steps.
For example, if your church is used to singing mainly hymns, it would probably be a bit jarring to jump straight into a Bethel worship anthem. Maybe a song by the Gettys would be a more apt choice. It keeps them in the lyrical and structural vein of hymns (familiar)—while ushering them into more modern melodies and music (unfamiliar).
Similarly, if your church is familiar with a particular worship movement, but you want to introduce them to other camps, look for a song that is musically similar to what you’ve been singing. For example, if your church is used to Hillsong or Bethel, but you want to introduce them to the folkier, more earthy side of worship music (such as Sandra McCracken or Bifrost Arts), a song by All Sons and Daughters could be a nice middle ground to help you transition.
For more tips along these lines, check out Paul Baloche’s helpful advice.
If you’re a worship leader or are a part of planning services, we’d love to hear from you! How many new songs does your church introduce each year, or each month? What do you keep in mind when selecting new songs?
This is a guest post by music professionals Cody Norris and Stephen Folden. Photo by Sarah Noltner on Unsplash.