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Choosing Worship Songs: Letting it Flow

When I started leading worship at Grace Church, I really didn't have a good understanding of what it meant to assemble a "worship set" with good flow between songs.  With Grace Church coming previously from a very traditional, hymn singing style of worship, to integrating "contemporary" worship music was a bit of a challenge.  At the time right before I assumed the role of worship leader, our idea of contemporary was buying a praise and worship book that consisted of old Maranatha songs from the 1970's and 1980's.  That was bold!  Anyway, we've come a long way and so have I.  Making a service flow well from song to song was not even a blip on the radar.  Now I can't stand to have a service without considering it.

Let it Flow

Did you ever sit through a worship service and think, "Man, something about that just didn't seem to feel right"?  Apart from maybe not having the spirit of God there, it's quite possible the set of songs chosen didn't flow well from one to the next.  Here's where the song choosing can get a little technical. 

After the message is determined and some songs have been selected, I then look at the keys of the songs.  It's always easier to get from one song to another if they are in the same key.  Does that mean the whole praise service should be in the same key?  No it doesn't have to be.  I like to think about where we might have a welcome, or a prayer, or announcement between songs and use those opportunities to change keys.  Here's an example of how I might order a song service:

Not to Us (Key of A)

Meet With Me (Key of A)

Speaking: Welcome guests to the service

How Great is Our God (Key of C)

Lord Most High (Key of D)

Speaking: Pray for Offering

Here I Am to Worship (Key of E)

Now there are times when I will move to a song in a different key without a speaking opportunity.  A great technique I've learned through other worship leaders, is making sure to change the key up rather than down.  Example: Moving from a song like "Forever" which is in the key of A to another song, you might pick one that is in the key of B.  A song like "Blessed Be Your Name" is in the key of B.  Of course you always have the liberty to change the key of any song.

If you play an instrument, play a chord progression in the key of A, then move to a chord progression in the key of B.  You'll find that seems to feel pleasant to the ear.  If you move from A to Ab or G, you'll probably hear a difference.  It just doesn't feel right.

I think sometimes when I explain this theory to people, they think I'm over analyzing.  To me, that's just the kind of people the church needs to lead them in worship.  The goal is to not just entertain, but to create the best opportunities for people to worship their God without getting in the way. Bring excellence in all that you do and God will honor it.  Plus it just plain sounds better!  Thanks for listening!

Recommended Tool: Leading Worship-Creating Flow with Paul Baloche

Choosing Worship Songs: Determine the Message

So I've talked about the direction of the song and whether it's horizontal or veritical.  We've also looked at the whole issue of musical styles in worship.  Once these two things have been determined and decided upon, it's time to have a look at what the message will be for the week.

What's the Message?

Each Sunday I try and make sure to listen to the message, if I can't focus on it each week due to other duties during the service, I try and download the audio file from our church website.  Take time to talk with the pastor about the state of the flock and listen closely to what the needs are for him and for your church.  The things you hear will help determine what message the church needs to sing about each week. As I said before, I've been finding that the role of a worship leader is to serve the church and the pastor by supporting the vision God has given my pastor.

When I assemble the "worship set" on Sunday, I usually set the list of music before me, pray, then begin searching for the appropriate songs for the message that week.  Some Sunday's require more songs about God's grace, while other weeks may be a time to praise God for his faithfulness.  Is this Sunday a week needed for music that directly addresses the Lord?  Or is it a week to dwell and meditate on the truth of God and His nature? 

So this is just another step in choosing worship songs.  Praying about the needs of your church and pastor are key in determining what songs need to be sung to support the message.  My next step is determine the flow of the service.  Gets a little more technical.  Hopefully this is not too boring.  I know it's not thrilling, but hey, it's just a snapshot of the whole worship assembly process.  If you have any ideas or thoughts, I'd love to hear them!

Recommended Link: WorshipLeader.com

Choosing Worship Songs: Style

All right, now here's a topic that can get many a worship leader in trouble with their congregation.  Choosing a style to present the music is a hot topic in and of itself.  Rock, Reggae, Classical, R&B, Gospel, Country or traditional.  These are just a few of the styles one can choose from when leading their church in worship.  In this post, I'm going to share how I approach this issue. 

Again, I am a GROWING expert and am only giving a glimpse of what my experiences have been and what I currently do.  I do NOT believe I have arrived and would love to hear about others experiences and thoughts.

Style

I have found that as a worship leader, it's necessary to know that I am in this role to serve the church, not just entertain them.  Once I learned and applied this principal, I discovered that I must not simply choose song styles based on my preferences.  This is a difficult thing, because simply put, there are some styles that I enjoy more than others and there are some styles that the praise team can tackle better than others.

When people mention a cool worship song they've heard and say they'd love to hear our team do it, I quickly run through my mind the style and whether our team can play it at the level of excellence necessary.  There are just some songs that we can pull off well and some that just don't quite work.  And that's ok.  Challenge your team to play things that they aren't used to playing. You may just discover that you can play a little gospel along with your rock.

Now back to the people in the church. You must be willing to take risks in leadership.  Serving the people does not mean catering to everyone's opinion of what worship music should sound like. Refer to my post on "10 Things on Worship Leading". Sometimes the church body is best served by the worship leader who challenges them to open their ears, eyes and hearts to styles that are relevant in today's world.  There's a can that I won't open here labeled "Music styles and instruments that are Biblical" that many folks like to pull out and open from time to time.  I typically like to stay away from that since it usually gets you nowhere.  Just ask them if they'd prefer you play a Sackbut.

So find the style that best fits your community and from time to time, mix it up.  It might even revive a bored worship team.

Recommended link: worshiptogether.com

Choosing Worship Songs: Horizontal or Vertical

A friend of mine recommended I blog on what I think makes a good worship song. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some thoughts under "Choosing Worship Songs".

Well, let me start off by saying I am NO expert on this subject by any means.  But I love to read experts and use their ideas enhancing them for the use of the Grace worship services. 

Often I have folks suggest songs for our worship services here at Grace.  Sometimes they make the list and other times they don't.  My hestiation in sharing this info is that people might make the assumption that the worship song idea they have won't make the cut based on the criteria.  I LOVE having people recommend songs!  I like to hear when people get excited about a song that caused them to take pause in their busy life and reflect on God. So don't judge your recommendations, don't hold them back...please!

Horizontal or Vertical?

Does the song cause the singer to sing about God or to God?  There are many inspiring songs that speak of the wonderful works, nature or truth of God, however they aren't being directly sung to God.  These songs are horizontal in nature. 

Some great worship song examples that I consider horizontal are: Amazing Grace, Standing on the Promises, In Christ Alone and How Great is Our God.  If you read the lyrics of these songs you will find that there are no phrases that indicate it's being sung to God but about God.  They all tell great truths that teach us aspects about the nature of our great God.

Some great worship song examples that I consider vertical are: Here I am to Worship, You Are My King, How Great Thou Art and Heart of Worship.  Even in the titles you can see the direction these songs might take a singer. 

When you listen to worship music, see if you can classify it as vertical or horizontal.  Think of it in terms of "in Spirit and in Truth".  Is the song proclaiming truth?  Or is the song directly sung to the Lord in Spirit?

Now that these two types of songs have been identified, the next step is figuring out what to use on Sunday!  And that depends greatly upon the needs of the church, the direction of the pastor/teacher and the particular message that Sunday.  I'll get into that on another post.

Recomended link: leadworship.com