Song Categories Part 5 - Communion-Repentance/Confession and Communion

We change the worship template for our Communion Service on first Sunday of the month. The single response song is replaced with two songs. We sing a song of Repentance or Confession during the passing of the bread and a Communion songs during the passing of the cup.


The idea was to aide in preparation by helping worshippers constructively direct their thoughts. Not all worshippers need this, and some my choose to pray during this time and that is just fine. I has worked pretty well for us.


The title Communion-Repentance/Confession makes the category clear. We want songs that are prayers of repentance or confession. You won't find these songs in the CCLI top 25. When I went through my song database for the first time I didn't find very many. We are using the best of what we have and are looking for songs that address repentance and confession of sin with more depth. Here are five songs from our reduced playlist:


Change My Heart O God
Eddie Espinoza ©1982 Mercy Publishing
My Eyes Are Dry
10453 Keith Green ©1978 Birdwing Music, Ears to Hear Music, BMG Songs, Inc. (Mech)
Out of the Deep I Call
©2001 Brian T. Murphy Music. Words: Henry Baker(1821-1877). Music: Brian Murphy.
Overwhelmed
Tom Dickson & Joel Weldon ©2000 Little Peach Music
Be Thou My Vision (Classic Hymn)
Eleanor Hull, Mary E Byrne, ©1976 Hughes M Huffman, assigned to Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship


Communion songs are songs that center around the last supper, the cross, and remembering what Jesus did for us. Some of those songs may also fit in other categories, GITS-Jesus, for example, but are in the Communion category because of that focus. We haven't found this category difficult to populate considering we only need to use one song a month. Here are five songs from our reduced playlist total of seven:


How Deep the Father's Love for Us
1558110 Stuart Townend ©1995 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Take Forgiveness
1158431 Steve Mills & Joel Weldon Hendrickson ©1989 Little Peach Music, Inc. (BMI)
My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less (Classic Hymn)
Edward Mote, Alexander B Smith, Public Domain
Nothing But The Blood (Classic Hymn)
Robert Lowry Public Domain
By His Blood
Steve Merkel ©1997 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music/ASCAP


I believe using a prayer of repentance/confession song and a communion song has made our communion services more meaningful and complement the pastor's remarks and the various prayers during Communion.


Are you singing an prayers of repentance/confession tha you have found to be rich, heartfelt, and God honoring? Why not share them here?


Next week I will wrap up the song categories with the three closer subcategories (Part 6). (Part 4 was Response songs.)