How to Choose New Worship Songs for 2011 - Part 2

The filtering process for new songs is more efficient when you have already decided what you are looking for.

In Part 1 I showed my plan for 2011 and outlined a deliberate 4-step approach. Now I'm going to walk through those steps that resuited in the plan you see pictured for 2012.

1. Determine how many new songs is a realistic number.

I added eight new songs in 2011, an ambitious number for me. I think six is a good target for the new year since I want to continue to keep the songs from last year in the mix.

2. Determine what types of songs need attention.

I reviewed my play record by song category for the year to help me see what songs I used.

• We need a new GITS - Father song. I discovered that with the exception of The Father's Love this year, I have not been adding any new songs in the GITS - Father category for several years. So that is a high priority this year. I would also like God referred to as Father in the song too.
• We need a new Closer - Evangelism/Missions song. We only sang four different songs in our Closer - Evangelism/Missions category this year in contrast to ten different songs in each of the two other Closer  categories. A new song or even two is also a high priority this year.
• We need some "hard times" songs. I know many worshippers show up on Sunday morning struggling with the challenges of life in this world. I think it is important to have songs that recognize life can be hard, but that God can be trusted and praised in the midst of it. I call them "hard times" songs. I don't categorize them separately, but my goal is to have these kinds of songs to draw from in our song categories.

3. Organize your potential new song list according to your song categories of interest.

My potential new songs list is current but, with the exception of "hard times" songs, I don't have any GITS - Father or Closer - Evangelism/Missons ones in the list. I have my work cut out for me.

4. Work the plan.

To meet my goal this year will require more active searching on my part. Song Discovery CDs are not going to provide many options in these hard to fill categories. Though our most recent addition over a year ago to the category, By Faith (Getty and Townend), was from a Song Discovery CDs.

If you have any songs you are currently using and are willing to share, please do.