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.)
Showing posts with label song categories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label song categories. Show all posts
Song Categories Part 3 - Holy Spirit Songs
The idea behind having a Holy Spirit song in the worship set every week was simple: I wanted to remind everyone that the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer. It’s easy to slip into doing it on our own strength and forget about the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s active role in a believer’s walk of faith. Before this approach to choosing and organizing songs, the Holy Spirit showed up infrequently at best in the worship songs we sang week in, week out!
Most Holy Spirit songs are prayer songs which we place after the sermon as part of the response set of songs. We have found that Holy Spirit songs are not very common. There are also varying doctrinal views on the Holy Spirit which I won’t get into here except to say that we look for songs that are consistent with the church doctrinal statement (which should be true of all songs a worship leader is choosing!).
The depth isn't there for some of the more simple Holy Spirit songs. I have also used songs that aren’t necessarily a Holy Spirit song but reference the Holy Spirit in a way that is important, “Amazing Love (You Are My King)” is an example. I feel it is better to use these less than ideal songs than to have no songs on the Holy Spirit at all. We started with the songs we already knew and are slowly expanding this category.
Worship is formative and we want our songs collectively to present a comprehensively Biblical view of God which would be difficult to do in any meaningful way without including songs on the Holy Spirit regularly.
Holy Spirit songs we are using include:
Let the Weight of Your Glory Fall
2790475 Steve Merkel ©1999 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
Walking In The Spirit
19399 David W. Morris ©1988 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
Rain, Rain, Rain
S.Dial/K.Lawson ©2002 Cedarstone Music BMI
I Say Yes
David Stanley ©2002 100% Wool Records
Open My Eyes, That I May See (Classic Hymn)
Public Domain Clara H. Scott, 1895
We have resorted to new tunes to old hymn texts and the pastor wrote us a song text too.
We are trying to improve the quality of songs in this category, so I’m always looks for great Holy Spirit songs. Have any to share?
In Part 4 I will look at Response songs. (Part 2 was on GITS songs)
Most Holy Spirit songs are prayer songs which we place after the sermon as part of the response set of songs. We have found that Holy Spirit songs are not very common. There are also varying doctrinal views on the Holy Spirit which I won’t get into here except to say that we look for songs that are consistent with the church doctrinal statement (which should be true of all songs a worship leader is choosing!).
The depth isn't there for some of the more simple Holy Spirit songs. I have also used songs that aren’t necessarily a Holy Spirit song but reference the Holy Spirit in a way that is important, “Amazing Love (You Are My King)” is an example. I feel it is better to use these less than ideal songs than to have no songs on the Holy Spirit at all. We started with the songs we already knew and are slowly expanding this category.
Worship is formative and we want our songs collectively to present a comprehensively Biblical view of God which would be difficult to do in any meaningful way without including songs on the Holy Spirit regularly.
Holy Spirit songs we are using include:
Let the Weight of Your Glory Fall
2790475 Steve Merkel ©1999 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
Walking In The Spirit
19399 David W. Morris ©1988 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
Rain, Rain, Rain
S.Dial/K.Lawson ©2002 Cedarstone Music BMI
I Say Yes
David Stanley ©2002 100% Wool Records
Open My Eyes, That I May See (Classic Hymn)
Public Domain Clara H. Scott, 1895
We have resorted to new tunes to old hymn texts and the pastor wrote us a song text too.
We are trying to improve the quality of songs in this category, so I’m always looks for great Holy Spirit songs. Have any to share?
In Part 4 I will look at Response songs. (Part 2 was on GITS songs)
Song Categories Part 2 - GITS: God in the Spotlight
I coined the category title “God in the Spotlight” (GITS) to graphically illustrate what these songs should do: put God at center stage, in the spotlight! I wanted songs that reveal and focus on the character and works of God. We need to know the God we worship to worship Him in truth (John 4:23-24 ). I believe that more of that truth needs to be in the content of the songs themselves. Self contained songs have greater explanatory power, so everyone benefits, but especially biblically illiterate worshippers and seekers.
One of the helpful ideas I learned from Bob Kauflin at his blog Worship Matters and through mp3s of his seminars at worship conferences is that truth will inspire our emotional response in good songs. I think songs that focus directly on the emotional response with little or no truth should be used sparingly, if at all.
The original idea for GITS songs was to find great songs about God and not about me or us (not even a small glowing LED!). I went through several hundred songs (choruses and hymns) in my database looking for them. I didn’t find many. I went through the new hymnal we had recently purchased for our traditional service. Surely I would find some more songs there, and to my surprise, I didn’t! My research conclusion: there are plenty of songs that mention God, but really focus on “us” or more commonly, “me”. We love to sing about ourselves!!! Are you really surprised?
Pure GITS songs, as I have defined them, are rare, so I have relaxed my idealistic definition to reflect the real songs that are out there. I currently look for songs where the dominant element is the character and works of God. I do allow for some references to us, and often they appear in the chorus after a meaty verse. The key is that who God is and what he has done are central in the song. I have subdivided this category into two, self explanatory, categories GITS-Father and GITS-Jesus (or you could say GITS-Son).
These songs are hard to find. The songs I am most aware of are what I categorize as response songs and tend to major in our desire to be in the presence of God and how we feel about Him and the whole experience. Many of these songs are my favorites and they are excellent songs, but not GITS songs. I have heard it said in more than one worship seminar that “worship is formative”; I agree. If the songs we sing present a comprehensive and biblically based picture of God, who he is and what he has done, that is just what our songs will help form in the mind and heart of the worshipper. GITS songs are a way of going about it. It has taken us several years to build our list of GITS songs, where in other song categories we have to prune extensive lists.
GITS songs we are using include:
GITS - Father
He Is Yahweh
3277849 Dean Salyn ©2001 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing
You Are God Alone
4243463 Billy and Cindy Foote ©2004 Billy Foote Music/ASCAP admin by Integrity's Hosanna! Music/ASCAP
Holy Is The Lord
86346 Kelly Green ©1982 Mercy Publishing ARR. ICS. UBP.
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (Classic Hymn)
Walter C. Smith, 1867, Public Domain
Holy, Holy, Holy (Classic Hymn)
120927 Netsa Mumford ©1980 Thank You Music
GITS - Jesus
Perfect Lamb Of God
4662855 Adam Saks © 2004 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music
Matchless
4639228 Aaron Shust. ©2005 Shustmusic (BMI)
Christ Is Risen
52662 Graham Kendrick ©1986 Thankyou Music
Who is This
5118470 ©Joel Payne/RESOUNDworship.org, Administered by The Jubilate Group, UK copyrightmanager@jubilate.co.uk
Christ the Lord is Risen Today (Classic Hymn)
Public Domain Charles Wesley, 1739
I have even scoured old hymn texts in search of GITS lyrics and put them to new tunes. My pastor wrote a text for us to put to music. You may have to be creative to get GITS songs to use; I have found them to be "off the beaten track".
Have any great GITS songs to share? I'd love to hear from you.
In Part 3 I will look at Holy Spirit songs. (Part 1 was on Openers.)
One of the helpful ideas I learned from Bob Kauflin at his blog Worship Matters and through mp3s of his seminars at worship conferences is that truth will inspire our emotional response in good songs. I think songs that focus directly on the emotional response with little or no truth should be used sparingly, if at all.
The original idea for GITS songs was to find great songs about God and not about me or us (not even a small glowing LED!). I went through several hundred songs (choruses and hymns) in my database looking for them. I didn’t find many. I went through the new hymnal we had recently purchased for our traditional service. Surely I would find some more songs there, and to my surprise, I didn’t! My research conclusion: there are plenty of songs that mention God, but really focus on “us” or more commonly, “me”. We love to sing about ourselves!!! Are you really surprised?
Pure GITS songs, as I have defined them, are rare, so I have relaxed my idealistic definition to reflect the real songs that are out there. I currently look for songs where the dominant element is the character and works of God. I do allow for some references to us, and often they appear in the chorus after a meaty verse. The key is that who God is and what he has done are central in the song. I have subdivided this category into two, self explanatory, categories GITS-Father and GITS-Jesus (or you could say GITS-Son).
These songs are hard to find. The songs I am most aware of are what I categorize as response songs and tend to major in our desire to be in the presence of God and how we feel about Him and the whole experience. Many of these songs are my favorites and they are excellent songs, but not GITS songs. I have heard it said in more than one worship seminar that “worship is formative”; I agree. If the songs we sing present a comprehensive and biblically based picture of God, who he is and what he has done, that is just what our songs will help form in the mind and heart of the worshipper. GITS songs are a way of going about it. It has taken us several years to build our list of GITS songs, where in other song categories we have to prune extensive lists.
GITS songs we are using include:
GITS - Father
He Is Yahweh
3277849 Dean Salyn ©2001 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing
You Are God Alone
4243463 Billy and Cindy Foote ©2004 Billy Foote Music/ASCAP admin by Integrity's Hosanna! Music/ASCAP
Holy Is The Lord
86346 Kelly Green ©1982 Mercy Publishing ARR. ICS. UBP.
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (Classic Hymn)
Walter C. Smith, 1867, Public Domain
Holy, Holy, Holy (Classic Hymn)
120927 Netsa Mumford ©1980 Thank You Music
GITS - Jesus
Perfect Lamb Of God
4662855 Adam Saks © 2004 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music
Matchless
4639228 Aaron Shust. ©2005 Shustmusic (BMI)
Christ Is Risen
52662 Graham Kendrick ©1986 Thankyou Music
Who is This
5118470 ©Joel Payne/RESOUNDworship.org, Administered by The Jubilate Group, UK copyrightmanager@jubilate.co.uk
Christ the Lord is Risen Today (Classic Hymn)
Public Domain Charles Wesley, 1739
I have even scoured old hymn texts in search of GITS lyrics and put them to new tunes. My pastor wrote a text for us to put to music. You may have to be creative to get GITS songs to use; I have found them to be "off the beaten track".
Have any great GITS songs to share? I'd love to hear from you.
In Part 3 I will look at Holy Spirit songs. (Part 1 was on Openers.)
Song Categories Part 1 - Openers
Wouldn't it be great if everyone showed up on Sunday morning ready to worship?
Even if you do take the time to prepare before coming it can be offset by the whole process of getting the family out the door and to the church facility. I remember those days all to well! That's where the Opener comes in; its purpose is to remind us why we have come. It also helps us transition from what we were doing previously and shift our focus to God. You might call Opener songs, Come to Worship, Call to Worship, or maybe Walk In songs (I discovered this last handle as a result of exploring Sunday Setlists at FredMcKinnon.com).
A good Opener simply redirects our attention back to the Lord. A great opener does it with more substance, but that is a judgment call. It depends on what the worship leader wants to emphasize and believes the congregation needs. Openers often set the tone for what is to come. Many Openers are upbeat, but they don't have to be. One classic example is "We Have Come into His House". Often Openers can be used as Response songs or Closers. "Lord I Lift Your Name on High", another classic, works well as an Opener, but we put it in the Response category because we have plenty of openers. Songs are often multipurpose, I have chosen to put songs in a single category because they are easier to manage, but I may depart from that in practice on special occasions.
It's not unusual when I'm worshipping somewhere else to see songs I have classified as openers show up in other places or to sing multiple openers. When multiple openers are present, something important may not be covered. I recently attend one worship service where Revelation Song (a great song to be sure) was used as an Opener. To me it seemed like a weighty song to just jump right into. The song was done with excellence by the worship team (it nearly matched the recording I have heard), but as I looked around, I observed few people singing and I could not help but wonder if the song was new, the congregation wasn't ready yet, or both. Does that mean Revelation Song can't work as an opener? Not at all, as I surfed the Sunday setlists this past week, I noticed it showed up as an Opener. We don't currently do Revelation Song, though I have been considering it, and it would be a great GITS-Jesus song and so it would be the second or third song in the first set.
We have plenty of openers to choose from. Here are five we use frequently:
Better Is One Day
1097451 Matt Redman ©1996 Kingsway's Thankyou Music/EMI Christian Music Publishing
The Heart of Worship
2296522 Matt Redman ©1999 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Hosanna (Praise is rising)
4662491 Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown ©2005 Integrity's Hosanna! Music/ASCAP/Thank You Music
All Creatures of Our God and King (Classic Hymn)
Public Domain - St. Francis of Assisi, 1225 Words © J. Curewen & Sons
O Worship the King (Updated Classic Hymn)
Robert Grant/Chris Tomlin ©2004 worsthiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps music
We have discovered Openers are one of the easiest songs categories to fill. They are very popular because they are usually upbeat, fun to sing, feel good songs which is not a bad thing in the mix of a balanced set.
What are your best opening songs?
Song Categories Part 2 - GITS: God in the Spotlight
Even if you do take the time to prepare before coming it can be offset by the whole process of getting the family out the door and to the church facility. I remember those days all to well! That's where the Opener comes in; its purpose is to remind us why we have come. It also helps us transition from what we were doing previously and shift our focus to God. You might call Opener songs, Come to Worship, Call to Worship, or maybe Walk In songs (I discovered this last handle as a result of exploring Sunday Setlists at FredMcKinnon.com).
A good Opener simply redirects our attention back to the Lord. A great opener does it with more substance, but that is a judgment call. It depends on what the worship leader wants to emphasize and believes the congregation needs. Openers often set the tone for what is to come. Many Openers are upbeat, but they don't have to be. One classic example is "We Have Come into His House". Often Openers can be used as Response songs or Closers. "Lord I Lift Your Name on High", another classic, works well as an Opener, but we put it in the Response category because we have plenty of openers. Songs are often multipurpose, I have chosen to put songs in a single category because they are easier to manage, but I may depart from that in practice on special occasions.
It's not unusual when I'm worshipping somewhere else to see songs I have classified as openers show up in other places or to sing multiple openers. When multiple openers are present, something important may not be covered. I recently attend one worship service where Revelation Song (a great song to be sure) was used as an Opener. To me it seemed like a weighty song to just jump right into. The song was done with excellence by the worship team (it nearly matched the recording I have heard), but as I looked around, I observed few people singing and I could not help but wonder if the song was new, the congregation wasn't ready yet, or both. Does that mean Revelation Song can't work as an opener? Not at all, as I surfed the Sunday setlists this past week, I noticed it showed up as an Opener. We don't currently do Revelation Song, though I have been considering it, and it would be a great GITS-Jesus song and so it would be the second or third song in the first set.
We have plenty of openers to choose from. Here are five we use frequently:
Better Is One Day
1097451 Matt Redman ©1996 Kingsway's Thankyou Music/EMI Christian Music Publishing
The Heart of Worship
2296522 Matt Redman ©1999 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Hosanna (Praise is rising)
4662491 Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown ©2005 Integrity's Hosanna! Music/ASCAP/Thank You Music
All Creatures of Our God and King (Classic Hymn)
Public Domain - St. Francis of Assisi, 1225 Words © J. Curewen & Sons
O Worship the King (Updated Classic Hymn)
Robert Grant/Chris Tomlin ©2004 worsthiptogether.com Songs/sixsteps music
We have discovered Openers are one of the easiest songs categories to fill. They are very popular because they are usually upbeat, fun to sing, feel good songs which is not a bad thing in the mix of a balanced set.
What are your best opening songs?
Song Categories Part 2 - GITS: God in the Spotlight
Worship Service Song Templates: Strategic Song Selection
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009
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Labels:
christian,
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What you are reading is my synthesis and practical application from years of reading more books about worship than I care to admit, reading Worship Leader Magazine almost from the beginning, reading some worship blogs, attending a few worship conferences, and leading worship. I suppose only a Worship Leader with a BS in Math and a MS in Systems Management would come up with a structured approach like this. Lest you think all I do is hole up and write computer programs that crunch numbers; I do write and/or arrange worship songs and build cigar box guitars (more on that in a future blog!).
We basically have a template for the Normal Sunday and a template for Communion Sunday. We depart from, or alter, the templates for special services (Advent/Christmas, Easter, Baptism, …).
Normal Sunday
Song Category / Order / Song Title and No
Opener ____ / ____________________
GITS Father ____ / ____________________
GITS Son ____ / ____________________
Sermon
Holy Spirit ____ / ____________________
Prayer/RTG/REO ____ / ____________________
Communion ____ / ____________________
Closer(Believe/Trust) ____ / ____________________
(Serve/Obey)/(Ev/Missions)
Communion Sunday
Song Category / Order / Song Title and Number
Opener ____ / ____________________
GITS Father ____ / ____________________
GITS Son ____ / ____________________
Sermon
Holy Spirit ____ / ____________________
Repentance ____ / ____________________
Communion ____ / ____________________
Closer(Believe/Trust) ____ / ____________________
It’s as simple as filling in the blanks from the Playlist we have organized by categories.
The opener and closer are fixed in the order and the other songs vary depending on the worship leader’s preference. Of the songs planned at least one song will be a hymn. At one time we left the Closer subcategory choice open, but discovered, in an analysis of our song use over about six month period, that all the worship leaders (me included) gravitated to their favorite categories and pretty much ignored evangelism/mission songs. As a result, we rotate the subcategories of closer songs to provide consistent coverage of each subcategory.
Some of you may be uncomfortable with what appears to be a regimented and uncreative approach to song selection for a worship service. Using the templates is where the fun begins because the hard work has already been done. That was the strategic investment in our future: choosing categories that reflect topics we believe need to be emphasized regularly, seeing what songs we had that meet the categories, and finding new songs to address the shortfalls we discovered.
We plan sets three weeks at a time to coincide with a rotating worship leader/team schedule. We typically do a new song three weeks in a row to establish it. It’s not unusual for me to plan all three services at once instead of sequentially. I often, but not always, plug in the three hymns first, then add songs that are new but need repetition, then work on filling in the holes left. It’s kind of like putting together a puzzle, you sort out the pieces first to avoid wasting time (our play list by categories), do the corners and edges (the hymns), then easy to assemble features (new songs that need repetition), and then fill in the rest. I leave the sky, water, or any other big expanse of the same color to my wife!!!
We don’t worry about trying to connect with the pastor’s sermon, but it’s rare when we don’t have a song following the sermon that doesn’t connect. Often I find I couldn’t have done better if I had tried advance based on the actual song that ended up connecting. The plan is not set in concrete, and on occasion I change one of the response songs on the fly when I really feel led.
The other guys on the team that also lead worship have questioned this approach to song planning and we have talked a lot about it over the years, but I believe they have come to find it helpful in planning worship services and evaluating new songs. After going to worship services at other churches and evaluating the songs used in worship, they have often shared insightful comments that reveal that they get it . I remember completing a lengthy set of worship songs at a major worship conference and when reflecting back on it realized the name of Jesus never came up and there was little about him in the content of the songs. In Christian worship this shouldn’t happen, but it did, because the worship leader had no plan do otherwise. Our goal is to serve the congregation by choosing songs that go beyond next Sunday, we want to choose songs they can live by through the good times and bad.
What do you think? Feel free to weigh in.
Next up I’m going to go through all the song categories one at a time in more detail and get practical by including examples of the songs we are currently using in each one. If you have been checking out my Sunday set lists, you already have an idea of what some of them are!
We basically have a template for the Normal Sunday and a template for Communion Sunday. We depart from, or alter, the templates for special services (Advent/Christmas, Easter, Baptism, …).
Normal Sunday
Song Category / Order / Song Title and No
Opener ____ / ____________________
GITS Father ____ / ____________________
GITS Son ____ / ____________________
Sermon
Holy Spirit ____ / ____________________
Prayer/RTG/REO ____ / ____________________
Communion ____ / ____________________
Closer(Believe/Trust) ____ / ____________________
(Serve/Obey)/(Ev/Missions)
Communion Sunday
Song Category / Order / Song Title and Number
Opener ____ / ____________________
GITS Father ____ / ____________________
GITS Son ____ / ____________________
Sermon
Holy Spirit ____ / ____________________
Repentance ____ / ____________________
Communion ____ / ____________________
Closer(Believe/Trust) ____ / ____________________
It’s as simple as filling in the blanks from the Playlist we have organized by categories.
The opener and closer are fixed in the order and the other songs vary depending on the worship leader’s preference. Of the songs planned at least one song will be a hymn. At one time we left the Closer subcategory choice open, but discovered, in an analysis of our song use over about six month period, that all the worship leaders (me included) gravitated to their favorite categories and pretty much ignored evangelism/mission songs. As a result, we rotate the subcategories of closer songs to provide consistent coverage of each subcategory.
Some of you may be uncomfortable with what appears to be a regimented and uncreative approach to song selection for a worship service. Using the templates is where the fun begins because the hard work has already been done. That was the strategic investment in our future: choosing categories that reflect topics we believe need to be emphasized regularly, seeing what songs we had that meet the categories, and finding new songs to address the shortfalls we discovered.
We plan sets three weeks at a time to coincide with a rotating worship leader/team schedule. We typically do a new song three weeks in a row to establish it. It’s not unusual for me to plan all three services at once instead of sequentially. I often, but not always, plug in the three hymns first, then add songs that are new but need repetition, then work on filling in the holes left. It’s kind of like putting together a puzzle, you sort out the pieces first to avoid wasting time (our play list by categories), do the corners and edges (the hymns), then easy to assemble features (new songs that need repetition), and then fill in the rest. I leave the sky, water, or any other big expanse of the same color to my wife!!!
We don’t worry about trying to connect with the pastor’s sermon, but it’s rare when we don’t have a song following the sermon that doesn’t connect. Often I find I couldn’t have done better if I had tried advance based on the actual song that ended up connecting. The plan is not set in concrete, and on occasion I change one of the response songs on the fly when I really feel led.
The other guys on the team that also lead worship have questioned this approach to song planning and we have talked a lot about it over the years, but I believe they have come to find it helpful in planning worship services and evaluating new songs. After going to worship services at other churches and evaluating the songs used in worship, they have often shared insightful comments that reveal that they get it . I remember completing a lengthy set of worship songs at a major worship conference and when reflecting back on it realized the name of Jesus never came up and there was little about him in the content of the songs. In Christian worship this shouldn’t happen, but it did, because the worship leader had no plan do otherwise. Our goal is to serve the congregation by choosing songs that go beyond next Sunday, we want to choose songs they can live by through the good times and bad.
What do you think? Feel free to weigh in.
Next up I’m going to go through all the song categories one at a time in more detail and get practical by including examples of the songs we are currently using in each one. If you have been checking out my Sunday set lists, you already have an idea of what some of them are!
Song Categories: How organized is your playlist?
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
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Labels:
christian,
praise songs,
song categories,
worship songs
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comments
My last blog entry A Canon of Songs: Theology Incognito? led up to the idea of choosing song categories to make sure your songs are covering the areas or topics you believe are most important. I am using what I will call a Revelation/Response model which is my adaptation of the fourfold order of worship that I became aware of at a Robert Webber seminar. He also had a songbook available (Renew Songs & Hymns For Blended Worship) with song categories to support the fourfold order of worship. To use the fourfold order I categorized all my songs (not the first time I’ve done it) using these categories. It really gave me an idea of what kinds of songs I had and we were using in worship. Unfortunately, the fourfold order was not a success at my church, but it did get me thinking more about what happened in the historic fourfold worship service and how songs connected with it. I decided there were just too many categories for me to use effectively. I simplified the number of song categories from about thirty (hymnals have even more!) to a manageable thirteen categories to support a Revelation/Response model.
Revelation/Response Model
It’s a simple yet sound approach to choosing worship songs.
Revelation: Who is God? What has He done? We need to know the God we worship.
Response: What should we as a result of that revelation? We need to be reminded of what we should be doing with our lives.
The sermon is placed between the revelation and response and bridges them. A good sermon teaches the Word (reveals God) and includes application for our lives (response to God). Having more than one song after the sermon was a big change for us since people are used to checking out after the sermon since only a song followed it before.
The Song Categories
Here is a list of the categories I am currently using with brief descriptions of each for now:
Revelation
Opener (Come to Worship): Songs that remind us why we are here and help us transition from the street to the sanctuary and move our focus to God. Easy songs to find.
GITS – Father (God in the Spotlight – Father)
GITS – Jesus (God in the Spotlight – Jesus)
These two categories are songs that showcase the attributes and works of God the Father and Jesus Christ. God in the Spotlight means ideally a lot about God and little about us. I started with high ideals and had to relax them. Hard songs to find; we like to sing about ourselves.
Response
Prayer - Holy Spirit: Songs that remind us the Holy Spirit dwells in believers and the role the Holy Spirit plays.
Prayer: Sung prayers
Response – To God: A song directed primarily to God
Response – To each other: A song directed primarily to each other
Many of these response songs would be great God in the Spotlight songs if there wasn’t so much focus on us.
Communion – Repentance: Sung prayer of repentance
Communion: Songs that focus on the Lord’s Supper and the death of Christ
Closer – Evangelism/Missions
Closer – Serve/Obey
Closer – Believe/Trust
Closers are songs that remind us and challenge us to live out our faith to a watching world. I broke them into three areas to balance our coverage. Evangelism/Missions is the hardest category to fill, followed by Serve/Obey. Believe/Trust is easy to fill.
Advent/Christmas: Songs that we typically only use during the Christmas season
I have discovered that many songs are hard to classify in a single category, so I choose the one I think is the best fit. Next I will show how we use these song categories to plan music for worship services.
Revelation/Response Model
It’s a simple yet sound approach to choosing worship songs.
Revelation: Who is God? What has He done? We need to know the God we worship.
Response: What should we as a result of that revelation? We need to be reminded of what we should be doing with our lives.
The sermon is placed between the revelation and response and bridges them. A good sermon teaches the Word (reveals God) and includes application for our lives (response to God). Having more than one song after the sermon was a big change for us since people are used to checking out after the sermon since only a song followed it before.
The Song Categories
Here is a list of the categories I am currently using with brief descriptions of each for now:
Revelation
Opener (Come to Worship): Songs that remind us why we are here and help us transition from the street to the sanctuary and move our focus to God. Easy songs to find.
GITS – Father (God in the Spotlight – Father)
GITS – Jesus (God in the Spotlight – Jesus)
These two categories are songs that showcase the attributes and works of God the Father and Jesus Christ. God in the Spotlight means ideally a lot about God and little about us. I started with high ideals and had to relax them. Hard songs to find; we like to sing about ourselves.
Response
Prayer - Holy Spirit: Songs that remind us the Holy Spirit dwells in believers and the role the Holy Spirit plays.
Prayer: Sung prayers
Response – To God: A song directed primarily to God
Response – To each other: A song directed primarily to each other
Many of these response songs would be great God in the Spotlight songs if there wasn’t so much focus on us.
Communion – Repentance: Sung prayer of repentance
Communion: Songs that focus on the Lord’s Supper and the death of Christ
Closer – Evangelism/Missions
Closer – Serve/Obey
Closer – Believe/Trust
Closers are songs that remind us and challenge us to live out our faith to a watching world. I broke them into three areas to balance our coverage. Evangelism/Missions is the hardest category to fill, followed by Serve/Obey. Believe/Trust is easy to fill.
Advent/Christmas: Songs that we typically only use during the Christmas season
I have discovered that many songs are hard to classify in a single category, so I choose the one I think is the best fit. Next I will show how we use these song categories to plan music for worship services.
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