Therefore, the messages we place in the hearts of our people need to be closely monitored. Helping our congregations voice their worship in song is a primary responsibility of the worship leaders, and we need to realize that reality should shape so much of how we select music, choose keys, involve the congregation, etc.
I see a massive problem in churches that have transformed their congregations into an audience of spectators rather than active participants. Much of this is our fault as worship leaders.
In the next weeks, I will work comprehensively through many areas that we need to consider in helping our congregations voice their worship and praise. Some of the areas I will discuss are:
- How do we find the BEST songs in a pool of hundreds of news songs?
- How do we filter possible songs to see if they are suitable for our congregation, knowing that every congregation has its unique DNA?
- How do we introduce new songs in a way that will capture the hearts of our people and help them adopt the song as their own expression of worship?
- Why is the original, artist version of a song usually not a good idea for our congregation?
- How many songs should be on rotation in our church–i.e. how many songs should be on our song list from which we plan worship?
- How do we help our congregations REALLY sing the songs (active participants) in worship rather than be spectators?
- What does the song repertoire look like in a church that seeks to be unified/multigenerational?
There is so much to unpack here, but I invite you to journey with me as we sincerely seek to be the best worship leaders we can be in helping our congregations truly worship.
