Worship Podcast
I could be naive, but I imagine the word “worship” used to be a lot simpler. Worship today is a buzzword, an industry, a brand. While I’m thrilled that the worship of God is immensely popular and prominent, I wonder if we are losing the heart. Is it possible to go through the motions of worship services, program massive productions, build bigger churches, and God not be worshiped?
What comes to mind when you think about worship?
[This post is part of a series on Your Guide to Selecting and Leading Songs for Worship. Check out the rest here.]
I never knew the phrase “we should do more hymns” would feel like a stab in the heart. It hurts even more when it’s followed up with the leg sweep of “we don’t like your songs”.
So as I lie there bloodied and battered down, I wonder, “Do these people know how much time I put into worship for Sunday morning?” Praying through the setlist, scheduling the band, preparing for a great rehearsal, praying for God to move, showing up early, getting nervous, pouring my heart out.
And then I hear it echoing through my head like an annoying baby toy: “we should do more hymns, we should do more hymns, we should do more…”
I know that was maybe slightly dramatic. But in all honesty, it’s how we as worship leaders feel when it comes to hymns: it’s an all-out war! The elder segment of the church desire the rich theology of the songs they sang when they were saved, while the young people desire the new, fresh expressions of worship because they just don’t “get” the hymns.
[This post is part of a series on Your Guide to Selecting and Leading Songs for Worship. Check out the rest here.]
Choosing songs for worship is hard. It’s an acquired skill, akin to riding a bike in that you can eventually learn to do it well every time. Over the years I have made some mistakes in choosing a setlist and I hope to spare you the pain.
[This post is part of a series on Your Guide to Selecting and Leading Songs for Worship. Check out the rest here.]
You may not consider yourself a “talented songwriter”. You may even feel that you just get by picking out songs and leading a band on Sunday morning. That’s OK. This post is still for you. Writing songs for your local church may seem like an daunting task.
I hope to convince you otherwise.
First off, why should you write songs for your local church?
[This post is part of a series on Your Guide to Selecting and Leading Songs for Worship. Check out the rest here.]
We all know that certain songs stand out above the rest. But what makes them so unique? As a worship leader who picks songs each weekend and a songwriter who wants to write engaging songs, what are the qualities I should look for?
What should you be looking for?
Here’s my take, which I call the SEAT method: