Thursday, 12 June 2008
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The Right Praise Song for Your Church
by mr. oakI wanted to share a little bit of something I've been thinking about. I lead worship at my church, and one of toughest things for me is choosing songs for praise.
My general metric is as follows:
- Grounded in the Word
- Easy for anyone to follow
- Mentions God (you'll be surprised how many don't)
- Is not sung by Britney Spears
- Doesn't smell
Ok, I jest on the last two, but there's more to this too. When picking - I'm also thinking about what's best for the
congregation.Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe one of the tasks of the worship leader is to actually go out there and make sure you know the congregation. Asking for prayer requests, making sure you know everyone by name, understanding what's going on with the church members during the week - hopefully responding with the right songs. But then this gets tricky - I started to notice that I begin to cater more to the crowd.
Also, this gets tiring too - I'm either too busy to reach out to the congregants, or I'm often thinking about things that aren't as important like the way the song sounds, what key it's in, how to transition. Also, we have our service pretty early in the morning, and I'm always bummed when I don't see people showing up early. Literally, sometimes there's only 2 people in the seats in the morning while there's 6 of us leading praise. Let alone, I have yet to hear people saying they're blessed, or feel people moving. Perhaps it's too early. Well, at least that's what I tell myself.
But then it dawned on me recently - it's not about me. And it's never about the music, it's not about how much we practice, what we sound like, or even playing for the crowd. And it's not about whether people are in the seats, or how skilled we all are. It's not about the transitions, the instruments, or even the words.
It's all about worship. And it's all for Him. And it's interesting...ever since that message sunk in, praise is so different now. I enjoy it immensely - I love it. In fact, I look forward to it everyday...even right now, I'm thinking about it.
But I ask you, what do you think is the best way to praise?
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Comments (13)
this is a good entry ! and it gives me so good advice on how to lead/guide a worship..
you are right, worship is for HIM and not for anything else.
My favorite part of being at church is the praises and worship. I am the kind of gal that will SING and DANCE!! I am out to reach God and I don't care what people would think. At this new church that I am attending, kinda sucks for worship. I want and need beats, something that is quick and amazing. I am not for slow music or soft stuff either. If you know who DcTalk was and TobyMac is... Those are the kind I would go for!! If you're thinking I am a teenager, guess again, I am 27 years old.
Maybe you can try different music every week. Then again, it is all about God and HOW you feel about Him that should be able to pull people to the worship. If I saw someone that is bored worshiping then I would be bored too... If I saw some upbeating about it, screaming and shouting, I am all for it!
I went to a worship leading workshop by brian Doerksen and he said that the worship leader's job is like being the best man at a wedding. You set the atmosphere between the husband and wife and at the right moment you step aside. I also asked him what to do when you don't feel like leading worship and he said, "it's not about where your heart is, but where God's heart is."
wow. freakin' kudos. i often forget what worship is about is sing only from the throat instead of the heart. maybe that's what worship is: anything from your heart to God's. period.
I lead worship at my church too and it's a very small congregation also. I don't know what I would say the best way to praise is per say .. I do think though that we should worship the Lord in spirit and in truth and when I stand in front of the congregation that's what I try to do, lead them into worshiping him in spirit and in truth and lead as I worship him in spirit and in truth ...
My old church had problems with its worship team, they couldn't find a good leader. The worship when we arrived was nice. The worship when I left was rule-bound and could randomly bore me to tears. Now I think that if you are spending your effort on trying not to cry you can't propery worship. Then I went to my new church, which everybody else had found before I did. Their worship is a concert-like environment. People aren't afraid to clap, whistle (loudly), raise their hands, or express themselves in any way. It's a little strange to go from Southern Baptist to Non-Denominational, but it is nice to have worship you can get excited about.
Since anything we do at church, any act of service, is our gift to God and an act of worship, we should make the best we can make it. We don't want to offer God the cast-off offerings. However, as worship leaders or members of a praise team, you have to walk that fine line between making sure your offering to God is the best you can all make it and not "performing" for God. It is a tough job and I am sure you will struggle with that continuously. It is an act of service. Even if you don't "feel like it" but do it anyway, God blesses your intentions. It shows your desire to be obidient.
I think it's finding a good balance of both. It is possible for praise to be distracting. Like Mike Pilivachi would say, "A worship leader must be both a pastor and a prophet." If you're just a pastor, people follow you but you won't go anywhere. If you're just a prophet, you'll know exactly where you're going but nobody will follow you. Also, you need both passion and knowledge. I realized that each congregation could be different. Some congregations love hymns and some love hillsong. I think what you're doing engaging with the congregation is great. Keep it up man.
I read your posting with interest. While I do love going to CreationFest and enjoy contemporary Christian music, I find myself squirming at some of the "praise" music that I am hearing. At a recent service where praise music was featured, I noticed that the words "I" and "me" were prominently featured, but mention of the Holy was very limited. There is a danger, I think, when we "praise with music" in order to make ourselves heard or when the praise is designed to make ourselves feel good about what we are doing. Worship and praise are to be giving the glory to GOD and not to humor, amuse, or uplift ourselves. Anytime that the focus is drawn away from God, I think we are in danger of offending God. After all, to Him belongs the honor and praise and glory.
I don't know about best - but I find the easiest way to worship is
in my car,, with a CD blasting as I'm driving down the road. All my
insecurities are lifted, there are no mental distractions (excepting
the ones needed for driving, which can be second-nature). It's so
uplifting for me.
I have this belief there are two types of Christian music. There's Christian music, and then there's worship music. I've been at a church where the worship leaders, as talented as they were, sometimes confused the 2 and seemed more concerned about playing the latest music you hear on the local Christian stations. A lot of the time it just wasn't engaging.
Example: Chris Tomlin vs. Third Day. Chris Tomlin tours and puts out CDs to support himself in ministry. What he does (especially after reading his book) is all to spread His glory and word through music. Third Day on the other hand, though a couple of their songs have become good songs for worship, they do it more as a "job". I'm not discrediting their talent, their relationship with God or anything like that. I'm just trying to make the distinction.
What I love about Hillsong and Chris Tomlin is that a lot of their songs are very "Him focused" and "what He has done in my life" as opposed to a "me" focus, which some songs do.
Good songs to use in church worship are those that naturally make you reflect on what He has done in your life, whether it be things like healing, affirmation, reminder of His power and glory, etc.
For me, I praise best when I close my mind off of everyone else around me and just pour my heart out to our Creator. Sometimes out loud, most of the time silently in my heart. I too am a worship leader to my youth group. I am a teenager who will be a sophomore very soon in a Southern Baptist congregation. God had called me to my church from a Methodist church in which the congregation was extremely open in their worship. It was a huge change, but I feel that God is hopefully going to use me. Every Wednesday night is a whole new change from the week before as I am sure that you also find that. Don't forget what worship is truly centered around. I know that I often forget that and I have to continually remind myself that I am not putting on a show but guiding my brothers and sisters in Christ closer to the Lord.
i can only think of two, to be in the dead last row in the pews so i am free to sing/dance/kneel/bow/clap/jump/whateveritis without worrying about being a distraction and being distracted by stares or remarks, and in the shower.