Familiarity - User Opinions
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How in the world
As a new worship leader, I have in the past (and still do, sometimes) fall to the new song temptation. I get so eager for the church to have the opportunity to hear a GREAT song, that I rush it. It's a hard balance. Unfortunately, I also am at a church, and have a team, that doesn't like change. AT ALL. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but for a music lover, who is a sponge for cool, powerful new songs, it feels that way. I'd love to see a template for how to introduce new songs for the church that's not full of music lovers.
We've done the start as a special, do it several weeks in a row, thing. We have a SMALL repertoire, and it seems hard to keep up with all the AWESOME songs. How do the "mega-churches" with worship teams that ROCK (you know Hillsongs, Lakewood, etc.) introduce new songs to their congregations, AND especially when the have so many gifted, anointed, prolific writers?Feel free to e-mail me with thoughts and advice. Thanks,
-B
Submitted by: B Harvey
Location: Statesboro, GA
Date Added: 2008-02-12
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Don't Overdue Familiarity
At our church, the ministers over our worship team sometimes overdo familiarity. At times they get into a place where they will not allow introduction of new songs because they are concerned about the people's response. We have had times when the people were so bored! Trying to get the people to participate in worship was like pulling teeth! It was very frustrating. It was not until we began to introduce new songs that we saw a difference. I believe that God is always moving and speaking. We should not allow worship to become stagnant. With the revelation of fresh Word, there should be fresh music/songs to go along with it. Your method of allowing people to learn new songs and to not introduce more than one at a time is quite practical. I also believe that while we must be careful not to become people pleasers, we need to be aware of whether or not our people are "getting" what we are presenting. Their response can help us determine if our songs are working, especially in a church where the team writes songs for the ministry.
Submitted by: Yvonne George
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Date Added: 2007-06-22
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New Songs
I know that new songs are powerful if you have a worship team (singers and musicians) who know the song, and then of course the words up and changed on time from verse to chorus so that all in attendance can see and sing. Simple songs of people's need for God, Hillsong United, bring the passion out of any parishioner whose hearts desire is to worship God.
Submitted by: Nate
Location: Stockton, CA
Date Added: 2005-09-23
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again?
I participate on a worship team and have had moments of "oh..... this one *again*?" One thing I've learned though is to be obedient as a worshipper and to be a leader as a worship team member. For me, the more time I spend with a song, the more it becomes mine. Every Sunday morning brings music with new meaning as I sing with another week of life behind me - I am reminded of how the Lord carried me, convicted me, elated me, challenged me as I sing or play the same song, but with added meaning. Yeah, there are those songs that just seem to be spent, but they're not to someone else and I must be considerate enough to not squelch any enthusiasm for them, but to participate in their joy as they sing - a corporate worship experience.
Submitted by: joanna
Location: fort worth
Date Added: 2005-09-20
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Familiarity
I tend to agree with the idea of doing familiar songs although we do like to teach new songs also. We did a concert at our church recently where we had previously asked the congregation members to pick their favorite songs and we picked the top 10 for the concert. We were very surprised by the songs they chose. They did pick a new song as their number one song, You are holy, but some of the others they picked were songs our praise team was ready to put to pasture such as Awesome God, Lord I lift Your name on high, Open the eyes of my heart, Let it rise and Amazing grace. We were blown away by this. We like to keep a good blend of familiar songs and still teach new and exciting songs about once a month on average. Thanks.
Submitted by: Tom Becker
Location: Mays Landing N.J.
Date Added: 2004-09-08
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familiarty
Good article
A few points of my own. I don't believe in to much repeating of songs, in my experience that leaves to lazy people who end up just doing lip servece and not coming from the heart. To much familiarty lets the mind wander and the heart is not into the song. I think that introducing new songs get people interested in the new music out there. They should be listening to good Christian music any way, and new songs should inspire them to do so even more.
Submitted by: Diana katona
Location: Yreka
Date Added: 2004-09-02
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A Dissenting Voice. . .Sort of
I'm going to chime in here as the one (it seems) dissenting voice--at least partially so.I'm in agreement with most of the points made here. In fact, the suggestions made are, for the most part, common sense. It takes time to achieve a comfort level with a song, so I agree that flooding a congregation with stuff they've never heard before is not conducive to worship. I do intrduce new songs on a regular basis but usually limit them to one per month. We also repeat the new song for three or four weeks to allow the congregation a chance to get comfy with it. Now, here's where I disagree. The whole idea that simple is good and complex is to be avoided doesn't make sense to me. In fact, I think it tends to make us lazy, both as singers and worshipers. Some hymns ARE wordy! So what? Christians thought nothing of singing them for centuries. Why should this generation be any different? Hymns contain words that inspire worship, adoration, and praise and also contain great truths about the God we worship. Can today's music accomplish the same thing? Of course! God isn't limited by genre. Jesus tells us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Truth comes by hearing the Word. Let's keep the truth of the Word in our worship.
Submitted by: Kathryn Thuma
Location: Fremont, CA
Date Added: 2002-10-01
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Helpful article, thanks!
Our Praise and Worship Team is fairly new. We have about 150 songs, and while we do introduce new songs *to* the congregation (rather than have them sing along), we don't do much repetition at all. Gee, no wonder it's hard for folks to sing along! (G)I'll pass out your article to the team and the pastors, and it will help us to focus more effectively on producing the right environment for the Lord to do His work. Many thanks - your consistently great work on this site is wonderful! Michael (www.brewsterbaptistchurch.org)
"God is good all the time... He put His song of praise in this heart of mine"
Submitted by: Michael Kemp
Location: Brewster, Massachusetts
Date Added: 2002-09-28
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