Posted on 09/27/2020 2:39:07 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A church with one service a week will likely sing over 200 songs in a year. Our church has five services in two languages at two sites on Sunday. We also have Wednesday night programming. Throw in the student service and children’s ministry, and we probably sing close to 2,000 songs in a year (obviously some are sung more than once).
Songs elicit emotion. That’s how the art form works. Worship is no exception. Most have a favorite worship song. Most will have a few worship songs they don’t like. One song can mean something different to two people standing next to each other in the same service. A worship pastor can craft an excellent plan of 2,000 songs in a year and still receive complaints about “that one song.” In my pastoral experience, people care more about song selection than they do church doctrine.
Given the acute attention to worship songs, I asked a question of the Church Answers community and posted the same question on Twitter. The poll was done more for fun than science, but over three hundred people responded.
How involved should the lead pastor be in the selection of worship songs?
The Church Answers community provided a lot of clarification around these percentages in Church Answers Central, our coaching and consulting forum.
The level of involvement should be higher with a less experienced worship pastor. A long-tenured lead pastor will have more oversight with a new, inexperienced worship pastor. An inexperienced and young lead pastor should lean into the recommendations of a long-tenured worship pastor.
Lead pastors should provide plenty of lead time with themes and directions of sermon series. The worship ministry is often the largest ministry in the church (in close competition with the children’s ministry). Coordinating large amounts of volunteers takes time. When the lead pastor makes changes right before weekend worship services, it can cause a lot of chaos in the worship ministry.
Sole pastors of smaller churches with volunteers tend to do more song selection than lead pastors of larger churches with staff. This one makes sense. I did most everything at my first church, which had all of six people. I not only selected the songs, but I led worship. On a karaoke machine. Yes, it was as bad as you are thinking.
There is a distinction between “picking” and “approving” songs. Some churches have a predetermined bucket of songs from which to choose. The lead pastor works with the worship ministry on selecting these songs ahead of time. Then the worship pastor can choose from them for any given service.
A weekly standing meeting between the lead pastor and worship pastor is beneficial and will help with tensions that can exist with song selection. When the worship pastor and lead pastor meet regularly, a bond of trust is formed. A standing meeting can build unity and friendship that the church will feel during worship.
The goal of song selection is more complex and deeper than simply reinforcing the sermon. The worship experience should do more than simply build up to the sermon. Worship pastors selecting songs desire to complement the sermon, but there is more to the process. Churches are full of people with a complexity of emotions and experiences. Worship pastors should select songs according to the mood and experience of the church, in addition to the text and topic of the sermon.
Equip or hire the right people and you will not need to be as concerned about song selection. When lead pastors micromanage song selection, it can become a source of frustration for competent worship pastors.
Song selection is one of the most visible parts of a worship experience—something felt by most everyone in the church. Lead pastors should be in tune with what songs the church sings. High-level guidance is what most believe is the best degree of involvement.
Originally published at Church Answers
As President of Church Answers, Sam Rainer wears many hats. From podcast co-host to full-time Pastor at West Bradenton Baptist Church, Sam’s heart for ministry and revitalization are evident in all he does.
RE: They are accountable to him.
He is accountable to the church and to God for what he allows to be taught in the pulpit ( in this case,through the words of the songs ).
“Does God HATE electric guitars? No basis in scripture to say. My guess is no. But Isaiah 55:8 should be considered.”
I’m not sure that is the right question. However, I have seen electric guitar music summon demons, but never angels.
My guess is that Satan has made that music his own, and God hasn’t seen fit to do anything about it.
When visiting Mom last year, we found some of Dad’s vinyl records of the OFRH Quartet. We brought them home and turned them into MP3s. Great music.
“I loathe ‘praise’ music”
Me, too!
“pyrotechnics and laser shows. I’ve seen some churches that looked like a Who concert”
My niece was baptized in Andy Stanley’s church in the Atlanta area. There WERE pyrotechnics — and noise makers, and confetti, and a rock ‘n’ roll band. At a BAPTISMAL service. We walked out.
“it’s not a bad idea for the pastor to select the hymn.”
I can’t imagine the pastor NOT selecting the hymns for the song service. My dad and uncles always did. And they had to approve the “special music”, too. One newcomer to our church was going to sing some pop song with a touchy-feeling aura to it. It was nixed immediately.
“Depending on the church, it might be OK for a member to suggest a hymn.”
In our church when I was growing up, we had regular hymns in the morning worship service and prayer meeting. Same with the Sunday evening service, except that one Sunday night each month we’d have a “singspiration” where the congregation would choose the hymns to be sung.
Possibly a gender-neutral variant of sung with the past tense de-emphasized so as not to bring shame on those younger congregants who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, except when drums are beating.
Brought to you by the same grammarians who invented social distancing, parenting and doxing I would guess.
There's something Orwellian about this trend toward coining words that are neither fish nor foul, leaving most of us outside their exclusive circle pretty much in the dark, wouldn't you say?
Possibly a gender-neutral variant of sung with the past tense de-emphasized so as not to bring shame on those younger congregants who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, except when drums are beating.
Brought to you by the same grammarians who invented social distancing, parenting and doxing I would guess.
There's something Orwellian about this trend toward coining words that are neither fish nor foul, leaving most of us outside their exclusive circle pretty much in the dark, wouldn't you say?
Dang. Double-click, double post.
Yup. If you don’t teach the Word of God...what you sinh is completely irrelevant.
Sing...not sinh.
that cracked me up! One time I went to a little cowboy church and the band led worship with an Eagles song.... "Take it easy." Never went back. Another church played AC/ DC at the men's retreat.
I go to a liturgical church. Every Sunday we have readings of significant chunks of scripture from the historical or prophetical books of the Old Testament, from the Psalms, from one of the New Testament epistles and from one of the gospels. Our priest is expected to be guided by these readings when preparing his sermon. Once I accompanied friends to their "Bible" church. The people were welcoming and sincere and I have no reason to assume they were not living lives focused on Christ. But I heard only one verse of scripture during the entire service.
This was no fluke. I attended their services several more times. There was never a single reference to scripture. No reading from the Bible, nothing.
I have zero desire to ever go back to that church. I simply attended those services when visiting my friends. They only attended that church for a short time. They no longer attend church at all. While I do believe that there are a few believers that attend that church, I personally feel like they are being fed cake and ice cream instead of something worthy of sinking your teeth into and chewing on for at least a few days.
I don’t just read my Bible, I actually study it. I have been told by other Christians that you should not expect your pastor to “feed you.” I totally agree. I expect him to challenge me, make me think, convict me, or want to make me a better Christian. I don’t want baby food.
Maybe the writer is not a native speaker of English.
In my church, the choir directors (I am one) choose the songs. If our pastor likes the music, he says so, and if he doesn't, he shrugs.
He has authority over everything to do with the liturgy, but music doesn't especially interest him.
Oh, my! Those churches were seriously lacking pastors with good foundations.
We love in TN now and our church sings hymns from the basic hymnal, with a few southern gospel numbers thrown in sometimes, which I love. The “worship team”, though, makes the first part of the service must-miss church.
The “song leader” doesn’t lead the music — has no clue how to, I guess. He just clutches his precious mic and pretends to be Barry Manilow. The piano charges ahead with great vigor and I guess she really leads the music.
My church back home in NY still hasn’t changed over the decades, and opens with the “Gloria Patri” or “The Doxology”. Real piano. Real organ. Real song leader. No drums. It’s nice to visit and realize that respectful services still exist somewhere on earth.
That’s what keeps me from going to church. The music is way too loud and boringly repetitive. I’ve tried, really tried, but I can’t take it.
They call that 7-11 music--seven words repeated 11 times.
I call them “Jesus is My Boyfriend” songs.
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