Every worshiping community has an appetite and a pace for adding songs to their worship vocabulary.
College ministry? They would probably be happy with a new song every week or two!
Senior adult ministry? Why would we ever want to learn a new song?
Okay… those may be unfair exaggerations. The senior adults at our church are open to new songs, and our college students are among those who love it when we sing songs found in the old hymnal. But you get the point.
If you are struggling to get your congregation to sing new songs, let me share some thoughts that may help:
- Make sure you know the heart of your congregation. Otherwise, you’ll introduce the wrong songs. The goal is for their hearts to sing, their minds to sing, their lips to move!
- The less accustomed your folks are to learning new songs, the longer it will take for new lyrics to get into their bones. In the old “Hymn of the Month” plan, it was a 4-5 week process. This may be a good place for you to start. It may also be a bit much.
- For those of us accustomed to learning new songs, the “magic formula” seems to be this sort of rhythm:
- A. Week 1 — introduce the song as mostly presentational, inviting folks to sing as they are learning. In some more traditional church settings, this could be a solo, a kids/student ensemble, or an adult choir.
- Week 2 — come right back to the song and invite people to sing from the get-go.
- Week 3 — give the song a break. This seems to do something neurologically that I’m not smart enough to explain.
- Week 4 — bring the new song back around. By now, most people will know and sing the song.
- NOTE: Refer to #1 above; all of this is useless if it is a song that doesn’t resonate with the collective heart of your people. If it connects with their hearts, it’ll be hard to take it out of a frequent rotation. If it doesn’t connect, put it away. They’re not worshiping; they’re indulging the worship planner.
- Teach it to music folks ahead of time: kid’s choir, student choir, adult choir.
- Make sure those leading the song know it really, really well. I’ve failed here too often. It can’t seem new to the folks on stageor the uncertainty will cripple those off the stage.
- If you use recorded music before and after services, put the new song in the playlist for a month beforehand.
- Share the song on social media, especially the church page and the page of whoever will lead the song. Ask others on the worship team to do the same.
- A word of encouragement here: focus people on the lyrics, not the style. For churches in worship division or transition, this is especially significant. It’s hard for the critic to argue with great lyrics; it’s easy for them to argue with the preference of style.
- As you celebrate fabulous new lyrics, connect them to Scripture. I find this helpful for myself, those on the platform, and those in the seats.
One more word about how many and how often: It’s too contextual for me to call.
But it is essential for you to call; it’s your context.
This is where the worship leader gets to be an amateur sociologist. Ask people what songs they already connect with. I don’t ask what songs people like; that’s a bit too consumeristic for me. But I will say, “Hey, tell me a song we’ve introduced in the last year or two that has really resonated in your heart.” Or I will ask, “Is there an old song you’ve really missed singing?” And when they answer the follow up question is golden! I usually respond something like, “Oh, I love that one! Tell me why you miss it?”
It’s like being a private investigator, uncovering the heart-song of your congregation.
What if there aren’t any songs that seem to connect your people with the heart of God?
Then it is time for some serious spiritual formation from the preacher and key leaders about what worship is and can be for your congregation.
I could go on for a long time about this important dynamic. I’m curious though; what helped you with this? As a worship leader or a worshiper?
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