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Below are this month's featured songs. Click here to hear all the featured songs (streaming playlist).
Below are is our special featured Christmas songs with special thanks to Praise Charts. Click here to hear them all. And as always we continue to receive heaps of submissions to the database of God-praising songs. That little near-linear line is squiggling it's way up to nearly 3500 songs.
And to add to that we have nearly 4000 people coming each day to check out these songs. It makes it all worth it to see the encouraging emails from users back to the writers saying how much they were blessed by the songs that they've posted freely for God's glory online. Please keep them coming through.
This time around Rick Muchow has written about talking too much and retiring songs. Psalm 144:9 does talk about singing a NEW song. Maybe you can get some new ones from ShareSong.org. :)
Blessings... until next time.
Marty Kendall ShareSong.org Coordinator
QUESTION: Talk Much?
“Do you talk much when leading worship services? Some worship leaders say almost nothing while others talk as much as some preachers. How do you handle that?”
RICK MUCHOW:
You might think that the most important variable is the Holy Spirit’s leading, and that is absolutely the case. I believe that my role as a worship leader is to serve my Pastor’s philosophy of ministry The Spirit of God leads him, and in that context leads me as well. I’ve said this many times and it continues to be true: my ministry on the platform at Saddleback is more a reflection of my Pastor’s ministry philosophy than of my personality and worship style preference.
When I lead the weekend services at Saddleback, I am free to speak whenever I want and for as long as I want, though obviously we have a service schedule and timeline. If I feel led, I am free to speak. My Pastor also feels the freedom to ask me to talk less when he feels I am talking too much. We work together to balance each service.
I believe that when I lead worship, the process speaks for me through the way I lead the songs, the songs I’ve selected, the words of encouragement… All of these help me to quickly connect the congregation to the presence of God, and then to fade into the background. I’ve found that short and clear words of encouragement are generally enough for me, though at times I also feel led to and do say more. The Holy Spirit leads on the platform and He can be spontaneous. He also leads just as much during the planning of the service. Chris Tomlin studies his order of service for 2 hours, visualizing how each song leads the congregation closer to the Lord. That is a great example of how the Holy Spirit can be involved just as much as through a spontaneous commentary or encouragement.
My planned speaking at Saddleback generally consists of a friendly welcome, encouragement to participate in the singing, direction to sit and stand, congregational prayer, and when necessary, crowd control such as the Saddleback Shuffle to make room for people coming in. Very rarely will I use speaking to introduce a song. A good song explains itself. A note about encouragement… it’s easy to overdo encouragement. We don’t have to kick the hive to get the honey out.
In the end, people generally don’t remember sermons and information for all that long. People remember sermons best when they are seen or sung. They can remember songs and the truth found in the lyrics for a lifetime. Choose your songs wisely, present them well and you will have more impact on your congregation than you could ever have by speaking.
QUESTION: Retiring Songs?
“I saw the column about rotating new songs in, but I was curious about what happens to the song when it's no longer in the introduction phase. Once a song is out of its introduction period, and you have larger catalogue of songs, do you play the song every 3-4 months? Retire it completely?”
RICK MUCHOW:
When you’ve developed a catalogue of songs and can’t play all of them in a two month period, you now have a library that allows you to choose your songs to fit more closely to each service’s theme or message. Songs are communication tools, so the more songs you have, the more you are able to use your song selection as a scalpel instead of a steak knife.
There are many themes in worship. Some denominations have a liturgy that is followed week to week. One great benefit of this approach is that you will cover a wide range of themes over the course of a year. We need these variations in our music as well. Let me give you an example. At the moment, Romans is my favorite book of the Bible. I read Romans almost every day along with a bit of Proverbs. Though I love these two books, I will have a limited and narrow sense of God’s character and will, and what He’s done for me if I stay in these two books. The same is true for our worship services and the songs we sing.
All churches should develop a song catalog, like a radio station playlist. Not your local station’s list of popular songs, but a playlist that includes a wide range of themes from the Christian life. The more we can match songs to our service themes, the more we are connecting our congregation to God, helping them to know Him better and to understand how worthy He is of our praise.
Catalog your songs by theme, style, tempo, and date. Each one of these criteria is valuable in helping you to select songs that match service themes. Stock your catalog with songs that are familiar, easy to learn, easy to remember and instantly singable. A great reference on writing and choosing good songs is a recent book by Paul Baloche with Jimmy and Carol Owens, titled “God Songs.” Paul is one of today's most prolific songwriters for the church and Jimmy and Carol are among the pioneers of Contemporary Christian Music and the modern worship movement. See jimmyandcarolowens.com. They list 30 qualities that are common to good songs and 20 qualities common to bad songs.
Do we retire songs? Not all the songs we introduce will work. We don’t always pick good songs. Style, tempo, time and theme may no longer be a good fit. It’s easy to know when to retire some songs. Some songs will work so well that you may never retire them. Before I will retire a good song from my catalog, I might refresh it or rework the arrangement. If the lyrics are good, the melody is singable and it’s a great song, it will be usable for a very long time with some reworking. When leading a good song, if the congregation is no longer connecting and responding, refresh it. If the song still doesn’t connect, retire it.
I’ve been surprised at how some songs will come in and out of fashion, like the clothes in our closets. It’s important to keep good records for your playlist/catalog, so you can locate the right song or songs when a theme or need arises.
When choosing songs, every song needs to have a purpose in my order of worship for that service. I ask myself several questions. Does it match or emphasize the message theme? Does it help the congregation to participate? Is the song expressing a universal Biblical truth that all Christians need to express to God? To maximize the impact of our worship services, we should use our catalog to help us to do our best to utilize songs based on the purpose of the service (not the popularity of the song) while balancing the need for familiarity.
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Barry and Terri Collecut's
