Planning the weekly service is not one of my favorite responsibilities. But choosing the song we focus on for the month is something I enjoy. When I am picking songs of the month, here is the criteria I tend to use:
1. Is the song "singable" musically?
Some would think that this shouldn't top the list, but it does for me. The melody line ought to echo in people's heads through the week. If a song is enjoyable musically - people will remember it. For me, it starts here.
2. Is the song accurate theologically?
Most would think this would top the list, but it doesn't with me for one simple reason: I'm more than willing to change poor lyrics. If I find a melody line that won't leave my head - and the lyrics need some adjusting, I'm more than happy to do that. We've done that on one song over the past year ("Our God Saves") and on several songs over the years ("Mighty to Save" "Hear Us from Heaven").
3. Is there balance is our song selection?
I want a balance between deep lyrics and simply words of adoration for God. So if one month the new song was a deep expression of the atonement of the cross, then I'd like to have a more "simple" song of adoration the next month. It seems that some writers want to write songs that are so packed with theology that you need a dictionary to know what you are singing. I do want the lyrics to teach, but that is not the primary purpose. I want us to worship God because of Who He is and what He has done. I want our songs to capture people's minds and emotions. I also want a balance between fast and slow tempo songs and a balance between songs that are "softer" in feel and ones that drive pretty hard.
4. Are the lyrics God-centered?
There is a place to sing about our response to God ("Now Is the Time to Worship") or a song that teaches ("Ancient Words"), but I want the vast majority to be ABOUT God or better yet - simply singing TO God.
5. Are the lyrics cross-centered?
I want every song we sing to point to the cross. I long for our church to be a Gospel-centered church. This is probably the category that I DO want our songs to teach. I long for people to focus on the cross of Christ and what he accomplished for us. And the songs we sing do help us remember what Christ accomplished on the cross for us (perhaps more on that in a future post). The songs we sing need to point in that direction or I lose interest in them pretty quickly.
6. Can our band play it well?
Not every worship song you hear on the radio is "playable" by the average worship band. But our group of musicians are extremely talented so this question is rarely answered 'No.' And when it is 'No' - it is because of our limited instrument selection. Without an electric guitar and a larger percussion section - some songs just don't "work" well. There are some songs that need certain instrumentation to do them well.
That's about it. I don't have this list in front of me when picking a song; this list is based on hindsight observation. The way I pick new songs isn't very impressive. I buy a lot of worship
CDs and play them in my office and find out which ones I find myself
singing throughout the day. That shows me the most singable of the songs - then I begin to evaluate them based on the other criteria. Not too impressive - huh? And about two or three times a month someone suggests a song (which I like too).
I love the songs we sing and the energy with which our church body embraces them! Make sure you vote on your favorite songs from the past year. It will help me in the future. Go to yesterday's blog "Why We Sing the Songs We Sing - part 1" (click on that) and place a comment there (at the bottom of the post - look for the "comments" option. Or simply reply to this email with your favorite song we have taught in the last year.