Most pastors are more than happy for someone else to choose the songs on Sunday morning. With sermon preparation, counseling, and countless other responsibilities, shouldn’t someone else worry about what the congregation will sing?
While I understand the difficult demands of being a pastor, I want to encourage pastors to be involved in the selection of songs for corporate worship. Levels of engagement may differ (based on a number of factors), but it’s not appropriate for pastors to disengage completely. After all, there’s truth to the saying, “We are what we sing.” The songs we sing together shape our thoughts of God, the gospel, and the way we see the world. In fact, singing to one another is a mark of the Spirit’s filling (Ephesians 5:18–19) and the word of Christ dwelling in us richly (Colossians 3:16).
With this in mind, I want to share six imperatives I’ve come to value in the selection of songs for corporate worship. Then I’ll describe how we put these principles into practice for a Sunday service at my church.
Six Imperatives for Selecting Songs
1. Gather a team. Some churches have staff in this role. Our church has volunteers, since God has gifted us with several theologically-minded and gifted musicians and vocalists. We meet to think about music and, at times, to give the elders feedback regarding the direction of corporate worship. If there is no one at your church who can help you, pray the Lord brings you a team.
2. Create a “canon” of songs. This is simply a list of songs we refer to when planning a service. It is not a closed canon! We are constantly adding and removing songs from this list. It took us a couple years to compile, and it’s always a work in progress. We are eager to add songs that are theologically robust, musically pleasant, and easily learned by the congregation….