Worship Set List Song Selection
I was recently asked how I choose songs for service. Hmmm. Let’s see. I fast from fruits and vegetables for three days. I light 4.3 candles in order of height and weight. I listen to 3 songs simultaneously and see which I can understand the best. I…… OK, I’ll stop there. To be honest, I’ve never really analyzed the process. I just usually went with what I thought was right. Now that I’ve thought it over a little, I would say that there are a few things I consider.
- IS THE SONG ENGAGING? This is nothing more than whether or not you think the song is AWESOME! You know what I’m talking about, the songs that jump out at you or take you somewhere when you first hear them. If a song did it to you, it will probably do the same for someone else.
- TRUTH. Does the song line up with the beliefs of your church.
- RELATIVITY. Does the song relate to the message being delivered that weekend? A song can have a huge impact on a person’s thoughts, especially when played immediately before or after the Pastor speaks.
- DISCERNMENT. Sometimes God puts a song in your head & heart that you would never choose, but you just have to do it whether you like it or not. God knows what He’s doing & if it changes just one person’s life, then it’s worth it.
- SPECIAL REQUEST. At times your Pastor will want to hear a certain song that really spoke to him/her. These are the songs that go on the set list for sure. Trust your Pastor and go with it. Always remember, you’re not the only person in your ministry that God is going to speak to through a song.
What about playing secular music? Well, that’s up to your Pastor. If he/she is cool with doing secular music, then there are a few things to consider.
- IS THE SONG CLEAN? I think you know what I mean. Is it free of innuendos and questionable language etc,.
- RELATIVITY. Does the song relate to the message being delivered that weekend?
- CASUALTIES. How many people are you willing to sacrifice? There will be some that are thinking “I can’t believe they’d play songs like that in church”. That will happen. It might be 1 person or 20, but it will happen. But, it all depends on how you look at it. You could look at it as pulling weeds or as pruning to help your congregation grow.
Examples of including secular music in your set list would be songs like “Whatever It Takes” from Lifehouse for a message on relationships. Or, “More Like Her” by Miranda Lambert for a message on infidelity.
What’s your criteria for choosing music? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
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About
About Me. Hmmm? Well, I am married to my beautiful wife Gloria and we have an awesome 6yr. old son named Jaden who has Down Syndrome. I’m a guitarist at heart with a passion for singing and songwriting. I’ve played guitar for almost 30 years now and I’ve been in a lot of bands in various genres. I’ve had the pleasure of opening shows for Kansas, Steppenwolf, Blue Oyster Cult, Nazareth, The Outfield, Chris Duarte, Edgar Winter, Building 429 and others. I’ve performed with the Corpus Christi Symphony and The Platters as a session guitarist.
Presently, I am the Multi Site Worship Pastor @ Bay Area Fellowship, which is a huge blessing. It’s allowed me to use my Music Ed. degree to the fullest and has become a real calling for my life. I am currently working with the worship leaders at 6 of our campuses by helping them create and maintain great worship teams at each campus. Above all, my relationship with God is the most important thing in my life and I pray that He would use the gifts He’s given me to reach the lost through engaging worship.
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Hey man, great lists. Two more things to consider–
1. in worship tunes… is the song sing-able? Does it fall within a good range (or can I change its key into a good singing range), and is the timing of the words natural (not too fast or too slow?)
2. In secular music (what my team would call illustrative music)… I would ask, “what tunes are part of the cultural conversation?” Since these tunes can be a strong connect to the community we worship in, it makes sense to strike while the iron is hot… For instance, recently our church wanted to illustrate the topic of prayer so we leaned towards “Say” by John Mayer as opposed to Coldplay’s “Talk,” just because it was getting more radio airplay at the time. (Not that both aren’t good choices).
Kevin, I totally agree. Thanks for the feedback.