[Jo1967]

.....picking your congregational music? The "Top 25" thread got me to thinking about this. The majority of the music we use we just continue to use (of course, only if it is well received) and just keep adding new songs in thus creating a large list to pick from. In the end, most songs get used only 3-4 times per year. However, I use CCLI as a resource for a lot of the new music figuring it is the "tried and true" (plus a lot of it plays on our local Christian station here). In any case, I'm just curious what other methods other leaders use. Do you use songs from CD's you like or particular artists you like?

[fendstratplaya]

Leading a youth worship, alot of our music comes from camps and conferences we go to. Kids go, love the worship, so we play it safe and play the songs. Most of our more well-recieved and more "beloved" songs come around this way.

Other than that, it is big time mixing and matching. I am pretty picky about quality on the songs, so we get them from all over. Now that I examine it, we really do have an odd library...

I've actually been looking to find more music for the new school year, but nothing has really caught my ear yet.

[gtrdave]

I use a variety of sources and resources; word of mouth, radio, CD's, other churches, youth group and even writing our own.

As stated in the other thread, the CCLI list seems somewhat 'dated' or at least it does to someone like me who's been doing this worship thing for over a decade. It's like a well-worn top 40 playlist; narrow and sort of vanilla.
That fact inspires me to look elsewhere for new music like Gospel (Smokie Norful, Marvin Sapp, Kirk Franklin), contempo-Gospel (Israel Houghton, Lakewood), and lesser-known Tommy Walker songs, Vineyard songs and others.
And there's always hymns.

[Jo1967]

Originally Posted by gtrdave

That fact inspires me to look elsewhere for new music like Gospel (Smokie Norful, Marvin Sapp, Kirk Franklin), contempo-Gospel (Israel Houghton, Lakewood), and lesser-known Tommy Walker songs, Vineyard songs and others.
:

So, in the above cases (as I'm not familiar with a few of those artists or their songs), are you leading congregational singing or is your service format to play some songs for the congregation rather than to have them join in?

I'm asking because there have been times when I put more upbeat, meatier songs out there (of course I cannot think of a specific name right now), and found that the congregation had a hard time following. Vanilla ends up being easier to deal with a lot of the time.

[gtrdave]

Originally Posted by Jo1967

So, in the above cases (as I'm not familiar with a few of those artists or their songs), are you leading congregational singing or is your service format to play some songs for the congregation rather than to have them join in?

I'm asking because there have been times when I put more upbeat, meatier songs out there (of course I cannot think of a specific name right now), and found that the congregation had a hard time following. Vanilla ends up being easier to deal with a lot of the time.

It's my desire that the congregation be welcome to sing as much as they wish as we're not there to put on a concert for them or perform for them, so to speak. The Bible says dozens of times to "sing to the Lord" so I want to use music that invites everyone to do just that, understanding that it might take a time or two (but usually just a verse or two) before they join in to a song that is new and unknown.

What I mean by "vanilla" is that song, like "Sweet Home Alabama", that you may have heard a bazillion times...as if that was the only song that Lynyrd Skynyrd ever wrote and recorded. Yes, most everyone is familiar with it, so much so that they're probably sick to death of it.
There were other songs, great songs, on the same album and even more songs on the other 5 or 6 records from that era but you'd hardly know that from tuning into the classic rot, I mean rock station.
And so it goes with praise and worship music. Twila Paris wrote more songs than "He is Exalted", Tommy Walker wrote more songs than "Mourning into Dancing" and Israel Houghton wrote more songs than "Friend of God" but many would never know that for whatever reasons.

[Joe F]

I use some of the CCLI top songs as they are tried and true and give some people a comfort level in that they can sing them without having to think too hard about what happens next. They can just let themselves go and worship. The key I've found for these however is to greatly reduce the repetition. The previous worship leader had only accumulated about 40 songs and they just kept going around in a continuous cycle and songs like Sweet Home Alabama...er I mean Open the Eyes of My Heart and Come Now is the Time To Worship were coming around every 4-5 weeks. Painful. Now they come around about 3 times a year. As the age range of my congregation goes from kids to 87, I have to maintain a wide spread as well as a sprinkling of tradidionally done hymns.

I've added about 30 songs since taking over last year. Some I got from Christian radio. "My Savior My God" for example. I introduced this one before it even climbed the charts and did not realize it would go on to win a Dove award for best song of the year for 2006. It just hit me the first time I heard it that it could be a powerful song. I also do a weekly screen on the "Songs for the week of" thread that pops up on here and will often find a way to give a listen to songs I have never heard of. I ask people that attend other churches what songs they are doing, what songs are working well etc...

Since our church was relatively new to contemporary music, I had the advantage of introducing some "oldies" as new songs, which quickly helped us expand our play list. Now that I have some breathing room with the rotation frequency, I am focusing on new songs that are not so common. My latest add a couple of weeks ago was "Let the Worshippers Arise" as done by Phillips Craig and Dean. This went over really well and has quickly become a church favorite. Right now we're working on Jeremy Camp's "We Give You Glory" and it's also being very well received. I came up with this one via a suggestion by a church member...a 62 year old woman! I don't even know if it's on the CLLI list yet.

I've found the key is to always have your radar on. Whenever I hear a Christian song anytime anywhere, I ask myself...how would that work being sung by a congregation? Sometimes they won't work, sometimes I am pleasantly suprised by how well they work.

[Tony]

I have been a subscriber to Song Discovery for a few years, and it has produced most of the catalog that I use.

I don't really care what's top 25, 40, or 100 with CCLI (although much of what we do is on the list). I select songs that my congregation can sing and enjoy.

[gtrdave]

Originally Posted by Tony

I have been a subscriber to Song Discovery for a few years, and it has produced most of the catalog that I use.

I don't really care what's top 25, 40, or 100 with CCLI (although much of what we do is on the list). I select songs that my congregation can sing and enjoy.

add a "y" to your link.

It's dead without it.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by gtrdave

add a "y" to your link.

It's dead without it.

Oops.

Done.

Thanks.

[niangelo]

I had a Song Discovery subscription; I did not renew after the first year. I hardly used any of the songs. They were simply to far-reaching stylistically. I will never do R&B, or Southern Gospel, or choir pieces, or really traditional styles.

I generally buy around four cds every 3 months from artists that I like, and try to pick up a cd from an artist I'm not very familiar with. I listen to them, and I give to my wife to listen to. She picks congregational songs well.

[martinedwards]

I get songs from conferences/festivals (Oh happy day) CDs (I can only imagine) and stuff that I write myself.

I want the congregation to be part of the worship, not listening to a few of us doing a show, so that keeps it a bit, vanilla, but as our folks are used to new stuff, hopefully we're a bit more raspberry ripple!!!

as to the CCLI top however many, those are songs that have been used LAST YEAR in thousands of churches. By definition it has to be songs that jhave been "out there" for at least 2 years.