The Music Exchange

Every now and then, over the summer, I go ‘grazing’ for new songs before the influx of students in September.

Are you, like me, always on the look-out for new songs that are suitable for congregational use?

Here are a few tips as to what to look for, and how to find them.

First of all, some principles

When we prepare a sermon, we are rigorous about the doctrine we preach. When we sing as a congregation we need to be just as rigorous because that doctrine will be sung on the way home from the church meeting. I think it was Graham Cray who said that you can tell what a church believes by the songs it sings. Though I’m sure that my gran said it once too — sorry, Graham.

In general, the lyrics of a good congregational song will be centred on God’s Word and his work. That is, whether the song is objective (us singing about God) or subjective (us singing to God), it will be focused on the Lord’s character and work, and not ourselves. As for the tune, the song needs a simple melody that serves the words sensitively and within a comfortable range so that everyone can reach all the notes.

Questions of doctrine

I ask myself two main questions about the doctrine of a song.

1. Does the song teach believers faithfully about God? If we’re to encourage, build and admonish each other in the truths we sing, then they need to be truths that encourage, build and admonish.

2. What would a non-believer pick up about God from the song? (It’s right to expect non-believers to be present among us, though their needs shouldn’t be the primary focus of our meetings.) As Christians, we may know what the writer’s talking about, but a visitor may think we’re irreverent or even crazy about the God we worship. (Crazy in a whup whup ring-de-ding wheeeeeee sense.) For this reason, I always avoid songs with phrases like ‘Oh yeah’, and songs which are overloaded with old-fashioned jargon.

Because it rocks?

There is no short cut to finding new songs — don’t be pressured into using a song just because someone heard it at a conference and thought the tune rocked. You know the form? ‘We sang this awesome song at Harvest of Worship 2005. We’ve got to sing it at church — everyone’s singing it.’ Say thank-you very much for the song (otherwise the person will be very hurt, and may even call you narrow-minded, stuffy and old). Then go away and check the theology. Remember that most of these songs are written by musicians, and not Bible teachers — a rocking tune with shocking doctrine is a recipe for disaster. A good test is to be satisfied that you could teach the same truths in the same words from your pulpit.

Then, and only then, go and ask your musicians if it’s got a tune that will help that theology stick. They need to be able to play it too, or it will dive badly. (Big conference tunes don’t always work very well with a congregation of 20 led by one finger on the piano.)

Hard work

The way I find new songs isn’t pretty. I sit on the floor in Wesley Owen or CLC and go through all the latest song books until I find one with three or four songs that might work well (at 20 quid a book, it’s not worth it for just the one song). It’s a pretty grim and lonely experience, sitting there thinking that you must be the only one who thinks most of the songs are dreadful, so I try and take a friend with me. The good news is that Stuart Townend and Keith Getty have made it all a bit easier these days. In the mid 90s, finding a good song was as easy as finding a Yeti in Catford. Keith and Stuart’s collaboration songs, however, are biblically faithful, but not turgidly so. Truth is expressed with vivid imagination and colour. Similarly, the tunes have interest, but have enough hooks so that people can pick up the melody easily. Do look out for ‘Oh to see the dawn’, which was released at Easter.

Try getting in touch with friends at other churches too — I’m often contacted about new songs, and am happy to pass on details of where to find them. I’m also grateful to those who have suggested songs to me that other churches use (even though I’m narrow-minded, stuffy and old). There are Yetis out there, and you don’t need to go to Catford to find them. Happy hunting.

How do you find new songs for church?

First of all, some principles

Questions of doctrine

Because it rocks?

Hard work

Richard Simpkin

Main Articles

Other articles