Tips for Introducing Your Church to New Worship Songs

For the vast majority of contemporary and traditional church worship leaders, there is an interesting, albeit frustrating occurrence, which can often discourage even the most devoted and passionate of religious music ministers. This oft overlooked phenomenon is what I have come to frankly refer to as "the freak out factor." If you are a leader of worship or even a longtime attendee of a particular church, you've no doubt experienced one of several scenarios which fall into this category.

Simply put, "the freak out factor" occurs when a new and/or unfamiliar worship song, hymn or chorus is introduced into a live worship service without the prior knowledge, approval or written/oral authorization of those in attendance. This thus results in frowning faces, confused expressions and an overall sense that the music minister is now the object of undue judgment. In other words, the congregation tends to "freak out" at the sound of a brand new song, particularly one they may not prefer in terms of musical taste.

Aside from the fact that newness and diversity are needed and arguably essential to worship music, there are several ways to avoid the aforementioned:

1. Play an Audio Recording of the Song During Service Intervals

Months before rehearsing the new song with your worship band and/or vocal ensemble, find a way to integrate it into a service by playing it, via CD-ROM or other electronic means, through your sound system. This will essentially serve to begin the process of making your congregation aware of and comfortable with the song. Before long, you may find many of them humming or singing it through the halls of the church. Upon debut of the song, they will be ready to sing along.

2. Take a Moment to Verbally Introduce the Song to the Congregation

Let's face it: change is hard for some people to handle. Oftentimes, the traditional melodies, choruses and hymns that have circulated over the years become the norm for many churches. A new song can be intimidating.

Before your worship band and/or choir prepares to belt out the latest, greatest worship tune, pause the service to explain to your flock what the song is titled, who wrote it, why you chose it, what it means to you personally and how it aligns with your church's mission statements and purpose. Speaking from personal experience, this extra effort on the part of the worship leader can go a long way in helping your members become comfortable with the tune.

3. Introduce the Song to Your Student Ministry First

This method has become widely used in several churches both large and small and tends to remain quite effective. If your church's high school and/or college student ministry employs the use of an active worship band, leader, singer, etc., implement the new song in this setting before exposing your adult congregation to it.

For the vast majority of Christian youth ministry students, new worship music is exciting and fun to learn. During the several weeks they are singing the new medley, many will be likely to talk and converse about it around adults within the church body. This extended circulation of news and excitement will hopefully serve to warm up your adults to the idea of integrating the new song into a regular Sunday worship service.

The ultimate goal of any church worship leader should be to introduce a new song in a way that glorifies and honors God, helps to defeat musical monotony, increases musical/cultural diversity and respects the timidity of some churchgoers concerning unfamiliar songs. Speaking from personal experience, the aforementioned tips and advice have been abundantly helpful in accomplishing these aspirations.