In 2020, we have access to songs of a higher caliber than ever before. It can be easy to feel like you are behind if you are not introducing the latest and greatest song choice at the same rate as other churches and worship leaders. But in a world where we have almost instantaneous access to new music, we have a responsibility to be wise and discerning in the songs we choose for our congregations.
One of the most helpful ways to consider choosing songs - whether to introduce to the congregation or in creating setlists is to think about serving a meal. You are looking for both balance and variety, things that sustain us, and things to savor. Our songs contribute to the spiritual diet of the people we lead and serve.
Finding balance in your songs begins with having an understanding of the entire ‘menu.’ To begin the process of taking a song inventory, you need a Master Song List - all of the songs that are in regular rotation within your congregation. Not only song titles but the lyrics as well.
Second, you need to read through the lyrics of your songs making notes about the themes. I have found using a larger framework - like the Gospel Song Liturgy - to be a helpful tool in navigating, naming, and categorizing those themes, rather than just listing all of the potential themes - this keeps it to a few small, clearly defined categories. For the Gospel Song Liturgy, those themes are Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration, Glorification. If you don’t use the Gospel Song Liturgy, you could use categories like God, Man, Response, or Sin, Love, Faithfulness, Surrender, Brokenness, Glory.
Third, organize songs by category and observe. I like to include these categories on my chord charts, or in the Planning Center descriptions, to be searchable and easily accessible as I am planning my setlists. Some questions to ask as you have created categories: Where are the holes? Where are the diet imbalances? What categories resonate with you personally? What categories resonate consistently with your congregation? What do we need to sing about more?
Finally, use your song inventory to help you weigh new song introductions, and creating setlists. Song choice is an important part of leading worship, and leading worship is about discipleship, so we do not want to create lopsided disciples in the way we choose songs to introduce or to lead. Keeping a song inventory helps our choices not to be dictated by the whims of the latest and greatest songs, and helps us to keep a larger perspective on the work of song choice in our leadership.