WORSHIP LEADERS
FROM SLAMMIN ’ TO SINGABLE : TOMLIN ’ S “ HOLY FOREVER ” | Grant Norsworthy Is “ Holy Forever ” in your repertoire yet ? Is your congregation resonating ? Connecting well ? Do you sense that your church family is able to passionately worship , or express the worth of God through “ Holy Forever ”?
Are they all singing with you ? Or are some - perhaps many - listening to your “ worship leader ” singing on their behalf ?
But I ’ m getting ahead of myself . Perhaps you haven ’ t added “ Holy Forever ”. Maybe you ’ re unfamiliar with the song . I think it ’ s great . Slammin ’ even . Well worth your consideration . Check out this lyric video for Chris Tomlin ’ s version by clicking the image below . And as you listen , try to imagine your congregation singing this song as a heartfelt expression of worship to Almighty God .
Hear your people sing , Holy To the King of Kings , Holy You will always be , Holy Holy forever
I hope you ’ re inspired . I hope you can imagine your congregation singing too . Singing with some passion and volume ! Wouldn ’ t that be beautiful .
But what changes ( if any ) should be made from the original artist ’ s version to best facilitate the vocal participation of regular , Sunday service church folk ? Keep reading . I ’ m going to share what I believe to be the most important single change you should make so that every man , woman and child in your congregation can sing .
A few months back , I wrote a “ From Slammin ’ to Singable ” article about Elevation ’ s “ Praise ”. That article explained the changes I had to make from the slammin ’ Elevation version to make “ Praise ” more accessible and singable for regular , non-mega-church congregations . I got such a positive response to that article ; I thought I ’ d write on this theme again . But this time using “ Holy Forever ” as the real-world example .
And the timing ’ s right for me too . I am only now adding “ Holy Forever ” to my repertoire . Maybe that makes you think I ’ m kind of behind the times . Showing up late to the party ! But hey , I live in New Zealand . Our time zone might be ahead of the rest of the world , but we ’ re a little behind when it comes to new “ worship songs ” and we ’ re okay with it .
So , some transparency here : I don ’ t add new songs to my repertoire very often . I feel no pressure to add the newest and latest songs from my favorite “ worship artists ” as some ( I think ) do . I do not have any FOMO nor feel any pressure to have the hippest and most upto-date song list . I am very intentional about aiming carefully for the right balance of novelty and nostalgia for any congregation I am leading to worship God through songs . I do not tire of songs that have been on my list for a while as long as the congregation is still wanting to sing them . Connection is the goal . Not coolness .
( Maybe that ’ s a topic for a future article ).
Even though it ’ s got a copyright date of 2022 , it ’ s really only in the last year or two that “ Holy Forever ” has found widespread appeal across the global Church . A quick YouTube search reveals numerous versions from multiple artists . The most viewed ( 74 million as I write ) is not Chris Tomlin ’ s “ original version ”. It ’ s actually from Cece Winans . With strong , poetic , Biblical lyrics , a beautiful melody , numerous well-produced , inspiring recordings available and a list of contributing songwriters that reads like a who ’ s-who of today ’ s “ Worship Industry ” ( Brian & Jenn Johnson , Chris Tomlin , Jason Ingram and Phil Wickham ) it ’ s no surprise that ( as of the week 27 January 2025 ) “ Holy Forever ” is CCLI ’ s # 1 song in the USA and pretty much the rest of the English speaking world too .
A lot of church congregations worldwide are being invited to worship God through “ Holy Forever ”. But are they actually singing along ? I suspect not . Without the change I am going to suggest , your congregation will struggle too .
The widespread popularity of the song tells me that “ Holy Forever ” really should be added to my repertoire . But I am going to need to change the key .
Chris Tomlin ’ s original studio version of “ Holy Forever ” is in the key of D flat . Tomlin ’ s strong tenor voice shines in D flat . With the melody ’ s highest note being a soaring G flat and the lowest a D flat , this is a great key for his stellar vocal performance . I am sure Chris ( and probably his producer ) chose that key very carefully to make this version of “ Holy Forever ” a wonderful listening experience . ( Interestingly , Tomlin ’ s “ live ” versions of the song are a little lower in C ).
But D flat is not the right key for congregational participation . While the women and children might happily find singing in the same key
34 February 2025 Subscribe for Free ...