WORSHIP LEADERS
INSTANTLY SINGABLE - STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX | Grant Norsworthy
In my article from last month FROM SLAMMIN ’ TO SINGABLE , I wrote about the changes that are required in order to take a song like Elevation ’ s “ Praise ” and make it easily singable for a regular church congregation . The changes are significant , but without them , congregations will find it difficult to connect . Struggle to sing along .
Wouldn ’ t it be great if there were new songs being written , recorded and released that were instantly singable , straight out of the box , so to speak ? No changes required ? I might just have one for you . Read on !
Back in 2019 I was speaking with a Senior Pastor in Nelson , New Zealand , exploring together how I might help his church - with a congregation of about 400 people - use music more effectively as an expression of worship . While the pastor was super thankful to have a team of youthful , enthusiastic singers and instrumentalists serving the church , he expressed his top three concerns :
1 ) His congregation ’ s participation level in sung worship was quite low . Lower than he remembered from back in the days of hymns , hymnals and no band on a platform .
2 ) Some of the songs in the team ’ s repertoire seemed to the pastor to be more concertlike or “ performance ” oriented . Not ideal for congregational participation .
3 ) In his opinion , many of the songs ’ lyrics tended to be theologically shallow . Didn ’ t really have much of substance to say . Fell way short of encompassing the weight of The Gospel .
In my role as More Than Music Mentor , I encounter these concerns fairly often .
“ I ’ d like them to be doing songs from CityAlight ,” he explained . “ But they don ’ t want to .”
Up until that moment , I ’ d never heard of CityAlight . Certainly , in the USA at that time ( where I ’ d been living up until only a few months before this meeting ) CityAlight was pretty much unheard of .
I soon discovered that there were more churches in New Zealand and especially Australia who loved the songs that were coming from CityAlight - a music ministry from St Paul ’ s Castle Hill in Sydney , Australia . One 2018 song in particular , “ Yet Not I But through Christ In Me ,” was resonating deeply with many worshippers .
Not all antipodean churches were singing “ Yet Not I ...” but a significant proportion were . Even today as I write - six years after its release - “ Yet Not I …” sits at # 12 on CCLI ’ s “ Top 100 Worship Songs ” for Australia . Incidentally , “ Praise ” is at # 1 .
I soon realized that those churches that were singing “ Yet Not I …” were usually of a particular style and theological emphasis . That CityAlight ’ s “ Yet Not I …” was filling a need that was not well served by the standard CCLI top 20 fair from the likes of Elevation , Hillsong , Bethel
40 September 2024 Subscribe for Free ...