The 30 worship songs I sing at my church.

[@LydiaWalker]

We used Joyful Joyful during advent in a set about Joy. So that was our tie in to the Christmas season

[@walterrf]

What a great list of songs! We sing many of them at our church too. Nice to see that CityAlight is known outside of Australia. They have plenty of outher great songs too (Jerusalem, On That Day, Jesus Is Alive, Ancient of Days, Only A Holy God come to mind). In an age of these "Jesus is my boyfriend" (God forbid such blasphemy) type songs, or songs that address a vague "you", the songs on your list are Biblical and theologically sound and it brings great joy to my heart that brothers and sisters around the world are singing such great songs to our holy God. Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always!

[@matthewfunk6658]

“If the only theology we received were contained in the songs we sing, how well would we know God after five years? Your answer will give you insight into how biblical your songs are.” -Bob Kauflin

[@Kowfootman]

I feel like this could be a test - and not a very good one - about any one way to gain theological understanding including even only reading the Bible. Theology is learned through the written Word, historical context, historical interpretation(s) and congregational understanding, church practices including the songs we sing, contemporary preaching and context, and the world around us. The Bible was rarely read by the masses for most of its existence and songs would be a good way to indoctrinate people with theological understanding. Even, with the best songs, theology would be very incomplete and screwed up based on 30 songs as your only method of teaching. I would have to do a deep dive on all the songs we sing at our church but I believe they all have specific Biblical references or based on very specific passages. But, if you counted all the words we sing, it might add up to the total length of 1 Corinthians, that’s just a blip of theological information. I think your quote is from someone with a specific tilt toward one belief and while it is kinda true, it’s true about everything not just songs and misses the bigger point about being transformed by the spirit and walking in the way of Jesus.

[@LydiaWalker]

I’m currently reevaluating what songs are in rotation. We have about 4 of these in rotation. Mostly contemporary worship songs with one hymn each week. Will probably be adding in more hymns to our rotation

[@im58woody]

Great picks. I love the richness of the great hymns. There’s plenty of stinkers in hymnals too but the great ones are timeless.

[@1968LTS]

Thanks Spence, again, your are so encouraging to us all.

[@MiaDivinity]

You are right Amazing Grace is in 3/4

[@svengilson]

(Sorry, long comment) A couple of BTW's and comments🙂 I love the way you "get" worship and the people you are called to lead. It is our ministry to reach people in the ways they understand. In A Mighty Fortress the work Bulwark is pronounced Bulark 🙂 Tomlin is in 4/4 and works even though the original is 3/4, Be thou my vision my favorite hymn - for this I'll use the pipe organ and do a key change into the last verse. Very powerful. Before the Throne... Selah version? If not, check it out. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, yup! the language is old and tougher to grasp at times. Crown Him... another one that would be at the Pipe organ, preferably with a Brass Quintet 🙂also with a modulation. For The Beauty of the Earth, yup - thanksgiving. Great is thy faithfulness, another yup! Single guitar, full band, piano, whatever, it just works. Agree with most of the rest, In Christ Alone, yup. Confession? Have a look and the hymn "Forgive our sins as we forgive" - a few tunes available and can be "reinvented" I know a guy who wrote a new tune to The Old Rugged Cross, very nice. Yet not I but Through Christ, City Alight - YES! was introduced to it playing a funeral for a friends daughter who died in her 30's... and chuck Today by Brian Doerskson back in, it's fresh every 5 years.... And remember, many praise songs are creedal statements that tell us that "God is Great", but many hymns tell us why. Keep up this greast content!

[@LeadingWorshipWell]

@@svengilson thanks for the suggestions! Keep leading well Steve! 👊

[@nimsocproductions]

Very good stuff! Awesome!

[@matthewfunk6658]

You are correct about the time signature of Amazing Grace, 3/4 in the original, 4/4 in Tomlin's version.

[@Feathe3642]

Great songs, Thankyou!😊

[@finngenuity8076]

Spencer, you are my people!!!! Oh my goodness!

[@LLMTest1024]

As much as I appreciate the lyrical content of many hymns, I appreciate them in the same way that I might appreciate reading Shakespeare. My problem with hymns is the regardless of the theological soundness of their lyrics, singing them feels utterly inauthentic to me both lyrically and musically. I can recite all of the flowery verses and well written words I want, but the way I see it is that at the end of the day if it's not something that comes from my heart, it's just lip service. Most hymns cannot come from my heart simply because I don't use words like that and nor do I structure my sentences like that in any other part of my life. It's just not how I communicate so singing those words just feel fake to me. The same applies to the musical style of many hymns. If you asked me to write worship song, I would never write anything resembling those melodies because they are written in a musical style that was popular often hundreds of years prior to my birth. You could argue that maybe the way I speak to God shouldn't be the same way I speak to everything else, but if you put me in front of God today, I'm not going to magically start speaking in Old English or singing in a musical style from another era. I'm ultimately going to speak very politely using the vocabulary that I normally use and singing songs in the styles that I am accustomed to. There's just very little about most hymns that I find to be relatable and I hate when my church does them because I just end up feeling very detached from the entire experience. Yes, contemporary songs are also words that are written by someone else, but they are words that I can feasibly make my own because they are written in the way that I actually speak. And yes, often the way I speak is far more simplistic than the way someone two hundred years ago spoke. Have you ever read personal letters written to people back then and compared them to the emails and DM's that get sent today? The simplicity of modern lyrics reflects the norms of our communication today. Anyway, that's a great list with a lot of fantastic songs, but many of them are simply not for me. We need more modern songs with the lyrics and message that those old songs have, but told in a modern voice in modern musical styles. The fact that so many people feel the need to turn to hymns written hundreds of years ago to try to compensate for the theological bankruptcy of modern worship music is just a sad state of affairs. Hymns aren't scripture. They were basically the CCM/modern worship music of their era. Worship shouldn't be such a stagnant thing.

[@DanielKrennonline]

I like some of the hymns but for many it's like trying to read the King James Bible. You have to read and reread a lot of verses just to grasp what is saying. Singing older hymns is the same way except you can't stop and reread what you just sang.

[@michaelwall6013]

We do probably 2/3 of the songs on your list fairly regularly. So, congratulations! It sounds like you are doing something right. :) Thanks for sharing.

[@veronicapearson5095]

What are the songs you eliminated?? And why?!

[@songsgardensbyjenniferlynn3242]

Thanks for your list! Do you have thoughts on Blessed Assurance? I’m planning to lead it this Sunday, but I’m only using verse one as I think the second/third verses could make some congregant uncomfortable with the “rapture” references. Singers on my team love this song and are always asking to do it, but it’s just an odd song to me as to where it fits, and with the lyrical content. Just wondering if you had thoughts about it.

[@LeadingWorshipWell]

@@songsgardensbyjenniferlynn3242 I have thoughts on everything. That's why I talk so much in my videos 😂 I don't think the "rapture" Fanny is talking about is an eschatological rapture. (If that's your concern) I think it's being used in the sense of extreme joy/euphoria. As far as where it fits, it seems like a pretty good Assurance of Pardon song to me. "Assurance" is even in the title!

[@Adamdwines]

With "only" 30 songs how do you keep the worship from being "stale"? Forgive the crudeness of this sentence, it's not a criticism on your way of leading worship just wondering. We have WAY too many songs on our list but sometimes I'll pick one of the less sung songs as it fits the message.

[@rballabuelo]

Hey Spencer... when you add songs, are they always (or usually) newer songs, or do you ever add a song that might be 10 or 15 years old?

[@LeadingWorshipWell]

@@rballabuelo not necessarily. I don't usually pay attention to the date a song was written. I'm guessing most of the songs I've introduced recently were written within the past 10 years (or old hymns). But that wasn't a conscious decision.

[@michaelwall6013]

@@LeadingWorshipWell Always interested in good, singable, Christ centered worship songs. Be they new or old.

[@michaelwall6013]

Do you write and utilize original songs for corporate worship?

[@LeadingWorshipWell]

@@michaelwall6013 I have in the past but I don't currently.

[@matthewfunk6658]

I totally agree with you about "we need more confession songs." Here is one from a friend of mine that I know you will love. Lyrics from an old hymn with a refrain added. We've been doing it in our church for years. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmfdoZSAotSmfq8

[@YouTubeaccount48473]

You're clearly subjectively biased toward hymns, and that's totally fine, but to list "How Great is Our God" and "Lord, I Need You" among your list of mostly hymns is definitely a double standard.