hi there

Hi, I'm new here. My id is sing4theLordJesus because my calling is in music and worship ministry. I sing worship, have been on worship teams, and also sing solos as God opens the doors.

I have 3 cats the Lord gave me, and also am a doll collector (Barbie, Dawn, etc.)

Hope to see some of you in chat.

love & prayers, Lynda (sing4theLordJesus)

Welcome to CC! I must confess, I used to use my sisters' Barbies as enemies for my G.I. Joes. I hope you can find enough Christian charity to forgive me.

I wish there were more opportunities here to discuss the details of what is good worship music and how to do it. I'd be glad to discuss any of that with you.

Hi Jim, of course you're forgiven. If you want to hear something funny, I have used some of the newer 12 inch "Joes" (as action figure collectors call him) and similar figures as boyfriend dolls. Nothing like a nice muscular man.

Hi kenisyes...I would say good worship music is songs TO the Lord, focused on Him. I especially like songs straight out of scripture.

This would be as opposed to those about Him? And as opposed to those not from Scripture?

Okay, let's start there. Is there not use for songs about Him in the praise song segment of P&W? Most people attending church on Sunday hardly come in ready to enter into the presence of God. How do you feel about a good "rah, rah" song. (We Bring a Sacrifice of Praise, Power in the Blood, etc. depending on your tradition) to get going? Do you acknowledge a time of transition (Come Now Is the Time to Worship, Nothing But the Blood of Jesus)? How do we know when to make that time and then when to begin the deeper worship?

To what extent is being from Scripture necessary? I know of denominations who will sing Scripture only, and I can honestly find very few songs that can bring a congregation into the presence of God like "I Exalt Thee" or the "Old rugged Cross", neither of which are from Scripture.

I realize, after writing all this, I should have asked your denomination, as I can think of like 10 songs for each example I used, and I hope you know these. I hope I'm not making assumptions about your background. Please let me know if I am. I have only your use of the term "worship and music ministries" and the picture of Jesus in your bio to go by.

sing4theLordJesus Hi welcome to Christian Chat

OK first my denomination....I am non-denom. I grew up going to a variety of denominational churches, some which contradicted one another in their teachings, which led me to seek the Lord and His guidance as to what is right and wrong as well as bible study.

I'm absolutely not against songs about the Lord. Anything about Him, to Him, for Him, of Him is good.
I'm also not one of those who thinks songs should be scripture only, I merely said (and meant) that I like songs set to scripture. Some of them have a strong anointing. Some of the Psalms, which were songs in OT times, are especially good. Like Psalm 5 for instance. You don't hear the song much these days, but Maranatha! music has a very nice rendition of Psalm 5.

Please note I am not a worship leader, but have been a member of worship teams, so my experience as to leading people into worship is small. That said, what I have done is I pray over song choices first. I spend time with the Lord, seeking His direction as to what songs He would want.
On the worship teams I've been on, we start out worship with something upbeat, that will make the people excited and more interested in praising the Lord. Then after a song or 2 (or 3), transition to deeper and slower material. You have to sense in the spirit how God is moving during and after each song too. I know we've had times where we've shuffled the order of the worship set so we are more in tune with the "flow" of the worship and/or if God is working. Occasionally the Holy Spirit will be moving in such a way that we start playing something not on the set, or something He gives us. (I can't really explain that last part very well.)
I hope you won't mind my sharing a link that I think will help, which I agree with (but couldn't explain as well as they do):

How to Plan a Great Worship Set | David Santistevan

I should also say there is nothing wrong with the old hymns, and even some older worship songs. I love when a church incorporates hymns into worship.

I realize I have probably done a poor job in my reply, if so my apologies. I just hope I don't sound stupid, jerkish or selfish. God still has MUCH work to do in me and it's one day at a time....

Welcome to Christian Chat

You've done an excellent job. Almost word for word as I would have written it. I notice David Santistevan does not mention the transition, and I think not mentioning it is a mistake. He talks more about what songs to use than how to arrange them, and that's fine for the mind. The transition ministers to the spirit.

Since we are on the same page, can I go for more details? My wife's method, as I reflect on her worship leading, differentiates 5 levels of song, and thus 4 transitions: Rowdy praise, slower praise, transition to worship, entry level worship, deep worship. Do you use all 5 of those types? Do you find that the congregation reaches deep worship?

How do know when it's time to start the transition? Is it just Spirit-led? That's what she always said, but I caught her observing certain things, and I learned to use both.

Do your musicians and singers improvise harmonies? Do the arrangements change because of what the Spirit is doing, or do you stick pretty much with what was rehearsed? What are the goals of the rehearsal? Do you keep the songs in related keys, so you do not have to stop in-between, or if not, what is your method of stopping to change the key?

Hi again Kenisyes,
This is a long read so take your time.

Again having little experience as a worship leader I'm not sure I can answer your questions.

I guess I misled you (& maybe others) into thinking I've lead a lot of worship, when I have not, but I have played keyboards on worship teams as well as sung. However I will do my best to answer your questions.

I actually haven't heard of the 5 levels of song. I think it depends on the congregation. Not all churches are ready for, or want, the deep worship. Out of the 4 worship teams I've been on in 4 different churches only one was really and truly ready and desiring the deep worship. I consider deep worship (and again I could be wrong) songs like Holy Of Holies (aka Take Me Past the Outer Courts), True Love (Jesus I want to know true love), etc. - songs that talk of coming into His presence, desiring to touch Him, feel Him and be touched by Him. It's been my experience that some churches move too quickly from one song to the next, not really giving much time to sense if God is moving or not. I was one team where there were almost no breaks in between songs...they were played like one big long medley. It didn't seem right to me, but since the Pastor was the worship leader, and not really called into worship ministry, I did try (albeit unsuccessfully) to get him to not rush thru the worship set. But since I wasn't one of his "pets" he didn't take me seriously. I told him to try to let the Lord move but was ignored.

My heart's desire is to enter His most holy place and stay as long as He will let me, to be filled with His love, to know Him so intimately I can feel Him! Just thinking of it gets me excited.

I would go by the Spirit's prompting to know when to transition, altho as I"ve said not all worship teams do this. (I wish they did.) Constantly seeking Him and sensing for His spirit and presence is an important part of worship. If the congregation needs something more to get them into praising God, we may decide to switch songs in a worship set, or shuffle them around according the "flow" of the service. I also pray during worship for the Lord to move upon the people, show us if there's something He desires or wants changed, etc. I'm in constant touch with the Lord thru worship.

The main goals of rehearsal is for the team members to become familiar and also work on songs. We do have some songs in the same key but also sometimes have songs in a different key. (again lack of experience as a worship leader myself) If I recall correctly I think they offset the key changes by speaking briefly or sharing a Scripture, something along those lines. What matters most is getting the congregation into God's presence, keeping them there as long as the Lord wants and letting His Spirit flow.

I've only been on one worship team where the singers did harmonize, in that case it was only 2 of us- me & the Pastor. One other team had singers that could barely sing a note but were there because they were the Pastor's pets. The other 2 pretty much sang lead. Me, if and whenever possible, I like to harmonize. It comes naturally for me, I consider it a gift from the Lord.

Now....about my other music minstry calling...I have vast experience in doing solos aka "special music". When it comes to doing solos I again seek the Lord for the song He wants, and in some cases when requested, seek Him for a particular subject in the song. I prefer to sing songs that talk about Him directly, mentioning His name (or titles) and are not just about "love". I always want the people to know who I'm talking about. Some songs are more anointed than others. I look for such material, because the more anointed the song is, the more powerful the impact (i.e. movement of the Holy Spirit) on the audience. I sang at a revival service once, and the song I did was so powerful the Lord's presence was very strong...so much so that I sang it about 3 times and each time, the Lord was touching more and more people. It was so beautiful. Another time, I sang the song "Watch The Lamb" for a Good Friday service and the power of God touched me to the point I cried thru it. I really love when God steps in!

I hope this helps.
Love in Christ Jesus & prayers, Lynda (Sing4theLordJesus)

PS - I would love to chat with other singers and musicians in worship and music ministry!