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New Songs on a Sunday Morning?
I have a dilemma. My Pastor forbids the worship team to sing any new songs on a Sunday morning (this is when most people come to church so I think we could learn the new song together). When we teach new songs in the evening not many people come back (?) so only a handful know the new songs. Help!!!!
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Gie
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by bet nich on -
That's hard. Sounds like he got complaints about too many 'new' songs???
Does he forbid them outright, or says "do them a couple of times on Sunday evenings, then you can introduce them on Sunday morning"?
Maybe you could play new songs over the sound system before service, or sneak them in during choir practice, Bible studies/small group fellowship or Sunday school, if your church does any of that...
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Permalink Reply by Gie Blanky on -
My general belief is that one new song is adequate for the Sunday morning service simply because you would have to probably sing it more than once.
I'm encouraged by your comments to persevere on this one. Thank you for your ideas. Appreciated.
Blessings
Gie
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Permalink Reply by Rick Cogbill on
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We will often introduce a new song during the offertory on Sunday morning (when they take the offering), and although we put the words up on the screen, we let the people know that they're welcome just to sit and listen.
"Forbids" is a pretty strong word. Can you tell us more about why this is so, and how it got this way?
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Permalink Reply by J B on -
DItto on the offertory. This has been very effective for us and we also put the words on the screen. We also sing new songs as a special ensemble during the service if it fits in with what the pastor is doing. We also sometimes use new praise songs as choir anthems first, then the offertory, then in the service. By this time the congregation is familiar enough with it to sing along. Our church just started using a countdown to the service, so I plan on using new songs there as well.
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Permalink Reply by Gie Blanky on
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The offertory sounds like a great idea. However, our offertory time is often a time of celebration when we "cheerfully give" so familiar songs are often expected there so that everyone can join in..
I'll try it out and see how it works!
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Permalink Reply by Gie Blanky on
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I'm not sure how it got that way as I inherited this worship team and Pastor. As an example, a few weeks ago, I decided to "go for it" when the Pastor asked me to come up and sing something before the speaker came up. So I said to the congregation that we would learn a new song at which point the Pastor came flying up saying "No, no!" but I didn't see so I carried on and it ACTUALLY WENT VERY WELL. I got no comment/feedback though..... I think maybe it's the Pastor's personal preference rather than anything else.
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Personal preference or not, he still shouldn't come back on stage and try to change what you're doing, right in front of everyone. That's just rude. If something doesn't go well, he can have that discussion with you afterwards in private.
But he is the pastor, and as such will have to be brought on board if you're going to succeed. Perhaps if you meet with him and present a well thought-out plan on how you can successfully introduce new music on Sunday mornings, then he may be willing to work with you on it. Having his support is important, if not critical to your longevity in this position.
You can probably tell that I have little patience with pastors who try to "run" the worship times. Personally, I feel a strong urge to remind them that I don't try to "run" the sermons! :) But seriously, pray and ask the Lord for wisdom as you pursue this. Yes, it does matter in the end, in more ways that one. It's not about a song here or there, it's about being allowed to use our gifts well for the edification of the body of Christ.
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Permalink Reply by Allie Baca on -
I agree that he needs to be on board with you. The worship team needs for the pastor to be on board with what they're doing and support the ministry. Talk with him; and don't just come up to him after the service. Schedule a time for an office visit.
Also, our offering time at church is a group singing time, too. However, we often play a new song after the service as people are leaving. Then, when we introduce it the next week (or a couple weeks after), we actually stop and teach the chorus or another notable part of the song to the congregation, then start the song. Some might say this disrupts the flow, but my church really loves it; it lets them participate even when it's the first time they've heard it.
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Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on -
The whole setup can change radically if your pastor is a musician or heavily into theory/theology of worship (especially that which includes music) is a big thing. Over here, "being on board" means being on board with the senior Pastor, period (fortunately, he's a good man, who listens to what I have to say).
The ship's-captain Pastor is mortified if the ship seems to veer off course. There are other pastors who love to be surprised, who consider themselves chief shepherds; these are happy if you simply lead the folks to green pastures. I've served with three here at my present location, each of a different stripe (that's probably why I'm roaming around these discussions -- trying to figure out what I actually think about anything!)
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Permalink Reply by Cliff Jeffrey on -
Pastors in many denominations are responsible for the entire service. and as such do "run" service times.
Ask him why no new songs, get his feelings and thoughts, maybe you can come to an understanding and a compromise.
I had one leader who was always introducing new songs, even before the music team knew them, he wasn't even able to play them sometimes. So I encouraged only a few new songs at a time and that the team know them well before introducing them.
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Permalink Reply by Charles Wolff on -
So you find out how many times you have to do a song in the evening for it not to be a "new" song any more, and then you go through the motions and then start doing it in the morning, knowing that you're really still "teaching it" at that point. But you've got a few people in the congregation who know it at that point, and the band presumably does, as well.
We used to have the opposite problem: our denomination (Methodists) has a folk hymnal called "The Faith We Sing" and the pastor would find a song in there with lyrics that tied in with the sermon, and then on Sunday morning there it would be in the bulletin and the band would be expected to figure it out - since the songbook had notes in it, she assumed that people could just do it on the fly, like they did in the traditional service... this was one of the reasons I "retired" as worship leader, she just didn't seem to get that she couldn't just spring a new (and, IMHO, generally pretty underwhelming) song on us on Sunday...
Charles
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