CREATING YOUR CHURCH’S MODERN HYMNAL
God’s people have always compiled resources for use in worship. Initially, they gathered the various psalms which were written over time, then organized them. In the 1800’s, they collected lyrics and psalms in the form of hymnals. Their purpose of all this effort was to equip people to worship through song. God’s people worked to ensure that the music was singable, the lyrics were biblical, and the songs expressed a full range of emotional expression. The goal was that the worship accurately taught a rich theology of God.
With the advent of modern worship, as leaders we are often tasked with compiling a new kind of hymnal. This hymnal is basically a catalog of songs that serve our congregation and span the range of topics I mentioned earlier. What might this hymnal look like? While there are no absolutes for how to create this catalog, here are some of my suggestions based on years of serving as a worship pastor.
HOW MANY SONGS SHOULD MY CHURCH SING?
I suggest that the hymnal should contain about 75 songs in total. Here’s how I would break that down. I’ll use the analogy of baseball to help simplify this concept.
10 BRAND NEW”ISH” SONGS (THE ROOKIES)
These are the hot new stars on the scene. These songs have been written in the last 2 years. This group of songs are not the new songs usually played on Christian radio because typically, Christian radio is actually about a year or two behind the musical trends. I’ve found that introducing about 10 brand new songs a year is enough to keep things fresh, as well as giving enough time for each of those songs to become familiar to a congregation. In practicality, what this typically looks like is to introduce a new song and keep singing it for three consecutive weeks. Then give it a week off. Then play it at least 2-3 more times in the next month in order to keep reinforcing it.
Here is a general rule. By the time you as the leader get tired of a song, your congregation is finally feeling comfortable with it. We get tired of songs far more quickly because we have been listening to them over and over during the process of charting, practicing, and rehearsing the song. We probably hear the song 20 more times than the congregation has heard it. So your process might look something like this when introducing a new song. The new song is played on weeks 1, 2, and 3. Take a break from the new song on week 4. On week 5, introduce the next new song plus play the previous month’s new song, and so on.
You can keep this pattern going up until about November when you start gearing up for the holidays. It’s not usually a good idea to introduce new music in November or December. Whether you love Christmas songs or not, that’s what people want to sing in December. So they’re probably not interested in learning a new song at that time.
30 FAMILIAR SONGS (THE STARTERS)
These are the tried and true players. They’re still fresh enough to feel effective, and the congregation still loves them. This group of songs will include the 10 brand new songs from the previous year. Additionally, there will be songs you have sung for the last 2-3 years that people don’t seem to tire of hearing.
When you’re keeping your spreadsheet that tells you how many times you have sung a song, you’ll start to see that these familiar songs have been sung about 30-40 times in the last few years.
10 OLDIE BUT GOODIES (THE BENCH)
These players hold a special place in the heart of the people. They’re the song that you pull out when it fits the sermon topic just right. You might sing each of these songs 2-3 times a year. Any more often than that, and people start to mentally tune out. They like the song, but it just doesn’t play like it used to!
25 HYMNS (ALL-STARS)
These are the hall of famers, the songs that everyone should grow up knowing their name. They’re the ones that people keep calling GOAT (Greatest of All Time). Not everyone will agree with me here and that’s okay. However, I think that keeping hymns alive in corporate worship is both beautiful and necessary.
For the older generation, these songs hold a special place in their walks through life. These songs help them connect with Jesus in ways that newer music might not. It also might help them be okay with “enduring” modern worship because they still get to sing the songs that make their hearts sing too!
For the younger generation, playing hymns is an important way to help them connect with the fact that they are not the first generation who have poured out their hearts to God. Singing songs that are older than 100 years old can help them see themselves as part of a larger story and community of faith.
Lastly, the lyrical content of many of these songs is artistically excellent. The reason these songs are still being sung is because they have married melody and lyrics perfectly. They also cover a much more broad range of theological truths than most of the modern worship songs.
PUTTING THE WORSHIP SET LIST TOGETHER
The amount of songs that are typically sung on a Sunday in each church will dictate what your set looks like, but here is a recommendation.
1 New song (Rookie)
2 Familiar songs (Starters)
1 Oldie but goodie (Bench)
1 Hymn (Hall of Famer)
This variety of songs has worked well in most of the environments in which I have participated or led worship.
I suggest making an excel spreadsheet to keep track of what you are singing, how often, and what songs need to be rotated in or out of the mix.
Your spreadsheet might look something like the one below. Depending on when you read this, what is new and what is familiar will definitely change. The principles still work, so disregard outdated songs and make your own list.
