|
Teaching
New Songs in the Local Assembly
By
Wale Adenuga
For
a decade, I have worked as a design consultant. My
job has required that I use softwares like Coreldraw
and pagemaker. When I started, everyone in the field
was using Coreldraw 3.0 Today there is Corel 11. The
updates on these softwares have no doubt helped to
simplify design in addition to stimulating creativity.
On
the other hand, my experience as a worship leader
has been fairly longer. I have been at this now for
about 15 years and the greatest challenge is for one
to remain fresh and relevant. If that is a challenge
now, I wonder what it will be like in 25 years from
now!
One
of the things we can do to bring freshness to congregational
worship is teaching and learning new songs. In the
body of Christ, we are blessed with thousands of songs
from hundreds of nations and there is simply no excuse
to keep singing the same old songs year in year out.
And this is true irrespective of the nostalgia produced
when the old favorites are sung. The natural route
to travel is where we have always taken. But tradition
sometimes serves less than the best possible. Its
true that we have been blessed with a
number of songs that would outlast Methuselah,
but we should also introduce fresh blood into the
system.
I
will like to share a few guidelines for introducing
new songs in a local assembly setting.
Which
song?
A new song in the context of this article is not necessarily
a new release. A new song is simply a song that hitherto
had not been used in congregational worship. In many
local assemblies today, we sing songs like Breathe.
Whilst this song was made popular by Michael W. Smith’s
Worship album, Marie Barnett had written this
song since 1997. So a new song in this context has
nothing to do with dates.
A
song should be taught not only because of its “groove”
but mainly due to its message. What message is the
song communicating? Whoever is teaching the song must
have had some fellowship with the song and be convinced
of what its saying. You can’t impact with a
new song if it has not impacted you. Personally, most
of the songs I teach in church are the ones I find
myself listening to again and again and can’t
get off my heart and lips for many days. In short,
when we teach these songs, we must mean what we are
singing, not just like what we are singing!
How
often?
I will advise anything between 3-5 weeks. Some people
teach a new song every Sunday. Ever had constipation
before? This is a condition that often results when
we have had too much to eat, especially during Christmas.
Likewise, we can have a constipate situation when
people know too many songs and yet have not fully
apprehended the message in the song. Faith comes by
the word, but it comes by hearing that more than once.
In the same way, saints get exposed to the virtue
embedded in a song when they sing it again and again.
So when a song is taught, we should allow it to “breathe”
and “live” for a while. Will it fly? Not
every worship song will work for your congregation.
Things to consider before introducing a song include
knowing where people are from, average age of people
in your church, educational background etc. The Holy
Spirit is not likely to tell you these things, so
you will need to find them out. A simple way of finding
out is giving everyone in church data forms to fill.
In our church, I have found that songs that are simply
worded but thought provoking really work. Example
of such a song is Tommy Walkers’ He knows
my name. I guess it helps us all to say what we
would love to say to our Maker in a very simple way.
Teach
the choir:
First of all, teach the song to the choir. Allow an
interval of say between a week to two between the
time the choir learns the song and when you decide
to teach the congregation. Make sure they catch and
understand the spirit of the song. A simple way to
do this is to ask everyone what they think the song
is saying.
Teach
the congregation:
Some people think people will catch a song by just
listening. Most won’t. If we work hard to learn
songs in the choir, what makes you think the congregation
will just catch it when they hear you sing it once?
Now, it does not matter to me anymore if the only
thing we do during the time allotted to praise and
worship is learning one new song. Its not time wasted.
It's tradition that says praise and worship has to
be 5 fast songs and 3 slow songs. Get on stage and
inform the people (with respect) that “this
morning, we are learning a new song” Sell the
song. Tell them, they will like it!
Simplify
the process:
Most people will not be interested if you say “please
bring out your pens and write the words of this new
song” Some didn’t even come to church
with pen and paper!
A
number of churches have multimedia and overhead projectors.
If you have this, have the song prepared in microsoft
power point on a PC or on transparencies as the case
may be. If you don’t have these gadgets (you
are not alone, we don’t have one!), have it
typed on a sheet of paper. Make sure the typeface
is not too small. I always like to use times new roman
or arial type face and at least 12 points size, double
spaced so that people can read easily. So type the
song, print or photocopy for the amount of people
in your church. Please don’t make people share
songsheets.
When
you start to teach, tell everyone that the song is
simple. Make sure you have simplified the process
of teaching the song. Imagine you had to teach a song
like Shout to the Lord
My
Jesus, my Saviour (line 1)
Lord
there is none like You (line 2)
All
of my days, I want to praise (line 3)
The
wonders of your mighty love (line 4)
My
comfort, my shelter (line 5)
Tower
of refuge and strength (line 6)
Let
every breath, all that I am (line 7)
Never
cease to worship You (line 8)
Lines
1, 2 and 3 have the same melody as lines 5, 6 and
7. Point that out to them. Then you can use hand signals
to show the difference in line 4 and line 8. The wonders
of mighty love (line 4) goes down and Never cease
to worship You goes up
Exam
101:
You and I know that simply because we are taught something
does not mean we get it. So run a test on them. After
you have done the song a number of times. Stop and
ask them to sing it on their own. Do this without
music accompaniment. More often than not, there will
be a problem somewhere. Rectify it and get them to
sing it again. As you do this, function with great
respect for God’s people. Thereafter, look for
opportunities to use the song during future services.
But you need to careful that you don’t overflog
or use it inappropriately. Overdose kills!
 Wale
heads Fountain of Praise Music. He is a songwriter,
worship leader and an assistant pastor in his church,
RCCG, Jubilee Christian Centre. He can be reached
at info@fopmusic.com
|
