"YOUR" TUNES

Had another great "skribit" suggestion come through! Somebody out there asked how I go about adding my own songs in a worship set.

Once again, a great question from the Skribit movement! Thanks!

This is definitely a question that doesn't apply to everybody. I know lots of worship leaders who aren't songwriters and never have to deal with this. But I know lots of other songwriting worship leaders who struggle with it quite a bit.

This one is pretty close to my heart because the songwriting thing has always been a struggle for me. Here's why...

I love songwriting. I love it and I love the sense of purpose and fulfillment one gets when writing a song for a congregation. Because I love songwriting so much, I care about it a lot, which means I analyze it a lot. Which means I have opinions about it. A lot.

See where I'm going with this? When I was younger, I really did dream of one day being able to have an entire worship set of my own songs. There were a couple of reasons for this.

1. I was arrogant and thought I was the best songwriter in the world. I thought my songs deserved to be in every setlist.
2. I had a messed up view of "success" in worship leading.

It's been a long (and strange) journey, but I can honestly say that I have no problem leading worship without one of my tunes in the song service. God's been so good to me, and I do feel confident in my songs, but in His grace, He's changed my heart about the issue.

Here's "when" I use my own songs.

The song should support the service.
That's key for any worship leader, right? Like a lot of other songwriters, I tend to write songs to fill gaps. For example, I may be sitting in church, hearing a sermon about Heaven and then realize that there are very few modern worship songs about Heaven. So, I go and try to write a song like that. I may not use it ever or I may play it on the next Sunday, but I like songwriting this way. Writing to fill gaps really brings a new level of creativity to your writing and it also helps to keep you focused.

Because of that, my songs are often specifically targeted. While that may not make them "hit material," they do lend themselves to very specific instances. So, if you hear me do one of my songs in church, it's probably because I felt like that particular tune did the best job of supporting what's been said, prayed or analyzed.

It should also be noted that I do travel as a worship leader from time-to-time. In those cases, I'm sometimes playing to people who have my CD and have asked me to their event based on their feelings about that CD. In those cases, I think it's important to use whatever tunes the event sponsors are digging. I usually ask them which songs connect the best and try to do those. That's a very specific instance that doesn't really apply to weekly worship in a church, but I thought it was fair to note that exception.
Here's "how" I use my own songs.

Sneaky is always best.
There are a few things to note when trying to introduce your own songs. These are lessons learned on stages and in churches. (Many of them hard lessons.)

Lesson 1: Take your time. Sometimes if I've got a new song I want to use, I'll split it up. Maybe I take the chorus and attach it to more well-known song. I might do that two or three times to get the congregation familiar with it. If I do this for a few weeks and then decide to move into a full version of the song, I might initially start with chorus first, that being the part my people would know and sing.

Lesson 2: Keep quiet. Personally, one of the worst things a songwriting worship leader can do is to let people know he or she is doing original stuff. (I know this from painful experience.) This happens a few different ways...
-Putting your own copyright info onscreen.
-Introducing your own song with some story of why you wrote it.
-Telling people that this song "means a lot to me."

Here's why that's bad...by putting your copyright on a screen, you're going to open yourself to every form of compliment. Think about it. If your info is up there and folks come up to you and compliment your tune, how do you know they're not just being nice? How do you know they've responded on the merit of the song? You don't. Since I don't put my copyright info on slides, I usually have a great way to find out if a song is working or not. If folks come up then, I know the song is strong enough to stand on it's own.

Introducing a song with the behind-the-music just doesn't work. Why would you want to talk about that? Why not mention something about the song as you would with any other tune (not written by you!) Not only does it present a song in humility...it also builds humility into you.

I don't think any worship leader anywhere should tell folks a song is being done because "it means a lot to me." Primarily because worship and setlist planning isn't about the worship leader...it's about the congregation. And secondly, if it's your own tune, of course it means a lot to you. Why state the obvious, right?

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This may seem like overthinking or overreaction, but I don't think it is. I think it's important for worship leaders who write to be very careful about the way in which they present their songs. A little planning and some humility will go a long way in making the inclusion of your song a seamless, beneficial addition to your worship service.