The following is lightly adapted from a document adopted by our worship committee in 2023.
When the church gathers, we worship God, and one of the key ways we do that is through song. We sing together to remember God’s Word, to respond to God’s grace, and to reflect God’s glory. We sing to express an appropriate emotional response to the truths about God in Christ (Psalm 33). Ephesians 5:19 speaks of addressing “each other” through song, and in Colossians 3:16, singing is connected to the word of Christ as we teach and admonish each other. Corporate worship is thus not an individual experience, but something shared by those gathered.
Accomplishing these realities (as consistently as possible) requires the best combination of songs sung by our congregation. Lyrics really matter. With only a certain amount of songs to sing each week, it will be important for them to be as impactful as possible.
As a result, we use the following criteria to curate and maintain the collection of songs that EBC will sing. Song leaders will have freedom to choose from this group of songs for any given week in cooperation with the preacher, in order that the songs will fit well with the truths of the Biblical passage being preached.
General Criteria
- Song choice should reflect sensitivity to a wide range of ages in our congregation.
- Certain songs could appeal more to a certain age group, but the general mix of songs chosen should be able to appeal to a broad range of ages. It’s fair to consider musical styles with this broad appeal as well.
- We shouldn’t choose songs based on category, but more for content. While respecting the first point about appealing to varying ages, hymns, for example, should be held the same lyrical “choosiness” as a newer chorus.
- We want to appreciate a place for both simplicity or complexity in theological or doctrinal truth. Something like Jesus, Strong and Kind will come across more simply, while O Sacred Head Now Wounded is obviously more complex.
- Song lyrics should be as clear as possible. Vagueness or phrases that could be interpreted widely different by many people will generally not help us to worship “corporately”. Additionally, we will be cautious in choosing songs that express specific feelings or experiences that other congregants may have never felt or experienced. We will keep in mind different backgrounds of our congregation and how certain words or phrases could be interpreted.
- Even if a song just has one or two lines that seem “weak,” it’s probably better to look for a song that is stronger for use. With limited opportunity to sing each week and over a year, EBC wants to have the strongest group of songs for worshiping together.
- Content should trump personal musical preferences as much as possible. A song you really like can continue to be a song you really like, but it may not be the best fit for corporate worship at EBC.
Truth
- What is this song saying or teaching? Does the Bible clearly state the same?
- What is it saying about God? Is it true? Is it saying it in a biblical manner?
- What is the saying about us? Is it true? Is it saying it in a biblical manner?
- Does the song misinterpret Scripture or does it help us understand the Bible? Does it misapply anything from the Old Testament toward the New Testament or life today?
People
- Does this song say things that would be easy for people to misinterpret or misunderstand? Is there poetic/metaphorical language that is hard to grasp or interpret?
- How will this song be received by men? Women? Children? Seniors? Can all age groups sing this through with integrity?
Experience
- How does this song engage our emotions? Does it do so in a fitting way?
- Does this song describe experiences that most of us can/should be able to relate to?
- Does it say things most people in our church can/should honestly sing?
- Is this a song about the experience of worship, or is it a song that actually worships God/teaches/admonishes?
Music & Craft
- How singable is this? Does it jump octaves? Does the music serve the words and do we need to adjust anything from any existing recordings of it? Are there any long interludes we want to trim?
- Is the song excellently and carefully written?
- Do the lyrics have an understandable “flow,” or do they just string together nice phrases in a way that will leave people confused as to what they just sung?
Purpose
- Why do we want to sing this song? Is it because it’s popular and catchy, or does it actually serve our congregation?
- How does this song accomplish the goals of Ephesians 5:18-20 and Colossians 3:16? How will singing this song, long-term, shape us as a church?
- How does this song fit into our repertoire? Does it balance/compliment the other songs we sing?
While doing our best to be faithful to the Lord and His word, we recognize that genuine worship is ultimately a supernatural event: we are drawn near by the Father through Jesus to offer Him the fruit of our lips (John 4:23, Hebrews 8:1-2, 10:19-22, 13:15). May the Lord bless our efforts, magnifying His name among us as we worship Him in spirit and truth.
