So this past Sunday I struggled with playing a couple of songs that…just aren’t my favorite songs in the world. I mean, they were great songs at one point…they were just overdone or overplayed or just not my thing. We are in the middle of a series called “Just Ask” and the messages are based on questions people asked within the church. Well, 80% of the songs were also requested by people. Most of the requests were songs already in our rotation and I had no problem adding them.
However, 2 came up and I wanted nothing to do with them. It just so happened that these 2 songs were the absolute most requested songs, with both of them having over 20 requests. These epic songs were “I’ll Fly Away” and “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe. After fighting it for a while, and knowing other staff members already saw a few of the requests, I decided to go ahead and use them. This past Sunday’s main question was “Is there more than one way to heaven?” so naturally…they both fit. Yay! I’d be lying to you if I said I still wasn’t struggling about playing them on the morning of. I decided on a Jars of Clay rendition of “I’ll Fly Away” I felt I could live with. And in rehearsal, we actually had a lot of fun with it making it sound super country. Clay Goswick even threw a country solo on the end of it.
To say the very least, God used these 2 songs in huge ways. We opened up the service with “I’ll Fly Away” and people went crazy when they heard the first line, “Some glad morning…” This was a song that a lot of people connected with. A large portion of our church was un-churched or de-churched prior to The Well, but connected to “I’ll Fly Away” and brought back a connection to God when they heard it. With “I Can Only Imagine”, I’ve NEVER seen our church react in the way they did when we started that song! The main lady I remember requesting it, just lost her father 3 weeks before and watched her be brought to tears as I was singing. God moved in a HUGE way in that room and I felt His Spirit move SO much during that song.
Worship Leaders,
Don’t be afraid to play the songs YOU don’t want to play. After all, it’s not about YOU. And I’m speaking to myself more than anyone right now. Every worship leader or musician has those songs they see on a set list and think, “Why do we have to play this? I hate this song!” I KNOW it’s happened to you before. Coming from a worship leader who picks the sets, I can promise you that at The Well we ONLY play a song that will enhance the worship service or bring home the point of the message. So #1, there IS a reason for it. And #2, GOD CAN AND WILL USE IT SO THAT PEOPLE CAN CONNECT TO HIM!
July 27th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Really glad to see this post.
Put me in the camp that’s not really into Mercy Me, but I also know, just like the radio, the musical tastes vary greaty even within a modern church. Chances are the person who’s never heard of Mercy Me or they like softer CCM they are going prefer that style over David Crowder stuff or the like.
If you look at our “demo”, we’re all over the place; young, middle aged, and very experienced in life. One thing I’ve started to notice is that people like to worship to a song they can sing along with. Even if I’ve heard the song 1,000 times, there’s something very powerful about that song when the entire congregation is singing along. And, like you said, with a bunch of unchurched people, they really haven’t heard any of it before 2009.
If it were all about me, I’d demand that you sing a bunch of old hymns with your own Kyle O’Neal rendition. Oh, and Not to us/Here is our King… And Freebird and Simple Man and “We Built This City” by Starship.
July 27th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Right on Kyle. I was also teetering on whether or not the “I’ll Fly Away” song would be worshipful and benificial to the service, but once I saw the faces of people light up, I knew that God was in control of that service. Thanks for all that you and your band members do for our church week after week. Now can I request something?
I would like to hear “Jesus Christ, Superstar.”