5 Ways to Help Your Church Sing

For one thousand years leading up to the Reformation, hymn singing was a dangerous occupation. Just ask Jan Hus (c. 1370-1415), an early Reformer from modern-day Prague, who was burned at the stake for it. Rewind back to the 4th century (c. AD 350) where a decree by the Church stated: “If laymen are forbidden to preach and interpret the Scriptures, much more are they forbidden to sing publicly in church.”[1] This measure effectually silenced congregational worship in the church for the next ten centuries. Professionals took over (priests) and the congregation—once participants—increasingly became observers of worship.

Why the history lesson, you ask? Because many times the modern church has forgotten the importance of congregational singing in worship. At the Last Supper Jesus, along with the disciples, sang a hymn before heading to the Mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30). In Acts 2: 42-47, one can find an important list of vital activities for the people of God when they gather. These actions include: 1) Preaching and teaching the word of God; 2) Fellowship; 3) The Lord’s Supper; 4) Prayer; and 5) Praise.

“…let’s make sure we do all that we are able to help the church sing “the excellencies of God” at the top of their lungs.”

Martin Luther believed that more people were won to Christ through singing than his preaching, as worship edifies and instructs the Body of Christ (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). When congregations sing, all are truly on the same page together; everyone is singing in the same key, declaring the same words and hearing the same truth at exactly the same time.

      So, if singing is vital to the church, we must make sure our congregations are doing just that. Here are five ways to help worshipers lift their collective voices in praise to God.

1.     Choose sing-able keys

We pick certain keys because the song was initially recorded to promote the lead vocalist on a recording. The original sounded great with all of those high notes and licks put into the performance on the mp3, and it's our desire for the song to capture that same energy and excitement. But for our congregations, we must find a common musical range that an average person can sing, which is considerably limited; the lowest end of that range is around Bb, below middle C—the highest is roughly D, an octave and a step above middle C. Finding the best key is really about being a servant to our people so they can worship freely.

2.     Choose songs that sing like prayers to God

During a recent Internet interview, Tim Timmons was asked, “What is a worship leader?" He described one as a person who helps people sing prayers to Jesus—a very accurate description. As a songwriter, my role is to help believers declare truth, devotion, heart and adoration to God with thoughts that they themselves may never be able to articulate. I have also likened my job to being a writer of greeting cards—helping people say what they really want to express to God. Whether one uses hymns or choruses, it is always advantageous for worship to be in the vernacular (language) of the people. Even as missionaries respect the culture of an indigenous people when sharing the gospel, a worship leader does well to choose songs that are in the heart language of the congregation singing.

3.     Make sure worship songs are scripturally sound

In his book, Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin wrote, “One of the most important aspects of biblical worship we desperately need to recover today is a passionate, scripturally informed exaltation of Jesus Christ and his redemptive work.” The Bible teaches that the church must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4: 24); worship must also be Christ-centered and not man-centered (Matt. 4:10; Rom. 15:1-7; Heb. 13:15); and the Word of God must guide worship (Ps. 119:105; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). Leaders have the responsibility to make sure that what their congregations sing lines up with Scripture. Remember what Martin Luther understood: many learn doctrine and theology from hymns and worship songs!

4.     Help the congregation hear themselves sing

As an electric guitar-playing worship leader guy myself, I love powerful sound, great in-ear monitoring, lights and an energetic audience. But in a live worship setting, many times we have the scenario all wrong. Actually, those who are leading the songs provide accompaniment to help the congregation sing to God (the priority), Who is the ultimate audience. Often when we attempt to be musically powerful, culturally relevant, while offering a world-class concert experience, we thwart the actual purpose of why we are there—to help the church sing! This is counter-intuitive to many Western churches today, but I challenge churches to turn the sound down so the church can hear itself sing. What happens most of the time is that with a “concert” mentality we force the congregation to look to the stage, when they should rather be fixing their attention upon God. This leads to the next and final suggestion…

5.     Avoid “professionalizing” everything

As mentioned earlier, the problem with the 4th century decree from the Council at Laodicea was that the Church had decided common folk didn’t have authority to preach, read the Word on their own, or even participate in worship—which included congregational singing. Therefore, priests did all of the work. Ironically, the word liturgy (a fixed set of formalities used in public worship) actually means “the work of the people!” It is so easy for leaders to take control of worship and make it uber-professional, when actually the purpose of worship, found in 1 Peter 2:9, states that God’s ultimate design for us is to be: “…a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light” (NASB).  

We need to be mindful of our purpose as worshipers; singing together as a congregation is a part of that ultimate design. As leaders, let’s make sure we do all that we are able to help the church sing “the excellencies of God” at the top of their lungs.

About the author:

A native of southern California, Jamie Harvill is best known for writing or co-writing the worship songs “Ancient of Days,” “Firm Foundation,” “Garments of Praise,” and “Because We Believe.” Married to his gorgeous bride, Brenda, since 1985, they have two married children, and three grandchildren. Jamie holds a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Mobile, and an MA in Worship Studies from Liberty University. Check out Jamie’s books, Worship Foundry and To Jesus We Sing. More info at jamieharvill.com

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[1] Elmer L. Towns and Vernon M. Whaley, Worship Through the Ages: How the Great Awakenings Shape Evangelical Worship (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2012), Kindle Edition, location 1590.