5 Key Steps to Creating and Sustaining Meaningful, Spirit-Led Worship

Worship music is traditionally artistic.
Is there also a connection to science?
Let’s explore and compare both art and science as it relates to worship music.

THE ART OF WORSHIP

In a recent edition of Outreach Magazine, Pastor Ryan Kwon cites a song which impacted him with deep devotion in his journey to consider church planting: “I was discouraged…and thought, I’m never going to plant a church. Then, in the last session we were singing this song with the lyric: There must be more than this. The Lord speaks many times in my life through His Word, but this time He spoke through a song…”.

Most of us can likely bring to mind a worship song that evokes strong emotion. Maybe it was used during the altar call when you asked Jesus to be Lord over your life. Maybe it was, as Ryan Kwon relates, a call to a specific mission or people group. The use of a well-crafted song draws us to the Father; the glory belongs entirely to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Certainly the work of the Holy Spirit cannot be overstated. Jesus referred to the Spirit as being like elusive swirling of wind. He moves as He wishes. You can neither touch Him nor see where He is going. Yet the Holy Spirit of God evokes dynamic, life-changing worship, operating without human help or intervention. We can only remain open to His working, and use the tools we have at hand to convey the message of the Holy Spirit through song.

THE MECHANICS OF WORSHIP

Worship songs are crafted using many musical and art-related tools (melody, chords, lyrics). This creates a lot of moving parts! If used thoughtfully, these moving parts can create a variety of emotional prompts and calls-to-action designed to draw a response. The use of these tools certainly form a mechanical creation. But what infuses this creation? Behind every beloved worship song, there seems to be a hidden mystery that produces this response. Certainly the effectual fervent prayer of the songwriter who pens these amazing songs is key. All worship songwriters would do well to begin songwriting sessions, no matter how brief, with a prayer on our lips, that God would infuse our work, our efforts, with His blessing. In turn, worship pastors who have the knowledge to arrange these songs with their own unique skillset, also bear a responsibility to use these songs to benefit their ultimate purpose: bringing others closer to the Father. Thoughtful prayer is needed here as well.

WHAT DID ELISHA KNOW?

Hidden in the Old Testament is a story that eludes to a secret which musicians seldom take the time to notice. II Kings 3:15-18 relates the account of the Prophet Elisha, as he anticipated receiving a prophetic Word from Almighty God. Here is Elisha, cornered by Godless political leaders. As if oppressing the entire nation were not enough, they begin to bear down on him personally. They surround Elisha and want answers about what they should do in their next battle. One of those leaders standing before him was the son of the infamous King Ahab and his murderous wife, Jezebel. Talk about stress and added aggravation. What does Elisha do? He says: Bring me a musician…and it came to pass, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. Elisha called for a musician. Why was that?

Elisha did the only thing he knew how to do well…he pulled strength from remembering what God had done for him before, and he also pulled strength from remembering to go to a place where he could connect with his God; in the calm ambiance surrounded by beautiful music. Just imagine the harp starting to play. Can you hear it?

There are a few such stories in the Bible that speak to the power of music. David used his music to sooth the mental anguish of King Saul. Musicians were sent into battle ahead of the warriors, to frighten the enemy and proclaim God’s greatness (II Chronicles 20:20-22). Assuming this is not coincidental (that music influences emotion), it begs a question: Does artistic skill, or scientific tools, determine these emotional responses? Can the mechanics and tools of moving parts be analyzed, manipulated, then used again and again in a dynamic worship?

SCIENCE + WORSHIP PASTOR

There seems to be a fine line between the craft (art) and the mechanics (science) involved in creating and presenting a song that produces emotional results. Accomplished songwriters have secrets tucked away in their tool bag, which they can carefully select and use at just the right time. Above we spoke of some of the craft tools used by songwriters; we are now going to spend some time focusing on some of the performance tools that can be cultivated to help generate and extend meaningful worship. Songwriters are sometimes worship leaders or worship pastors, which helps with understanding how a song is structured, and their overall impact.
When intuitive worship pastors properly set up a worship song to accomplish it’s intended use, miracles happen. How can worship pastors do this?

5 TOOLS

Here are five performance tools you can employ right away to approach your worship session with a solid foundation:

• Find the right vocal range. The average human voice has a sweet spot. Worship pastors and leaders will do themselves a big favor by finding where that average range is. It is the key to full-voice worship. Listen to the voices in front of you. Are they resounding with joy at full voice? If the instruments suddenly went silent, what would you hear? A low drone? or the power of joyful praise? Find the best range for worship and you will see a huge change in the attitude and joy in your group. Placing your songs in a proper range is the scientific part of worship songwriting. An average worship song will become a life-changer in the right range and with the right arrangement. In guiding your flock to sing praise to God’s glory, become keenly aware of the science and mathematics involved in the human voice as it relates to evoking powerful worship. The verse is subdued, and the chorus is more dynamic in most cases. Even if you didn’t write the song, it is easy to find a transposed version of any song online. Try going to Worship Together or Praise Charts, and you will find all the latest and most popular worship songs, available in any key you choose. Read more about average vocal ranges here.
• Be aware of timing. Talk to your pastor. Get to know him, and his patterns during the service. Try speaking his language as you navigate the service. You may have met with him or an associate pastor to work out the best songs for the sermon, and that is a good place to start. Beyond that, be intuitive. Feel where he is headed with the sermon, and get in sync with that. Southern Gospel churches are experts at this. Here you see a pastor making point after point, all punctuated by the sounds coming from an organ on the stage and shouts from the people in attendance. They comment on the sermon as it is being spoken. Musicians outside the Gospel church need to study this style, and understand how perfectly music can couple with the pastor and his sermon. It doesn’t have to be in the same style as the Gospel church, but your entire collection of music used during worship needs to carry the same supportive feel.
• Use background ambiance appropriately. This is one of the most rewarding, yet most tricky tools that we possess as worship musicians. There are times during the opening, the sermon, prayer or announcements when background ambiance music is definitely a plus. If you are intuitive, you can create the right backdrop for what the subject is. Remember the story about Elisha, and create the mood that moves the ear and heart of the listener in the direction of appropriate response. You can use pre-set and pre-recorded synth ambiance in your designated key, and that should work fine. Even better practice your chord change skills (or suggest this to your keyboard player) during the week. Hear how many moods you can create by just moving one note of a chord around. This is a very powerful tool.
• Use form and repetition to structure your freestyle or extended worship. Extended worship is an art form in itself. Worship leaders and worship pastors must be careful to craft this element of worship, or your followers could get lost quickly. In the world of visual art, two of the most important elements of art and design are: a grid and repetition. Translated into musical terms, these two elements would be form and repetition. Both of these elements, when applied to extended worship, can achieve great results. Form: make sure you follow the chord patterns, time signature and number of bars that are indicated in either the verse or chorus (or both) of the song that you began with. Stick with these elements throughout. If you change keys, you risk breaking the flow. If you add in weird chords, you risk confusing your worshipers, and quite often your worship team. Stay within the number of bars used for each section, if possible; or use even number bars. Stay atune to your team, and make sure they know where you are going by using eye contact or head gestures. This can all be rehearsed during the week so no one is left wondering what to do. Repetition: Remember that you are leading worship. Even if you have Spirit-filled free expression, the last thing you want is for your flock to feel abandoned or wander around by themselves with no guidance or purpose. Stay engaged with the worshipers in front of you, and feed off their expression of worship, while staying within the parameters of your form. Avoid closing yours eyes for extended periods, and turning your back on them. Be mindful of body language. See our post on Basic Song Form and our post on Extended Worship.
• Focus in on Jesus. In the early days of the church, a single male singer voiced a melodic chant, beautifully setting a Psalm or Scripture to music. The Christians of the early eras worshiped as they listened to the singer. As time went on, the single vocal chant gave way to group singers, or a choir, then eventually the average church attender was blessed to sing at full voice in a room full of other Christians, all raising their voices together. Pre-1970 we had a minister of music and a piano and/or organ accompaniment. Worship skills have improved exponentially, even within the past four to five years. Now we have worship leaders, worship teams with full band/orchestra, and worship pastors. Whether you lead music in your local church, or are producing your own songwriter’s concert, you have taken on the mantel of worship pastor. This is a calling, and an ancient vocation of great honor in the sight of God. If you want to see the importance of music directors, read the Old Testament, especially the Psalms. The outpouring of the Spirit of God goes way beyond human comprehension or vision and you are in the middle of that. Consider the Day of Pentecost, or the more recent outpouring of the Holy Spirit in many colleges (i.e., Asbury University in Kentucky). These events mentioned above were born in a social atmosphere of desperation and unrest; people crying out to God for mercy. As you serve alongside your people, remember to take the time to insert Scripture in between songs, and stories of God’s goodness to your people. Point your people to Jesus, the One who deserves the glory, the God who answers prayer.

THE HIDDEN KEY

None of us know what the average church attendee is bringing with them, when they enter Sunday service. Maybe they have lost their job, and hence their identity. Maybe they are just coming into the building after a heated argument with their family. Maybe they have been hit with the news of a devastating illness or death of someone close to them. Multiply this by a gathering of 100, 1000 or 5000, and you have an astounding scene, all captured in one room of your building. In all of this, it is important to focus on one thought: they came to church.

We only need to remember the beautiful cloud of the presence of God in the Temple in II Chronicles to understand that something happens in corporate worship. Coming to church is the average Christian’s version of bring me a musician. They came to the one place that they knew they could get help. And this is where the worship pastor comes in. Yours is the first face they will see, and the first voice they will hear. Fill their hearts with Scripture. Address their heartache and let the Holy Spirit flow to them in song.