This month we asked a pastor and a worship leader to share how their congregations choose worship music.
Fairview Mennonite Church in Albany, Oregon
Our church entrusts the selection of congregational worship music to a music committee that works in close conjunction with our church leadership. We have a diverse congregation in age and background, so naturally, there are varying opinions and preferences. While it is not a perfect solution, we’ve found the best path forward is to evaluate individual songs on their own merit.
Currently, it’s trendy to write off entire groups of musicians based on the publishing companies or churches they’re associated with. While this is certainly a simpler approach, I believe it is unnecessarily fear-based. Furthermore, such a black-and-white approach is inconsistent with how we select older music.
For example, how deeply should we dig into the history and source of every song we sing, including those in old church hymnals? Surely, all of us use resources in our churches and homes that are produced by creators and companies that hold vastly different worldviews—even ones in stark opposition to a biblical worldview. Yet this doesn’t mean that the products themselves cannot be used for Kingdom purposes.
In the end, I believe we need to be focused on our own congregations and what best serves them. Does our celebrity-celebrated culture prompt us to imagine ourselves as having more influence than we actually do? Might these worship conflicts exist because we’ve overemphasized the Sunday morning “production,” and underemphasized day-to-day Jesus following and discipleship?
I believe our churches will be healthier if we focus on the lordship of Christ in every area of our lives—including a robust theology of suffering for His sake—rather than on fearmongering watchdog YouTube videos and blogs. Pharisees are well known as those who focus more on what they are against than what they are for!
Our lives are to be lived and our churches saturated in the goodness of God, and perhaps singing about it is more edifying than dividing over who wrote the worship songs.
Brandon Funk is the pastor of Fairview Mennonite Church. He enjoys playing guitar and exploring the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Cindy, and their four children.
Oak Dale Church in Salisbury, Pennsylvania
In his book The Insanity of God,* Nik Ripken observed that the resilience of persecuted peoples around the world grew from their impulse to sing “HeartSongs”—new songs to the Lord birthed in the furnace of affliction. Ripken concluded that the health of a church depends on whether or not it has embraced faith as its own and sings its own “HeartSongs.”
In my role as worship director, I oversee a team of 30–40 musicians, singers, and audio-visual technicians. Together with four other worship leaders, we select new songs to introduce. I meet monthly with the preaching and worship planning teams and prayerfully consider what God is doing at Oak Dale and in this community.
We look for songs that are scripturally sound, congregationally friendly, and doable for our volunteer musicians. We mostly introduce “HeartSongs”—songs that flow spontaneously from our hearts, strengthening faith and witnessing to the reality of our resurrected Lord.
When I think about how best to pick songs to lead at Oak Dale, I look for “HeartSongs.” I identify these by cultivating sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and relationships with congregants. Members frequently suggest songs that have been meaningful to them, expressing what is in their hearts. These are their “HeartSongs.” Our Sunday morning worship flows from our worship throughout the week.
But what do I do if the “HeartSong” comes from a questionable source?
The corruption of the worship music industry is both heartbreaking and enraging. Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation have all become global phenomena. Every time we play songs from Hillsong and the like, we are supporting a questionable industry, riddled with scandal.
With an amazing plethora of independent artists and worship groups producing quality worship music, I rarely feel the need to introduce songs from more troublesome sources. While I am not categorically against such music, there are many good options that do not carry the baggage of questionable theology, sexual abuse charges, and the commercialization of “worship.” However, we do not automatically cut out all songs from questionable sources.
We sing hymns, like “It Is Well With My Soul,” aware of the questionable theology the writer espoused later in life. We also sing hymns that were originally secular tunes. We sing all these songs, believing that the power and significance of worship lies not in the composer or organization producing the songs. Worship songs and hymns are not mere incantations. We are not wizards reciting spells. The significance of the music lies in the hearts of the worshippers and the transforming power of the God we worship. True worship flows from the heart: “HeartSongs!”
*Lewis, Gregg, and Nik Ripken. The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected. B&H Publishing Group, 2014.
Annette Miller is the worship director at Oak Dale Church. She and her husband, Jon, have five children, whom she homeschools. In addition, Annette is studying to be a nurse practitioner.
3 Responses
As Krista rightly commented, Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation are lead by false teachers. Do not allow yourselves to be described by them.
One important difference between hymn writers of old and current day groups is that the hymn writers of old are long gone and aren’t currently teaching false theology and leading people to a false gospel as these groups currently are.
Additionally, I believe the comparison of our usage of household products made by non Christian companies to how we worship God is a poor choice of comparison. God has spoken to us clearly, through scripture, on how He is to be worshipped. Things that directly oppose what God has commanded should have no place in our worship of God. If you are unfamiliar with it, I recommend researching and understanding The Regulative Principle of Worship.
Finally, as you explore “HeartSongs” I implore you remember that
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
— Jeremiah 17:9
Here is something to think about concerning troublesome sources. If we consistently apply that approach, must we not also avoid the psalms written by David? He committed murder and adultery. What about the wisdom literature written by Solomon? He married foreign wives and followed pagan gods. I could share other examples.
Thankfully, scripture is rife with reminders that we are all fallen. Yet, we are still capable of bringing honor and glory to God with the work of our hands.
I’m not advocating a blind-eye approach but offering a word of caution.
Dear fellow Mennonites, my family was deceived by the false teachers that this music comes from. Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation, etc are heretical false churches! They are in to the new age and other false beliefs. Do your research. When you sing their songs, you are partnering in their lies, paying them financial royalties. In turn, people look up their songs online and are led to listen to their false pastors. Trust me, we just came out of this movement. I was raised Mennonite but was never taught anything about who are false teachers. I was so naive. I was deeply led astray into the emotional music that focuses on self worship, lying prophets, deceitful people, and teaching that tells us we have authority when Jesus has the authority. The Bible warns us to flee from them and expose them! Please keep your eyes in the Bible and do not be deceived. It nearly wrecked my faith and spiritual life, but God in His sovereignty rescued us from these lies. The Mennonite church should flee from the things of this world – at least they did a better job with this in the past than I see them doing now. You are playing with fire when you sing these songs!