Alternate Songs

Have you ever been in the middle of a leading a time of worship and realized that the next song in the order of the set just doesn’t feel right?

Or simply wished that you had different song option to lead the congregation in that moment? I have and I know it’s a fairly common experience for other worship leaders as well. Its not that we weren’t diligent in thinking through and preparing the worship set. Sometimes we just don’t have all of the revelation needed regarding how the worship will flow or if the songs we’ve picked will fully support what God is doing in the moment; kind of a “… we only see in part…” type of thing (I Cor.13:9-10 ).

The first step in answering to this situation is to diligently seek God’s heart in the choosing of your worship song set. You should also ask God to direct you in choosing one or two alternate songs for that specific worship set. First decide on the four or five songs that will be your main worship song set. Then choose several alternate songs that would fit well into that set and could be either added on the fly or swapped in for another song that doesn’t seem to fit in the flow of the moment.

Obviously, using alternate songs will require having the songs ready to rehearse with the band before hand and also making sure that they know that these are the two alternate songs that you may either add or substitute into the worship set if you feel that it would better serve the worship time. Also, be sure to provide the songs to your media person so the power point slides (or whatever you use) are ready and in “stand by” in case they are needed.

You may not end up needing to use the alternate songs during the worship time, but it will nice to have that option prepared before hand and ready if you need it.