Worship Considerations and Sample Song Lists

Thank you to Jamie Brown, Falls Church, Falls Church VA

When choosing songs for Alpha, we must choose carefully and wisely.

We can’t pick songs just because we like them or because they’re popular on the radio or on Sunday mornings. We pick songs based on:

1) Where we are in the course
2) What age range we have in the course
3) Their lyrical content
    
**Sample song lists

1) Where we are in the course

The Alpha course moves along gradually and gently. Our song selection needs to as well. Start off by picking songs that speak about God objectively. In other words, talk about God and who He is, not to Him. That will come later. As you’ll see in the suggested song lists, we wait 3 or 4 weeks to begin talking to God, so that people will have some idea of who they’re singing to!

Further, from the retreat and beyond, our number of songs increase and songs that speak directly to God, in more subjective terms, are sung more often. Although old songs like “As the Deer” or “I Love You Lord” are familiar – we shouldn’t ask non-Christians to be singing “… and I long to worship You” or …”I love you more than any other…” just yet.

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2) What age range we have in the course

Take a look at what your age range is on your Alpha course. If your course is made up mostly of younger ages, favor more contemporary songs (but don’t leave out hymns since they have familiar tunes and objective lyrics).

If your course is made up mostly of older ages, favor more traditional songs (but don’t leave out more contemporary songs since they allow the person singing them to sing directly to God in more personal language).

If your course has a broad range of ages, from students to elderly, be deliberate about including both contemporary and traditional songs.

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3) Their lyrical content

Read through every song you do carefully. Is the song Biblical? Does it make sense? Also, read the lyrics through a few different lenses. 

First, would a non-Christian be made unnecessarily uncomfortable by singing this? Looking through this lens while reading the lyrics to “I Love You, Lord”, the answer to this would be yes! A non-Christian would certainly be made unnecessarily uncomfortable by this. Save this song for later.

However, looking through this lens while reading through the lyrics to “Forever (Give Thanks to the Lord)”, the answer would no. A non-Christian could see the words “Give thanks to the Lord our God and King, His love endures forever” and not feel threatened. That statement is more objective than subjective.

A second lens to look through is, is this what I want to be putting into the mouths and hearts and minds of our guests throughout the week? Songs stay in people’s minds and hearts long after a sermon fades. People remember melodies and phrases long after the song ends. So what words do you want the group to remember? Songs shape people’s theology. Shape carefully!

The third lens is, does the song say things that haven’t been explained? For example, singing a song about the blood of the Lamb on the first week would be a bad idea, but singing about God’s goodness would be fine. Saving a song about Jesus’ blood until the fourth or fifth week would be better. Avoid songs that are not clear in what they say.

I once sang “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and afterwards someone asked me in front of the whole group what a “fetter was.” Thankfully, I was able to answer. But it made me think twice about using that song again! Could you explain what every phrase meant if a guest asked you?

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Pick songs wisely.

Build familiarity with them by repeating often. Don’t overwhelm your guest with two songs every single week. Look over the suggested song lists and see what we’ve found to be effective over numerous courses. Remember that you have 10 weeks plus a retreat! Go gradually and gently.

Sample song List A – a mix of old and new songs

Sample song List B – favors more traditional songs

These are suggestions. Looking through the lenses explained above, you may think of some that would be better.  

Here is a helpful outline if you do use your own songs. It shows you how to do songs enough times so people learn them, but not so often that people get tired of them!

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