Who chooses the songs?

Michael Lawrence asks “Who should pick the music?” In church. He actually means “who picks the songs”.  His conclusion for reasons provided in his article is that the lead preaching pastor should do it. 

I think there are a couple of problems with his assumptions. The starting point is that it seems based on a large US church model. Scripture knows no such thing as a lead teaching pastor. Nor incidentally does it talk about worship pastors.

However, if you do believe that worship is about teaching – and yes partly it is- then if you have a worship pastor, surely they are competent to teach.

Then there is the question about whether the preaching of the Word is what the whole gathering is about. I write as someone who sees expository preaching as important but I don’t see suggestion in Scripture that the church gathers primarily for a sermon with some songs and notices tagged on.

So he hasn’t persuaded me and I think that’s because he has gone down the wrong lines.  First he has thought in terms of job titles and positions rather than who is doing what in a meeting.  In fact there is a sense in which everyone is meant to bring something to the gathering whether a prophecy, a song, a testimony.  It’s pragmatics that mean we have people planning and organising each week. 

Secondly, I think there is a need to step back a little and think about the bigger picture of church life.  Pastor/Teachers are meant to equip the whole  church for works of service. 

So as an elder in a local church, I’m not concerned with micro managing the song choices each week.  I might want some input when preaching as we want the whole gathering to hang together. 

First then, we want to be recognising those with gifts to lead sing worship and help them to make wise choices.

Secondly, I think it is helpful for elders to have a top level oversight to ensure the long term diet of songs is balanced and healthy.  This means checking over the lyrics of new songs and reviewing regularly what is being sung.

Thirdly, I think it means providing opportunities for all to “bring a song” whether new that they have written or songs they have learnt and like. This means the whole body are involved in choosing what is sung.