At a recent workshop, “Writing for the Church: Called for Mission”, church songwriters and musicians gathered to listen from expert songwriters from CityAlight, a music ministry group from St Paul’s Church in Sydney, Australia, who are behind popular contemporary worship songs like “Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me” and “Only a Holy God”.
Here are some of the lessons gleaned from the workshop.
Words on a mission
Songwriting for the church, by definition, has a missional aspect. Dr Calvin Chong (Professor of Practical Theology, Singapore Bible College) opened the session by challenging participants to write for two mission fields—namely, their congregations and those outside the church. Lyrics should have a “lyrical density”, where lyrics do not just facilitate intimate me-and-God encounters, but also disciple congregations to carry out God’s mission in the world.
On the purpose of each song, Dr Chong used the analogy of a spiralling vortex and a slingshot to describe whether songs focused on generating emotional highs or propelling congregations to embark on Christian acts of service. Using a “claypot” metaphor, he also encouraged participants to write more—for in doing so, better quality songs would be produced.
Lastly, the entire process must be saturated with prayer, for “pray-paration” is as important (if not more so) than any other kind of preparation.
Head and heart
According to CityAlight songwriters Rich Thompson and Jonny Robinson, congregational songwriting is a distinct genre of songwriting that differs from writing for secular audiences or Christian radio.
Just as with sermons, God’s truth must be clear and self-evident in congregational songs. But unlike sermons, songs are like “logic on fire”—they have a greater influence as congregations can easily memorise them. Hence, a songwriter’s responsibility is a deep one.
Given the long-lasting impact of congregational songs, Rich and Jonny encouraged composing songs for daily life, such as to overcome the mid-week slump with God’s unchanging truth. Writing on a wide range of topics and referring to existing liturgical materials (e.g. Book of Common Prayer, Puritan prayer books) was also encouraged.
Besides having head knowledge of God’s truth, beauty and personal connection with a song are also essential for God’s truth to touch the hearts of congregation members. In making the connection between head and heart, an exercise of analysing moving song lyrics and identifying the elements that make those lyrics beautiful can be used. They advised against using tired, tried-and-tested phrases.
A songwriter’s practical tools
A good melody can prompt a personal connection aspect of a song. They also shared a practical 3-step approach to get past the proverbial blank page. Co-writing was highly encouraged, and a list of criteria to evaluate one’s song was shared.
3-step approach to get over writer’s block
1. Thematically map out your song
2. Select your patterns (in terms of meter and emphasis)
3. Map out your verse / chorus logic
How to evaluate your song
- Does it generate interest?
- Is it accessible? Is it easy to sing?
- Is there a clear theme throughout the song?
- Does the theme progress throughout the song?
- Does it have biblical content?
- Does it add to the current song landscape?
- Does it have a rhyming structure?
- Does it have a clear syllable pattern?
- Does it have an emotional pull?
- Does it speak to the mind / intellect?
- Does it draw the person into the story and message of the song?
Recognising the temptations of songwriters
Lastly, songwriters were told to examine their attitudes and practices towards songwriting and recognise any temptations of being a successful Christian songwriter, such as praise, fame or money. Congregational songwriters must guard their hearts, pray unceasingly and write from a place of genuine contentment. On this note, they exhorted songwriters to receive criticism graciously, and to respect their congregation’s responses to their songs.
