Does having a multicultural service mean having more worship songs?

When I was leading worship in college we were allowed to have one or two songs in the beginning and two or three songs at the end.  This was typical for our Campus Crusade meeting.  There were a lot of other elements in the service, so having more worship songs wasn’t exactly necessary.

Now, when I started with multicultural worship about five years ago I started to notice that I was adding more worship songs.  It wasn’t unusual to have seven songs or even nine songs on some occasions.

But why were we singing more worship songs?

Looking back I see that we were building up our song list.  And, in order to make sure we had certain languages or styles in the service meant increasing our song list.

It takes awhile to find or translate songs in other languages.  And it takes even more time for your congregation to get used to songs from different cultures.

I always say…worship leaders have all week or all month to learn a song in another language or style, but the congregation has less than five minutes on Sunday morning.

So, we have to sing those songs again and we have to wait on other songs.

Do you need more worship songs?

I don’t think that’s necessarily true.  I have a good friend who’s been leading worship at a multicultural church and they do four songs on a regular basis.  Typically the songs are in the middle of the service.

The thing you want to keep in mind is not to let it always be about the music.  You can include scripture in other languages or prayer in other languages.  If your church supports artwork, maybe you can have an artist of the month, like my friend Andrew Thomas has at his church…Living Water.

Lesson…

Have a plan to include more worship songs that are multicultural, but do it over time.  Everybody needs time to adjust.  And, remember, there are other parts of the service that can honor other cultures too.

What are some ways you can think that would honor other cultures besides adding more worship songs to the service?

Share your story and your life…

Sincerely,
Peter Park
Blogger/Worship Leader/Speaker
peterpark@redemptionboulevard.com
(800) 453-3284

Blog posts that would be helpful with “More worship songs”:

Think creatively and be authentic
Laboring in Prayer

© 2010, Peter Park. All rights reserved.

Related posts:

1. Worship Leader…Stringing Songs Together
2. What songs are appropriate for corporate worship?
3. Power of God songs