Ouch. We’ve all been there. You and your team were pumped all week about this new music and then…….nothing. It just falls flat. As you get off the stage you wonder, “What in the world happened out there?” You have a couple options in this scenario. You could throw your hands up and decide to never play the song again. You could decide that the song is a must and you will play it no matter what anyone tells you. You could take a few minutes to reflect on where you got off course and how to fix it. Let’s choose the third option.
Arrangement
Go over the arrangement again. Was it too difficult for your team to play well? Did they have enough time to properly learn the song? Did it bounce around too much and the congregation couldn’t follow you? Just because it plays well on the radio doesn’t mean it will play well for your congregation. On your own or with a team member go through the arrangement and see if you need to make some changes. If you give your team the opportunity, you may be surprised at the great ideas they have.
Communication
How did you communicate the new music to your church? Did you teach them part of the song? Did you just start playing? Did they know they were invited to worship alongside you in this new music? Think through this part. If you really love that song and want to try it again, communicate it differently next time. In the post ‘5 Steps to Introducing New Music’ we discussed how to prep your congregation and the method of teaching and repeating. This may be a good time to go back to steps 4 and 5. Evaluate the choices you made and make some new ones. How we communicate new music to our church has a huge impact on how it will be received.
They’re Just Not That In To It
There comes a time when we have to humble ourselves and realize we don’t always make the best choices. There will be tons of songs that I can worship to while in my car that will just never, ever, ever work on a Sunday morning for my church. There are even times when the most popular worship song just will not work at your church. (I’m sure Oceans bombed somewhere.) If you’ve gone through different avenues to introduce this song to your congregation and it still leaves everyone feeling uncomfortable, it’s time to scrap it.
The Church Collective is super interested in hearing from you and your experiences. Have you ever revived a song you thought was dead? How many chances do you give new music before scrapping it? Let us know in the comments below.