Resources (practical)

  • CCLI.com: See what songs are most-used across the country with the CCLI top 25/100. Watch videos of new songs (often a lot to sift through to find anything good).  There is no evaluation for theological content here, only popularity.  Most useful is the...
  • SongSelect by CCLI subscription, which for a fee allows you to look up virtually any song and view lyrics, listen to (short) samples, and download lead sheets or chord charts in any key. The arrangements aren't always the best, but it gives you a good start. 
  • Worship Leader: Good online presence in addition to the print magazine. Reviews on most new worship albums, but they won't give you much to go on theologically (that's what you need InDepth for!). Articles can be helpful sometimes. Often feels more geared toward megachurch outfits.
  • iTunes, YouTube, etc.: There are very few songs for which you can't find some kind of recording on the interwebs, to sample before you buy.  iTunes now has longer 1:30 samples, allowing you to get a better feel for a song to see if you want to pursue it further.  You can usually find full recordings on YouTube.  Remember that one song can have very different feels depending on the arrangement.
  • More Songs for Praise and Worship from Word Music: A sheet music series of 5 volumes (plus 2 Hymns for P & W volumes) that have come out over the past 12 years in an effort to keep up to date with the latest songs.  Very helpful if you need to work from sheet music.  If no one in your group does, it will only be burdensome.  Volume 3 is best, in my opinion.

Going deeper...

  • aaronniequist.com: Niequist cut his chops for almost a decade as the worship leader at Rob Bell's former church, Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI.  Now he's at Willow Creek, north of Chicago.  His blog posts are always engaging as he seeks to "join God in healing and restoring the world," and explores how to incorporate "a new liturgy" into his non-denominational, megachurch setting.  
  • gungormusic.com: The leader of one of worship music's most innovative artists, Michael Gungor, posts periodically on topics ranging from the creative process (he just finished a book on that topic) to frustrations with the Christian music "industry."
  • sojournmusic.com: In their own words: "New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture.  Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community."  Yes, you read that correctly.  A community church that uses liturgical form in a faithfully innovative way.  They post weekly "liturgy recaps," along with other interesting reflections, to go along with some great, boundary-less music.