Choosing songs for small group Worship Session With Rise need not be a daunting or difficult task. There are three factors you need to always take into consideration in order to select songs effectively for small group worship.
Factor 01: Know what songs are familiar to your small group.
Why is this so important? Because in small group worship you are better off using at the most one song that is unfamiliar to the people in each worship session. In order to follow this guideline you need to be aware of what songs are familiar to your group members.
If your small group is based at a local church (made up of members of the same church), this becomes a lot simpler. Pay attention to the songs are used for the worship service and take note of what songs regularly come up. These will be more familiar to your people. If your small group is a para-church group, you will need to pay attention to what songs have been regularly used for the worship sessions in previous meetings. Looking out for this will give you a good sense of what songs are dependable and usable in your small group worship times.
Factor 02: Know what songs are sing-able and what are not.
Songs that are easy for the members to sing are a must. We measure the success of small group worship by the standard of the following Scripture passage:
2 Chronicles 5:12-15 – All the Levites who were musicians-Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives-stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as *with one voice*, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God. (NIV, emphasis mine)
So if you want to make it easier to unify the praises of the people, choosing songs that are easily sung by your group members is crucial for your success.
Please don’t assume that what is used for your church service or heard in ‘worship’ albums will always be usable in a small group setting. Worship albums are usually created by people with a high level of music skill and singing ability. These people are therefore able to sing what the average church member can’t. This may not be obvious when a difficult song is attempted during a church service, since there are more people to cover up any problems, but it is painfully clear when you try to use such songs at a small group meeting.