Nashville-based Krissy Nordhoff is a professional songwriter and author.
Krissy is the creator of The Writing Worship Course and the Worship Songwriter Mentorship. Her songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Natalie Grant, Jenn Johnson (Bethel Music), Darlene Zschech and many more! Passionate about training and encouraging the next generation of songwriters, Krissy now mentors, teaches and creates resources, including informative podcasts and her popular 'Songwriter Personality Test'. She has also penned a new book, Writing Worship: How To Craft Heartfelt Songs for the Church that offers spiritual and practical insights for aspiring songwriters and worship teams that want to write original songs for their congregations.
WRITING WORSHIP - FIND OUT MORE
Why The Church Needs New Songs
I think it's really important for us to notice what the Bible says about new songs. It says in Psalm 96:1 "Sing to the Lord, a new song, "sing to the Lord, all the Earth, sing to the Lord, "praise his name, proclaim his salvation, day after day." I love that it says sing a new song inside of the old songs, and I think it's meant to be a reminder for us that we wouldn't forget how important those songs are. There's a lot that's going on right now with music and churches are writing their own songs and it's actually seeming like a new thing, but it's a very ancient thing and it's beautiful. So let's dig into a little bit more about why that might be a good thing. Not just because the Bible says, but how does it affect our church and our people?
1. It brings fresh praise to God, and fresh revelation to us
God is a creative God. He loves being told that we love Him in new ways, just like you or I would in any relationship, and bringing Him a new song is a way to do that. We also receive fresh revelation as we're doing so, and as we're writing these songs, sometimes the Lord gives us insight on how to express something in a new way that's never been expressed that same way before. You know how you feel when you've heard a song and for the first time, and it expresses a feeling that you've never been able to express - it moves you so deeply.
2. New songs are able to go beyond language and speak a dialect
When you write songs that are specifically for your church, you can use words that matter to them. You can use things that are are very important for your denomination, and you can stay away from things that people don't want to touch on. So it's a customisable way to make sure that what they're hearing doesn't bring any distractions into the room, that they can worship right where they are, as they are, and overall you want those songs to feel like home.
3. They bring unity to the church
This is a conversation that would happen in a healthy dynamic where the pastor and the worship leader are having conversations about what the Lord is saying, and seeing patterns in what God is speaking. If the pastor can line his message up with a melody, it'll impact the congregation all week long.
4. A new song can minister to your congregation right where they are
Just like when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, Miriam broke out that tambourine to celebrate, and led the people through song. We can do the same thing: it might be a high, like that of celebration, or it could be something sad, something hard that our church is walking through. But songs can speak on a heart level and bring either healing or joy to the congregation.
5. New worship songs can prepare congregations for the future
Finally, I think new worship songs can prepare congregations for the future. Many of the songwriters in the Bible also happened to be prophets, and I believe that is still true for today. Sometimes I've written a song with no knowledge that the Lord would use it in a different way than I intended because He knew what was coming in the future. And many times, when we write according to where the Pastor has planned to lead the church, we'll write songs to help lead them in the same direction.
Do I think that all we need are new songs? No, I think we need a balance. In Ephesians, Paul talks about psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, but I've just noticed that if we're gonna forget any, usually it's the new ones, but you can be a part of helping us not to forget to incorporate those new songs into our churches. I wanna challenge you today to write a song for your own church in your dialogue something that sounds like home, something that fits your culture, that sounds like your culture. Maybe it fits a situation currently going on in your church, or maybe it's about where you're feeling your church is being led, but in any case, we wanna hear what God is sharing through your voice to your church.
You can share any song you've written by uploading it to SongShare to share with your church, with your city and with your world.
If you don't know where to start with writing songs, or if you're an old hand in need of some fresh new tips then Krissy has some amazing resources on her site writingworship.co. A great place to start is by taking the Songwriter Personality Test, which will help you to understand where your personal strengths are with songwriting, and who you need to team up with! If you want to dig deeper with others in your church then have a look at Krissy's book Writing Worship, and her online course.
WRITING WORSHIP - FIND OUT MORE