I have to confess that a significant minority of the new songs I come across each year on various websites, events and albums fail to do any of the above. They are little more than a re-ordering of stock phrases in circulation among existing songs, just married to a new tune. It feels to me like the energy and skill has gone into creating a dynamic, memorable melody, and the words are something of an afterthought, which sound ‘right’ but say little.

As worship leaders we live in pretty fortunate times: not only do we have hundreds – OK, thousands – of years of songs and hymns to draw on for our church worship; not only are there more worship songs being written now than in the history of the church; but we also have instant access to these songs, whatever part of the world they may have come from, via the internet. We probably take it for granted, but the number and range of resources available to us is quite extraordinary, and the ease of accessibility is something that worship leaders and service planners would have given their eye-teeth for as recently as, say, ten years ago.

Of course, quantity doesn’t equal quality. And as thousands more songs are added to this virtual worldwide ‘hymnal’ every year, it is worth asking the question: do we really need more worship songs? Is this latest batch of material actually adding depth and breadth to the current canon of resources? Or is it just causing the genre to become unmanageably bloated, and (perhaps more worryingly) encouraging us to adopt the kind of chew-it-and-spit-it-out attitude towards songs that we have towards so many other ‘products’ in our throwaway, consumerist culture?

It’s a controversial question. And one, of course, that confronts me personally as someone who is (for better or worse) regularly adding to this canon! So let me answer it like this. Yes, we do need more worship songs – but with some rather large caveats. Let me explain.

Worship songs can play a very valuable part in our Christian lives. They can increase our understanding of who God is and what he has done for us; they can help us poetically and eloquently express our worshipful response to Him; they can help establish important foundations in our lives that will help us in our daily living; they can powerfully articulate our prayer and intercession; they can retell Bible stories, and bring fresh insight into the great truths of the Scriptures.

However, I have to confess that a significant minority of the new songs I come across each year on various websites, events and albums fail to do any of the above. They are little more than a re-ordering of stock phrases in circulation among existing songs, just married to a new tune. It feels to me like the energy and skill has gone into creating a dynamic, memorable melody, and the words are something of an afterthought, which sound ‘right’ but say little.

Now, I’m not advocating a 21st century Herodian edict, where any worship songs that don’t match up should be killed at birth… Although I think it might be helpful if those who work alongside us worship writers – pastors, publishers, event organisers, record companies – played a part in pushing us to write material that makes a meaningful and distinct contribution to the genre – and are not afraid to tell us when it doesn’t.

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