Resources
Helpful Tools for the Worship Leader
The Worship Initiative
The Worship Initiative is a resource made by the worship group Shane and Shane. With their team, they compiled all of their songs, all of the songs they've covered, as well as classic hymns and give a variety of resources. You can get chord sheets, vocal or instrumental practice tracks, equipment, access to podcasts and devotionals, the list goes on. I would recommend this subscription resource to the worship leader who needs well executed and accessible resources, especially for hymns or modern renditions of hymns.
Worship Together
What I appreciate about Worship Together as a recourse is how it encourages and aids in thematic song choices and has a lot of free features. You are able to download chord charts for free, is compatible with Planning Center for free, and has a good Song Search feature. This is a good connecting resource, meaning it integrates with other resources well and did I mention it's free to use?
CCLI SongSelect
SongSelect is maybe the most standard resource for worship ministry today, outside of Planning Center. SongSelect gives you access to songs while also giving the songwriters what they're due. A great feature about CCLI is that it integrates seamlessly with ProPresenter so it is not only helpful for the worship band but also for the behind the scenes team. This is a subscription service, but it is so because CCLI values supporting the songwriters and artists.
Getty Music
The Gettys are a Christian couple who make modern hymns that work well for a traditional setting. Whether you want to introduce new hymns or incorporate familiar hymns with maybe a different arrangement, their website has resources for you! You do have to pay for whatever you access, but they have sheet musical like a typical hymnal and access to their other material, like books and podcasts and conferences, as well.
The Christian Life Hymnal
The Christian Live Hymnal is a hymnal that was written in the early 2000s, so it holds the classic and timeless hymnals we find in almost every hymnal as well as newer worship songs that have become favorites in contemporary churches. This is a great hymnal to include in a church that wants to explore and expand their idea of hymns and worship.
Hymnary.org
Hymnary.org is a great resource to search for any hymn and have access to all sorts of things about it. There is a biography of the composer or lyricist, Scriptural references as well as thematic references, variations of sheet music formatting, as well as links to traditional hymnals. This is a great resource for buying sheet music as well as just getting. context for where the hymns have come from.
Communication Resources
Tools to help worship leaders communicate with their teams
Slack
Slack is a professional way to have quick and casual communication with your team(s). You are able to have different channels within a group, specific threads within the channels, and the ability to customize notifications. This is strictly just a platform to help aid communication.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is another strictly communication software that allows for integrated communication. If you have Microsoft Outlook emails, this software may be best for your team or staff. It pairs well with the Microsoft ecosystem, pairing with emails, calendars, events. This is more casual and direct than sending emails, which is helpful, but still on a professional platform.
Breeze
This is a software my church has used to aid church-wide communication. This is almost like signing up for an email chain, rather it is solely for the purposes of the church. Announcements or communication is not lost amongst the other forms of communication you have (like emails or texts), so it keeps things seperate and in order. You are also able to post more things like events and rehearsals rather than just casual communication.
AV Resources
Resources to aid the church leader in utilizing audio and visual technology
ProPresenter
ProPresenter is now a mainstream resource that many churches use for lyric slides during worship and any visual aspect of the service. A great aspect of the software is that it makes arranging slides very practical and intuitive. It takes a lot of the tedious work that slides could easily have and makes it cohesive. ProPresenter is well worth the subscription!
Sweetwater
Sweetwater is a great resource for sound technologies and equipment. Not only do they sell equipment but they offer aid to fully understand the equipment you purchase. Whether that be video lessons for how to work your digital mixing console or tutorials for repairing a speaker, Sweetwater makes access to equipment easy and sustainable.
RightNow Media
RightNow Media is like a Christian streaming service. However, it is not so much for entertainment but for devotionals and teachings. This is a great resource to provide a visual aid in a sermon series or Sunday school lesson. They have direct access to contemporary teachers like Francis Chan and is able to be shared throughout the Church body from just one subscription.
Church Choir Resources
Access to materials and arrangement of songs
Beckenhorst
Beckenhorst is a press company run by composer Dan Forrest. Beckenhorst has arrangements for varying skill level of choirs but makes it easy to preview and browse through the pieces. You can buy the music individually and distribute it to your choirs. He has a variety of styles but you can rest assured that all of the songs are sacred and would fit in a church context.
GIA Publications
GIA publications is similar to Beckenhorst but it also provides resources for conductors or music directors. It is tailored to church music however there is more than just choral music available. There is instrumental solo and ensemble works as well. There is access to music the individual purchases and subscription. Another great resource for varying levels of choir.
JWPepper
JWPepper is a choral music distribution company. They have lots of different kinds of choral works, but they have a section of their repertoire for Spirituals and Gospel songs. This is helpful if you are looking for a more Gospel sound for your choir and their arrangements. A lot of the sons you will find are more challenging, but there are also simpler ones too.
String Resources
Resources to give context for string players in worship settings
Musicademy
Musicademy gives language to band leaders as well as to the instrumentalist. They provide and article of what string players can focus on like blending with the band, improvisation, chord structure. They also have access to videos (and a DVD) to show examples, provide mini-lessons, and give exercises to the string player.
Christian Howes
Christian Howes is an accomplished violinist who has made resources for other string players. Particularly helpful for the worship setting are his resources about improvisation. You do have to pay (like paying for a online textbook) but there are countless other genres and techniques that he covers that will equip a string player to play in any type of band.
​
​