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Top New Christian Worship Songs For Small Church Worship Teams

For worship leaders in small churches, here are 3 new worship songs to consider for June. Let us save you time and stress finding new songs that work with smaller bands in smaller churches!

Become A Better Worship Leader

If you are a worship leader in a small church, every Top Songs post is sprinkled with tips on leading worship and developing your team. Make sure to check out past posts for great songs and ideas to try.

Check this out too: Worship Leading In A Small Church: 4 Keys To Wake Up Your Worship

June Edition: Top New Worship Songs For Small Churches

Top Songs This Month From Travis Cotrell & Bridge Worship

1. O My Soul (Travis Cottrell)

  • Tempo: Fast
  • CCLI Song #: 7141764
  • David E. Moffitt | Jeff Pardo | Travis Cottrell
  • My chosen singable key: E
  • 2020

This song is at least a year old but hasn’t gotten too much airplay. As we introduce “new songs” in these posts, sometimes “new” is new to me. This is one of those!

Choose “O My Soul” As An Opening Song For Sunday Worship

Fast songs worshipers can clap to are sometimes few and far between for smaller bands. So when I find one with potential, sometimes it’s worth sitting with for a bit.

If “O My Soul” doesn’t initially grab you, I encourage you to pick up an acoustic or your keyboard and play around with it.

I think the performance undersells how well it might go over in your church. The melody is catchy, it’s got a chorus that sticks, and it speaks a solid message.

The Bridge Has Potential For Great Harmonies & Added Dynamics

The bridge alone has a lot of untouched potential. Experiment with simplifying the first time through, then add some harmonies and build the volume with added instruments.

Bridge:

I will sing Your goodness

I will sing Your grace

I will love You all my days all my days

2. If Your Presence (Bridge Worship)

  • Tempo: Medium
  • CCLI Song #: 7128817
  • Justin Tweito | Kellie Besch | Ross King
  • My chosen singable key: E
  • 2019

“If Your Presence” Has A Message Of Submission

This is one of those yummy worship songs that I’ve put on repeat. The main message is: “If your presence isn’t with us, we won’t go.”

I get wary of today’s popular message of moving boldly forward and “claiming” God’s blessings. While I appreciate the theology behind that, it’s often lacking in humility. As humans, we have a tendency to start moving and keep moving, claiming all obstacles are from Satan –– when actually it may be God nudging us to pivot.

That’s one of the reasons I love this song! Its simplicity of moving with God’s presence speaks above the noise. Because quite honestly, God isn’t pleased by the big things WE do or claim. As Micah 6:8 says, what God requires is ” … To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Chorus:

Spirit of God we will go with You

Wherever You are we are alive

You are the way You go before us

We will bring our expectation and our hope

But if Your presence isn’t with us we won’t go

How To Deal With An Octave Flip In Contemporary Worship Songs

This is one of those amazing worship songs where (if you listen to the recording) you hear a wide vocal range that most of your worshipers will not be able to sing.

If you’ve ever led a song where people sing with you on the verse and then suddenly stop belting it out (often with a quizzical look) this may be why: It’s simply too high for them to sing.

If you’re a vocalist and you love making up harmonies, this won’t throw you at all; you’ll simply drop into a harmony without even thinking about it. But the majority of your congregation aren’t vocalists.

One of our jobs as worship leaders is to lead THEM into worship, not just worship in front of them. So how do we do that when so many worship songs have a range as big as Mariah Carey’s?

3 Solutions When A Song’s Vocal Range Is Too Wide

  1. Choose a different song. There are lots of great worship songs on YouTube that don’t go over well in smaller congregations. Don’t force what doesn’t work.
  2. Create an alternate melody line where it’s out of range. While I’ve done this occasionally, if it’s a familiar worship song to many, this can also cause some confusion and disrupt worship.
  3. For some songs (not all), you can actually transpose it into a different key –– so the low isn’t as low and the high isn’t as high –– and sing the entire song in the same octave. While you’ll lose some of the energy you hear on the recording as the vocalists climb higher, it works well for some songs. This is one of them!

Because “If Your Presence” is a slower, gorgeous, worship song, you can absolutely stay in His beautiful presence without flipping into an upper octave.

That’s why I chose the key of E for the singable key of this song. You’ll be singing the verse of this song higher and the chorus lower –– putting all parts into one middle octave. (The vocal range will fit between middle C and high C on the piano.) Give it a try and see if it works for you too.

Verse 1:

Lord we are listening and waiting

‘Cause we can’t do Your work alone

Our future in your hands

We are trusting in Your plan

If Your presence isn’t with us we won’t go

Right here, between the verse and the chorus, is where –– instead of going up into the higher range –– you’ll start the chorus lower (not higher) to keep it in the same range as the verse.

Chorus:

Spirit of God ….

Play With Harmonies & Encourage Mistakes With Your Team

Yes, you read that correctly! Encourage mistakes!

I beg you to develop your team, not just learn songs.

  • Your team will be stronger.
  • You’ll bond in a new way.
  • And you’ll grow in musicianship!

The bridge of “In Your Presence” is a great place to work some harmonies with your vocalists. Play it over and over again, and just have fun. Experiment making up parts –– higher, lower, and in between.

Experimenting with harmonies and instrument parts is one of the best ways to create a culture of freedom and growth on your worship team. (And it can be a load of fun too!)

Bridge:

Every breath is for Your glory

Every move is in Your name

Every plan is by Your power

Every step You are the way

Find “If Your Presence” Chords On Ultimate Guitar Tabs

If you are a Song Select user like me, as of the writing of this post you’ll find only the lyrics listed there. If they still don’t have the chords up yet, grab the chords here on Ultimate Guitar Tabs.

At the bottom of the tab sheet on the Ultimate Guitar Tabs site, you’ll see +/- buttons to transpose into any key. Simply hit the + button until the intro chord says “F.” If you’re transposing for easier guitar keys to use with a capo, these little +/- buttons are a lifesaver!

3. Only Name (Bridge Worship)

  • Tempo: Slow
  • CCLI Song #: 7165639
  • Andy Walker | Calah Caballero | Micah Christopher
  • My chosen singable key: E
  • 2021

“Only Name” Is A Perfect Worship Song For A Small Band

If you’re looking for stripped-down, pure worship, this is it!

The vocal melody of “Only Name” begins with a free-flowing vibe. In fact, it really begins as a simple conversation with the Heavenly Father rather than a song. If you have a team, I recommend starting like the recording with one vocalist and minimal instrumentation to keep the feel.

“Only Name” Leads Naturally Into Prayers Of Repentance

I’ll be recommending “Only Name” for the lenten season when that comes around again because the song leads naturally into repentance throughout the verses …

Verse 3:

Would you help me to remember

That You’re the first and You’re the center

Purify and cleanse my soul

Tear every idol down every idol down

… and yet, it doesn’t let us sink into the condemnation trap, but points us straight to the God who is above all! Our repentance turns us to worship the one who is the Name Above All Names.

Chorus:

‘Cause You’re the only name above all others

Everything else will fade away

And You’re the only king we’ll praise forever

Everything else will fade away

I can’t quite leave you quite yet.

I’m laughing as I gift you with a “Bonus Song” this month. I realize many of our churches won’t catch this one, but I can’t help sharing it with you this month because, well, it just makes me happy!

Enjoy:

Bonus Song: Let Go Let God (Jack Cassidy)

  • Tempo: Fast
  • CCLI Song #: 7136418
  • Christian Hale | Jack Cassidy | Matt Armstrong
  • 2021

“Let Go Let God” didn’t make my Top 3 Songs for worship in small churches because it doesn’t match the older demographics of most small churches. But with its gospel pop feel and catchy chorus, it’s worth more than a mention!

If this doesn’t fit your Sunday worship culture, I recommend introducing it to your team, even if you never sing it on a Sunday. It helps you grow in musicianship and bond together with the fun!

So if you have a team who loves to play, learn new things, and enjoys kicking back musically, bring this one in for practice time!

Where To Find Guitar Tabs For “Let Go Let God”

Currently, you can find “Let Go Let God” chords here at Ultimate Guitar Tabs. Song Select should have them up soon as well!


More Great Worship Songs:

3 New Worship Songs: May 2021

3 New Worship Songs: April

Worship Leading In A Small Church: 4 Keys To Wake Up Your Worship