Picking great songs for your congregation and worship band is one of the most important tasks of a worship leader. Great songs have a sense of God’s Spirit on them. Great worship songs make you want to sing them again and again. Great songs cause your spirit to rise in worship to the Lord.
I recently updated and reduced my worship list to 35 songs. For me, these songs are the best of the best, although it was hard to narrow it down to just 35. I also put in my preferred keys for strong congregational singing and guitar friendliness. (Using the Rule of D: i.e. the top note is around a D). The first key is for male leaders and the other key (in brackets) is for female leaders (the top note around a A-B)
Here is my list, let me know what you think. What great worship song am I missing from my list? (* slow, ** medium, *** fast)
Faster Tempo Songs:
- Praise (Lake, Moore, Brown) – D (A-Bb) ***
- Great Things (Myrin, Wickham) – G (D) ***
- My Testimony (Lake, Brown, Furtick) – F (D)***
- The House Of The Lord (Wickham, Smith) – E-F (D)***
- This Is Our God (Lake, Wickham) G or A (Eb or F)***
- We Praise You (Redman, Lake, Johnson, Wickham) – G (D or E)***
- This Is Amazing Grace (Riddle, Wickham, Faro) – G (E)***
- Take You At Your Word (Carnes, King, Hastings) – A or Bb (F-G) ***
- Glorious Day (Ingram, Smith) – C (G)***
- I Thank God (Butler, Bow) – G (F) ***
- The Joy (Holt, Wong) – G or A (F) ***
Medium Tempo Songs:
- Goodness Of God (Fielding, Johnson, Cash, Ingram) – Bb (G-Ab) **
- Trust In God (Lake, Brown) – G or A (F) **
- Battle Belongs (Wickham, Johnson) – Ab (G) **
- Same God (Lake, Furtick, Barrett) – A (F) **
- Firm Foundation (Carnes) – E or F (C or D) **
- Graves Into Gardens (Lake, Furtick, Brown, Hammer) F or E (D)**
- Rest On Us (Lake, Smith) F or E (D) **
- Yes I Will (Hoagland, Smith, Fields) A (F) **
- Raise A Hallelujah (Stevens, Helser, Skaggs) – E (D) **
Slower Tempo Songs:
- Holy Forever (Tomlin, Wickham, Johnson) A or Bb (G) *
- Praises (Be Lifted Up) (Baldwin) – G (F)*
- Worthy (Furtick, Brown) – D (C) *
- Build My Life (Younker, Redman, Barrett) – E (D) *
- Living Hope (Johnson, Wickham) – C (A-Bb)*
- Gratitude (Lake, Bow, Hastings) – G (E)*
- I Speak Jesus (Smith, Reeves, Prince) – Ab or G (F)*
- Worthy Of It All (Brymer, Hall) – F, G (D,E)*
- Way Maker (Kalu, Egbu) B (A) *
- What A Beautiful Name (Fielding, Ligertwood) – E (D) *
- Great Are You Lord (Leonard, Ingram, Jordan) – G (D) *
- O Praise The Name (Anastasis) (Hastings,Sampson) – A (G) *
- King of Kings (Ligertwood, Ingram) * – Eb/D (C) *
Top Hymns:
- How Great Thou Art – Bb (A)
- Great Is Thy Faithfulness – C
- I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) – G
- Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) – E
- At The Cross – G (F)
- Holy, Holy, Holy – C-D
- I Surrender All – C
- It Is Well With My Soul – Bb-C
Contemporary and Modern Hymns
- 10,000 Reasons – F (Eb)
- Agnus Dei (Smith) – G or A (F)
- Before The Throne Of God Above – D
- Cornerstone (Morgan, Myrin, Mote, Liljero) – A (G) *
- How Deep The Father’s Love For Us – G (E)
- In Christ Alone – Eb (D)
- Living Hope – (Wickham, Johnson) C (Bb)
- Lord I Need You (Nockels, Carson, Reeves, Stanfill, Maher) – G/F (D) *
- Shout To The Lord – Bb-C (A-B)
- The Blood (Crouch) – G
Bonus 2: My Favorite Communion Songs
- Because of Christ (Holt, Clayton) – E (C) **
- At The Cross (Zschech, Morgan) – E (D)
- Nothing But The Blood (Redman) – A (G)
- Nothing But The Blood (Plainfield) – E (F)
- O Come To The Altar (Brown, Brock, Furtick, Joye) – G (E)
- O The Blood (Barker) – G
- O The Blood (Miller) – G
- O Praise The Name (Anastasis) (Hastings, Ussher, Sampson) – A (G)
- The Blood Will Never Lose It’ Power (Crouch) – G-Ab
Bonus 3: My Favorite Altar Songs
- Available (Furtick, Fielding, Ingram) – G (F or E)
- O Come To The Altar (Brown, Brock, Furtick, Joye) – G (D)
- I Surrender All (Deventer) – C (Bb)
- Lord I Give You My Heart (Morgan) – G (E)
- Come Just As You Are (Sabolick) – F (D)
- Come As You Are (Glover, Crowder, Maher) – A (G)
- Just As I Am (Bradbury, Underwood) – B (A)
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Comment: Hey Mark, I was just working on my worship set for Sunday and opened your ‘Top Worship Songs’ for probably the 300th time in the last year. Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you sharing the info (I use it often) and I appreciate you updating the list. Blessings to you in your work and ministry. – Seth from Virginia
Any content from Canada? Worship birthed from the hearts of local congregations? Most of these songs are great but some having troubling theological ideas which misguide the church about the nature of our relationship with God. Have you written on the theological discernment of choosing songs? Thanks for this blog. Keep up the good work.
Hi George.. thank for the questions and comments..
Even though I am a proud Canadian, I really don’t think of just Canadian content. I really try to think in Kingdom terms.. What are the best songs being written in the Kingdom?
In terms of theology.. I’m not a theologian.. just someone who reads the Bible cover-to-cover every year (for 30+ years now)..
Hey Mark thanks for the list. As far as relatively current stuff, I would add Ever Be (Your Praise Will Ever Be On My Lips) and No Longer Slaves. Also really like Remembrance (Mayer, Redmon) for communion. Btw, I’ve got some articles on theology for choosing songs 🙂
Great songs.. thanks Rob.. also I would love to see your theology articles.
Thanks for the list. I made a list last year by passing out a sheet of paper for each member of our congregation. On the paper they listed their favorite 3 songs. We
have a mixture of hymns and worship songs. I like the hymns that you chose because
they are powerful and uplifting . We have a blended service of worship songs and hymns. Worship songs bring the congregation into the presence of God while hymns
prepare the congregation for the message.
Thanks Lewis.. great comments and interesting idea about getting the congregations songs..
I really like this list and the breakdown of contemporary hymns. thank you for melding our hymn heritage with our new songs … if we lose our past we lose such a chunk of our worship cornerstone. Singing our hymns of the past with new worship songs unites us with the Christians who have gone before us. After all, who are we to say the music God inspired centuries ago is not good enough for today? Use it all…to the glory of our awesome God!!!
Thanks Cyndy
Great list! We have a rhythm of repeating songs about every 3 months, and introducing 3-4 new songs a year into our rotation, so these lists are really helpful for me to see which new songs are worth learning. It seems I can’t get to all the hymns I’d like to sing, so there are some that I choose every couple of years, and end up teaching to half of the congregation as a new song.
My rationale is always theme first, and style in a distant second place. Our job as worship leaders is to take people from where they were when they arrived at church, into the presence of God where He can do His work. So each set is a journey, from scattered and hurting/distracted/happy (who knows!) to aware of the gathered body of Christ, to aware of the Good News, to aware of God’s presence as He is knocking at the door of our hearts. Sometimes it’s a hymn, sometimes it’s a chorus that is the closing song, but it’s always me handing the baton to the Holy Spirit as soon as I can.
Thanks Dave.. great comments
As a female I hardly use any of the keys you noted for females, only a few. I sing 10,000 Reasons and Ine Thing Remains in E and Lord I Need You In C….just a few examples. I guess everyone is different. This may help some other female singers out there that can’t sing really high.
Great list!
I understand that alto’s leading worship need to put songs in lower keys… but I would encourage them to put them in keys that use the top of their range.. so they are singing A’s & Bb’s.
I believe the key of the songs that we sing are very important. If you hear the men singing song an octave lower, then the key is too high. I try not to go higher than a C# but the syllable can also affect how the note is sung. Young worship leaders tend to sing the songs in the same key that they are recorded which is most of the time too high for a congregation.
Great list. I see we do over 30 of those that are listed, as I would assume most churches singing contemporary songs, would. We have basically 3 different worship bands, one led by a female. So singing in different keys usually happens due to whomever is leading. Personally, I’ve followed the “typically, sing with no notes higher than “D” over middle “C”, rule”. Although we also have a “men’s breakfast” on Saturday morning which we follow with some worship singing, and they’ve thanked me for singing in lower keys, so that depends on the situation. But, not being an experienced singer (I’ve been “the guitar guy” since 1988′, but “stepped up” when I was needed, and continue to serve to the best of my abilites..and singing “D over middle C” is as high as I’d want to go:-), when that rule isn’t followed….I see most men in the room let the women take over. I find the most powerful moments are those when an “accapella” comes into play, and the band lets the congregation take over. That is a 2018 goal for myself, as a WL:.. give the congregation more “free rein”…
Thanks Kevin.. good comments!
Great list. I am not a Wordhip Leader, just a Worshipper. My No. 1 did not make your list. All Hail King Jesus with Riddle and Greetzinger.
That song was released after his list was compiled. Great song!
My question is how long do you keep this list before you chance it up? Also how many songs do you do on an average Sunday? We do 3-4. We have tried to cut ours to about 50. but the problem I find happening is we don’t go back and update the list. So pretty soon we just start adding old ones & new ones & the list spirals… Any suggestions?
Good questions.. 1. We add about 8-10 songs per year.. 2. We do 4 songs per Sunday. 3. I personally update the list once per quarter… 4. To make it all work.. the leader really needs to be firm and keep the various worship leaders on task.
We only sing 11 from your top 30. We are blended in our worship and only sing two- three modern hymns/choruses per week. Our congregation will sing “I Come Broken” (Just As I Am) and “Blessed Be Your Name” with enough gusto to make any worship leader’s heart soar. A new favorite is “The Lord Is My Salvation.” Thanks for this curated list.
Hey, this is a great list, but it was originally posted in 2017. Has your 2019 list remained the same?
Good question.. I review and update this list every couple of months… my last update was a month ago!
Mark, thanks so much for your intentionality in worship! May God be esteemed highly through your service. I was wondering if you’d be up for putting an asterisk or something by songs that you would consider fast or upbeat? I find that is hardest segment of songs for me as a leader to find that are solid and have staying power.
Thanks for your comments…Good suggestion.. I’ll work on it.
Hi Mark … great list. I’m always amazed at how you make good teaching very clear and simple. Here are a few songs I think are also worth considering, for 2022.
> Hymn Of Heaven (Wickham)
> What He’s Done (Passion)
> Firm Foundation (Carnes)
> A Thousand Hallelujahs (Ligertwood)
> Promises (Maverick City)
Out of the 5 above, I especially love singing What He’s Done and A Thousand Hallelujahs.
Thanks Ryan.. I’m loving teaching.. I hope to expand that to online classes for group lessons in piano and a-gtr.. and also thanks for the song suggestions.. I’m doing a few of those already.. and I’ll check out the others.
Any chance you have created a Spotify playlist of your list that you could share? TIA
Sorry, Gary.. I don’t have a Spotify account.