I get asked about once a week from someone what resources I use as a worship leader to find songs, schedule the band, find liturgical readings, and everything else that goes with leading worship week in and week out throughout the year.
So I thought I’d throw together a list of resources. Some I use everyday, others I use once a month, but they all get used consistently by me.
- The Open Source Book– A great resource of readings, liturgical writings, and other Scriptures that fit well within a worship set. It is basically just a blog, but it hasn’t been updated in a while either. However there is a lot of great stuff already posted.
- Planning Center– My lifesaver. I couldn’t imagine doing my job without this anymore. Whether it be putting a worship set together, planning the band/vocals/tech, or getting music out to those who need it, I use Planning Center for hours almost everyday. And when I’m on stage I use their Music Stand app to view pdf files, which saves me around $200 a year in paper printing costs.
- IWillWorship.com– I’ve used this site a lot more often in the past, and even though it doesn’t have the best interface I find it to be a great way to find guitar charts for most any worship song.
- Transposr.com– Like most worship leaders I can sing with Tomlin but it doesn’t mean I always want to. Most songs written today need to be adjusted so the congregation and main worship leader can sing them well. This website lets you adjust the key of an mp3 with ease. I use it once a week.
- WorshipTogether.com– Looking for new music, or free sheet music, or videos explaining why a song was written? This is your spot.
- CCLI and Song Select– CCLI has done a great job of being more than just a licensing company. I use their Song Select site through the licensing we pay for as a church to find quality charts. Many songs have lyric sheets, guitar charts, piano charts, and even hymn styled charts.
- PraiseCharts– From what I’ve seen and used, it is the best site for finding any kind of chart for almost any well-known song.
- Church Online- I primarily watch LifeChurch.tv to see what songs they’re doing, but there are hundreds of churches that allow you to join them live. Here’s a great list of churches who stream their services online.
Honorable Mention- LifeWay has put together a great resource website that I don’t use but have heard many great things about. Here’s a great worship blog with a great community to bounce off thoughts and ideas with in the forums. I would also recommend Twitter as a great way to converse with other worship leaders about what songs are working at their church. Many of the songs I sing with the youth and on Sunday mornings have come through the help of social networks.
I hope this is helpful for you.
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