Sing Local: Churches Have Plenty to Sing—Why Write New Songs?
Imagine this: A worship leader brings a new song to rehearsal, written by someone in the church. But the worship team already has a full set to prepare, and no one in the congregation knows the words yet. Does the song make it into the Sunday worship set?
In our 2025 survey, we asked worship leaders about original songs written for their local churches: who writes them, why they write, and what happens when those songs meet the regular demands of congregational worship. The responses suggest that local songwriting is commonplace (about 50% of churches write), even if its context and impact remain complicated.
Who’s writing songs?
A little over half of worship leaders report that they or someone in their church has written songs for their local community. Among that group, about one-third report using original songs every week or more, and another 44% use them monthly. In many churches, these songs are more than private creative projects; they become part of the congregation’s repertoire. Though the survey figures don’t tell us exactly what share of any one Sunday’s songs was written locally, a little math can give us a ballpark idea. If a church uses 3-4 songs on a Sunday morning, that means at least one-third to one-quarter of its repertoire comes from within its community. Week after week, month after month, the result is a significant percentage of their sung repertoire shaped by local songwriters.
Some might assume the churches that write songs are just the most contemporary ones. Our data suggests little difference between the musical styles a congregation uses and whether someone from the church staff or congregation writes original songs for them. Surveyed worship leaders most often reported using contemporary worship songs, closely followed by hymns with modern adaptations and band accompaniment. Local writing appears across the landscape.
Types of Songs Used
Yes or No indicates whether they have written songs for their church
Writing and singing locally written songs also does not appear to depend on one person controlling the setlist. For worship leaders in churches where original songwriting is happening, decision-making is nearly evenly split between solo and shared models.
Are you the main/sole individual who makes decisions about musical worship services?
Among respondents who have written songs for their church.
Why write another worship song?
The reasons for writing original worship songs are always more complex than a survey can capture, yet the broader conversation on the merits of worship songs clues us into the context impacting local writers. Has God placed new worship songs on our hearts? Could we write something for our church that’s just as good as what’s on CCLI? Is there a song out there that fits this month’s sermon series? Will original songs bring our ministry to the next level?
The decision to write locally is not a response to a shortage of songs elsewhere. Churches already have access to a steady stream of new worship songs, from artists both within and beyond the Big 4 writing communities. Yet surveyed worship leaders who write for their churches do not report notably different attitudes toward the quantity of new songs than respondents who do not write.
How do you feel about the quantity of new songs promoted for congregational use?
Among respondents who have written songs for their church.
All respondents
Pressure does not offer a simple explanation either. Among worship leaders aged 18-29, 15% report moderate or significant pressure to write, roughly five percentage points above their older peers on average. That pattern merits attention, but it represents a minority even in the youngest group. It is worth exploring where that pressure comes from: job expectations, church culture, social media, or the leaders themselves.
How much pressure do you feel to write new worship songs for your congregation?
This question was asked of all participants. Responses organized by age groups (number of participants included in parentheses)
Regardless of the levels of pressure they experience, many feel a strong sense of purpose. About two-thirds of worship leaders who write original songs say they do so to “fulfill a biblical calling.” What do they understand that calling to be? Perhaps some have in mind the Psalms’ invitation to “sing a new song.” New songs need someone to write them.
Others may understand the worship leader’s work through the tradition of being a “Psalmist,” the Levitical priesthood more generally, or through praise and worship traditions that have treated songs as prophetic gifts for a particular community. That context could illuminate what some respondents mean by “biblical calling,” but the present data cannot tell us how many hold any one of these views.
What are the primary reasons you/your church write(s) worship songs?
Select the top two that apply
What can an original song give a local church?
More than 60% of worship leaders who write (or have someone writing at their church) say songwriting is important to expressing their church’s unique identity. In a worship music landscape dominated by the Big 4, the importance of original songs draws our attention back to the particular congregation. Yet nearly 80% say their own songs are neither more nor less “effective” for congregational worship than other songs. About one-quarter say supporting congregational spiritual growth is a reason for writing. Of that one-quarter who prioritize spiritual growth, 43% also say songs are somewhat important for expressing their church’s unique identity. These answers need not compete. A song may speak to the community’s needs without its writer claiming it works better than a widely known song.
Indeed, writing songs that “resonate with our local context” was a top reason for 41% of worship leaders (see below). The broader conversation on the values of generic, top-25 songs invites a closer look: what can a local song offer that a widely circulated song might miss?
Another comparison reveals how writers describe their own motives and how they view professional songwriters’ motives. For example, those most skeptical of artists’ commercial motivations (the 299 who chose “commercial opportunities” or contractual obligations” for the question on professional artist motivation) said their own motives are to “create songs that resonate with [their] local context,” “communicate theological truths,” and “support spiritual growth.” The contrast may point toward a local sense of purpose, but it would be premature to treat these responses as proof that writers consciously oppose the wider industry.
What are the primary reasons you/your church write(s) worship songs? [select the top two that apply]
The responses below are based on those who answered those two options for artist motivations question
Who discerns the word?
Writing songs for a local congregation raises questions about theological discernment and musical fit. Among those writing original songs, half say they spend a “minimal” amount of time assessing the theological content of their songs, one-third say “moderate,” and only 16% say “significant.”
How much time is spent assessing the theological content of original worship songs?
But what does time spent assessing theological content look like? Is a brief review from a pastor enough to pass a song into congregational use? Who else is involved in the process of assessment? What benchmarks for theological content are relevant to the local worship tradition and its theology? Are worship leaders assessing theological content themselves? These are all questions that shape how effective and meaningful that assessment might be – and ones that worship leaders should have a ready answer for.
Given that most worship leaders have very little theological training and education beyond their own experience in church (see our larger survey report here), what theological knowledge and tools should they be expected to have when assessing a song’s content? How do local churches and leaders evaluate, for example, how a writer’s “poetic license” might push the bounds and stir up theological controversy? Think about the number of blogs and posts devoted to debates over the “accuracy” of famous phrases like “reckless love” and “sloppy wet kiss.” Who gets the final say when a writer’s artistic interest and a concern for theological specificity are in tension?
The distance between writing and singing
A song written in the local church still has to become a song the church can sing. Responses from churches where no one writes songs are just as significant as those from churches where they do. Among survey respondents who said they don’t write worship songs, rehearsal time was the second most frequently cited reason for not including original songs, after concerns about familiarity. Worship leaders may work full time while the musicians beside them serve as volunteers. Learning unfamiliar songs may place a heavier burden on everyone preparing for the upcoming service. Some worship leaders support volunteers with subscriptions to instrument tutorials or specialized recordings/tracks to help at-home practice. Those services do not support original worship songs—nobody knows the songs yet—and the worship leader would need to create those resources, which requires time and skills—both musical and technical—that they may or may not have (see survey report).
Almost 85% of churches that do not regularly write songs cite a congregational preference for familiarity as the primary reason. A familiar song has an advantage: the congregation will sing from the start because they know it from their favorite worship playlist or radio station. Yet, local church leaders also have built trust that may help when introducing an unfamiliar song, and they’ve formed relationships that may encourage the congregation to try it. The question for worship leaders is more concrete than whether a song is worth writing; instead, whether a song can be sung: how will the congregation learn, repeat, and make an original song its own?
Returning to the rehearsal at the start of this article, the worship leader still has a decision to make. A song’s local origins give it a story, but making room for it still requires theological care, rehearsal time, and a congregation willing to learn it. Our survey findings suggest that many churches are already doing this work. The challenge is helping a song written by someone in the church become a song that the church can use. Does it make Sunday’s setlist? The more consequential question is whether, over time, the congregation will actually make it their song.
