Introducing "new" songs

Any suggestion for good content-full newer / contemporary feeling Biblical songs to introduce to a congregation more used to traditional hymns? And how to go about it?

Our usual musical accompaniment is a keyboard. Occasionally there's a guitar.

Our regular play-list is Hymns Old and New plus the following at the back of our in-house poduced service book:

The Lord's My Shepherd (I will trust in you alone), Stuart Townend
Jesus is Lord - the cry that echoes through creation
Before the throne of God above
How Deep The Father's Love For Us
We are heirs of God Almighty
In Christ alone my hope is found
Light of the world (So here I am to worship)
From the squalor of a borrowed stable

Would you ditch any of those to replace it with something else?

I suggested He Walked On Earth Showing Glimpses of Heaven (Behold The Lamb of God) but the choir thought it wasn't very suitable for congregational singing and that perhaps more syncopated stuff might be tricky.

I'm wondering about:

Oh To See The Dawn

and

See What A Morning

What do you think? Other ideas?

Do you think it would help for the choir to listen to a CD of the song at their practice?

In our music I want us to aim for the best of the old and the best of the new. Generally speaking, I'd like us to be able to sing one of these newer songs most weeks. I think it might be best to begin and end with a strong traditional hymn (e.g. Praise My Soul The King of Heaven, Christ Triumphant, How Great Thou Art, something like that), sometimes there might be a children's song (either traditional like The Wise Man Built His House on The Rock or more modern like Our God Is A Great Big God), maybe something 60s-90s ish, Kendrick-esque (e.g. Meekness and Majesty), and a newer song. Oh, and we really need to sing the Psalms...

Song Choices

As well as fitting in with the season and the Bible passages, I sometimes have the following categories of songs in mind:

• well known rousing hymns (especially for starting and finsihing the service)
• 20th century songs - e.g. Graham Kendrick
• songs as up to the minute as we can manage
• children's songs
• metrical versions of the psalms

Of course what is in our hymn books / serivce books is an influence. I reckon one extra song sheet per service is enough! A screen and Powerpoint would certainly help.

You might also want songs that perform certain liturgical functions of fit in certain parts of the service:

• praise
• thanksgiving
• confession
• creed
• offering
• preparation for Word of God or Communion
• response
• prayer
• etc.