How does one become a “worship songwriter?” On the one hand, groups like the Enter The Worship Circle musicians, say “Anyone can write a worship song.”  They encourage a “just do it” method that begins with studying the Psalms, asking the Lord to show you His heart as you meditate on the passages, then playing chords as you sing the words of psalms. You keep repeating them until new thoughts come to you. You then sing these new thoughts and phrases and “let your worship carry you” into a new song.Then there are those in modern hymnody who advocate for extensive training and awareness in poetry, music and theology, such as Timothy Dudley-Smith, who tells Paul Westermeyer in Tongues of Fire: Profiles in 20th Century Hymn Writing, that what he finds alarming in modern worship songwriting is “The apparent belief that anyone with a guitar can dash off a ‘worship song’ fit to be sung by a congregation to almighty God, without effort, consultation, or revision – and often without grammar, syntax, meter, or rhythm either!” [Read more...]