SingAccord, available now on the Mac App Store.
How does your congregation feel about
not being able to sing along
during musical worship?
to solve this, worship leaders only had 2 bad options
Bad Option #1
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Bad option #2
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The Silence of Feedback
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To top it off, congregation members usually won't tell worship leaders how poorly things are going:
1. They're so embarrassed they don't know the songs, they don't want anyone to know they aren't singing, they'll even open their mouths to throw you off. 2. They don't have any helpful suggestions. And since they can't come up with anything better, they just smile at you warmly or give you a generic compliment to avoid mentioning they weren't actually singing. 3. They assume you are doing your best. You're the expert after all. ...And a half dozen other reasons... |
And when they do provide feedback, worship leaders don't let it in:
1. Worship leaders are singing at the very moments when they most need to listen if the congregation is actually making any sound. 2. The complaints you get are about things that wouldn't actually increase participation, even if you did change them. 3. You saw the churches split during the worship wars, and you're just trying to hold together an uneasy alliance. ...And a half dozen other reasons... |
So while worship leaders think the participation rate is around 70%-80%, it's usually at least 30% lower, around 40%.
In surveys, 70% of congregation members said they would participate more if they knew the rhythms and pitches.
And every worship leader thinks his church is different.
In surveys, 70% of congregation members said they would participate more if they knew the rhythms and pitches.
And every worship leader thinks his church is different.
The benefits of achieving success
Don't tell your congregation this, but there is actually a blessing for the Church when we actually achieve worship. True worship comes from within, from our emotional response to what God has done for us. We don't do it because we're instructed to, and we don't do it for a reward. But worship leaders need to know there is a reward for the congregation when we actually achieve congregational musical worship, that we don't get if we only have the right intentions.
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By doing together, the congregation will build empathy. Empathy is the feeling that someone else feels the way I feel.
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Empathy increases a sense of camaraderie amongst the congregation. It also reduces petty divisiveness.
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And empathy can actually make it easier to heal some emotional wounds.
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So we need a new option, but every time worship leaders try something they think will help, either only 1% of the congregation tries it, or sometimes it actually just gets worse.
Worship leaders have trouble predicting
How their congregation will respond
1. The Curse of KnowledgeWorship leaders are typically musical experts. Most congregation members are not. Experts often have a hard time predicting how non-experts will see and respond to their subject matter. It's called the "curse of knowledge". This is a common problem faced amongst the education, human-computer interaction and advertising industries.
In fact, many worship leaders insist that either congregation members become musical experts themselves or just give up and repeat that chorus again, again, again, and again. |
2. no UX trainingMost worship leaders have been trained in musical proficiency, team emotional dynamics, logistics, picking theologically-accurate songs and using specific audio and visual technologies. But none of those directly drive congregation participation in musical worship.
They often have not been trained in User eXperience design (UX), which combines graphic design, architecture, industrial design, the science of learning, sales-psychology, time-and-motion-studies, neuroscience, and a little physics. UX is the critical skill set for creating new solutions in this area. |
UX is the critical missing piece which will create a working solution, which worship leaders have never imagined would be possible.
Option #3
Sing Accord
When worship leaders use SingAccord, congregation members come into the worship service, and see something different on the main screen.
Within 2 songs, 85%-90% of them figure out how it works for themselves.
They are then able to sing along with new songs the first time.
And that means there's usually at least one more song in your worship set with which they can participate fully,
before the service ends and they have a socially-acceptable opportunity to complain.
Within 2 songs, 85%-90% of them figure out how it works for themselves.
They are then able to sing along with new songs the first time.
And that means there's usually at least one more song in your worship set with which they can participate fully,
before the service ends and they have a socially-acceptable opportunity to complain.
So take this opportunity to worship along with a couple of songs. If it helps you, then scroll to the bottom and contact us to arrange a special service for your congregation to see how helpful it is for them. Click on "Testimonials" and see how it helped other people.
Demo songs
SingAccord is designed for the congregation to figure out how it works merely from watching it in action, not from formal training. So the only way to see if it works is to try it out for real. User-testing shows it takes 2 songs, from start to finish.
- Get on a high-speed internet connection (so the high res videos come through without distortion).
- Skim the list and pick two songs, (hopefully the first you know and the second you don't)
- Start the video, then make it full screen by clicking the square-corner button in the lower-right corner of the video.
- Sit back in your chair.
- Don't just watch it; try to actually worship with singing!
- Repeat with the second song.
Ignore the random ads YouTube throws up. I don't have any control over those or any knowledge of what ads they're showing.
- Get on a high-speed internet connection (so the high res videos come through without distortion).
- Skim the list and pick two songs, (hopefully the first you know and the second you don't)
- Start the video, then make it full screen by clicking the square-corner button in the lower-right corner of the video.
- Sit back in your chair.
- Don't just watch it; try to actually worship with singing!
- Repeat with the second song.
Ignore the random ads YouTube throws up. I don't have any control over those or any knowledge of what ads they're showing.
To God be the GloryWords: Fanny Crosby (Public Domain)
Music: William H. Doane (Public Domain) Background: Solid color LifeWay master appears courtesy of Sing Accord LLC from the album ‘’‘“, (P) Sing Accord LLC All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission. |
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Raise a HallelujahWith recording, from Bethel Music, Jonathan David Helser & Melissa Helser
Background from ignitermedia.com |
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GLorious ChristRecording from "Age to age"
Background: Still Image |
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His Name is JesusHis Name Is Jesus (Heaven's Hope)
Ben Cantelon, Krissy Nordhoff and Travis Cottrell with recording from Travis Cottrell Background from ignitermedia.com |
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Jesus, I surrender - jeff DeyoRecording from "Surrender"
Background: low-motion loop from ignitermedia.com |
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If after seeing the demos, you're ready to give an endorsement, or want to host a 1-time night worship service at your church to see if your congregation finds it useful, please give us your feedback. Thanks!
