When I started hymncharts back in 2002 it was out of necessity. I had a praise band and my congregation was singing popular worship songs but they also really wanted hymns (you know what a deacon is saying when he “really wants” you to do hymns, right? LOL!) Online resources weren’t what they are today so I started creating my own contemporary hymn arrangements and hymncharts was born.
One thing I love to do is create my arrangements in such a way that you can transition right from a praise song directly into a hymn and the congregation won’t even know the difference! In this post I’ll show you, with soundclips, just how easily my new arrangement of Blessed Assurance will fit into any modern praise set.
Today’s worship music from places like Bethel, Hillsong and Elevation has a spacious, ambient feel with lots of synth pads and chiming pianos. The following audio demos will demonstrate how perfectly Blessed Assurance (This Is My Story) blends both musically and thematically with Bethels’ Ever Be (sold separately on websites like praisecharts.com.)
Notice the songs flow directly into each other without stopping. This is the goal of how worship flow and proper service planning works – choose songs that can fit seamlessly together by theme and key so that you’re not finishing a song, stopping cold, then starting another song. Here are two examples of how this works – you’ll hear the very end of Blessed Assurance (This Is My Story) flowing into the first verse of Ever Be:
Example 1: Blessed into Ever Be intro
Example 2: Blessed outro into Ever Be verse
Which one is better? Neither! I like them both and would try version 1 one week and version 2 another week. Maybe you like one better that the other – it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that your songs segue without break.
Of course you can worship without worship flow – God will show up in a cornfield if He wants to! But this is what separates the amateurs from the pros. And I can tell you after working in churches for over 25 years I saw my congregation’s worship deepen, grow and be enriched when I took a little extra effort every week to ensure my praise set had a purpose and was expertly tied together.
Click to listen to the full version of Blessed Assurance.
Download Blessed Assurance (This Is My Story)
Download sheet music, chord charts, tracks, multitracks and orchestration for Blessed Assurance (This Is My Story) exclusively with a hymncharts subscription. You won’t find this arrangement on any other website.
2 Comments. Leave new
I play bass and had the privilege to play with 3 worship bands from 1996 to 2001. I was Worship Chair/director at one of them. In 2 of the teams, more than ½ the musicians and singers were professionals (I am not) and in their gifting arranged these transitions, even between songs in different keys, seamlessly.
There were times our worship was much like Bethel’s and new songs would be inspired by The Spirit between songs. The sound man could “hear” something new and would hit “Record” to save the song.
At the 3rd church, we had a keyboard artist who could do the same with transitions. Of course, a truly anointed worship team can “go with the flow’ and even change the song order as the Spirit leads.
Some amazing worship happens when ALL talents, song sets, individuals and time are surrendered.
Joe, it’s much easier for a rhythm section (Spirit or no Spirit) to move together and handle transitions. Not so easy for musicians who work from charts in different keys. (Woodwinds, Horns, Etc…) Don provides a valuable service here, providing the scores that enable these musicians to play with a rhythm section. These musicians are often overlooked or left out of congregational worship because they rely on scores. We have the occasional violinist or flute player join in because they can improvise but not everyone enjoys that flexibility. Hats off to Don Chapman for providing resources that allow more instrumentalists to participate in worship.