Encouragement - Praise - Worship - Other

The song "types" used for the purpose of categorizing and cataloging the songs in the database are the result of a combination of various teachings on worship, mainly from the Vineyard.  As soon as you start trying to categorize songs, you find that some songs sort of "cross over" categories and others don't seem to fit any. We've tried to create a flexible category system that will help worship leaders as they look for certain types of songs. Though I have seen effective worship done many ways, I typically try to begin with "Encouragement", move on to "Praise" and then into "Worship".

Encouragement - To the congregation
This is a type that we haven't heard teaching about but in experience we know that these types of songs are used, especially at the beginning of a worship service. These songs may be "about God" to some extent so it's often difficult to differentiate them from Praise Songs, but the theme in an Encouragement Song is to spur the congregation to participation.

Praise Songs - About God
Praise songs talk about God, who He is and all of the great things He has done.

Worship Songs - To God
The defining difference between Praise Songs and Worship Songs is intimacy.  Many times a Praise Song is converted to a Worship Song simply by changing the pronoun "He" to "You". Worship Songs can still be "To God" even when the lyrics don't address God personally, the real key is the "level" of the song.  Worship Songs are songs that allow a congregation to sense God in a personal way.

Other Songs
The "Other" type is included as a way to catalog songs that don't fit the types listed above.  Some songs are "About God", but you might not want to call them "Praise Songs", etc... Generally speaking, "Other Songs" aren't usually suitable for use in a worship service.  So, why are they on this site?  The reason is that many worship teams also provide "Special Music" (typically during an offering or before the message).  This "Special Music" typically is encouraging, about God or to God, but it's also usually has characteristics that make it something that you probably wouldn't use in the worship service (too difficult, too many words, odd phrasing, heavily stylized, etc...).  The "Other" type is here to catalog those types of songs.

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