Covenant Presbyterian Church adopts, as part of its vision, to pursue corporate worship characterized by adoration and worship of our God through the preparation and engagement of our hearts and minds, through the preaching of the Word, and through the right administration of the sacraments.  The style of worship is characterized by a blending of structure, content, and worship leadership, seeking to engage both the hearts and minds of those gathered to worship, with the intent of focusing heart-felt adoration toward our Lord.  Music is God-centered, a blend of hymns set to contemporary music, traditional hymns, as well as contemporary worship music.  This worship could, on appropriate occasions, incorporate choirs (both adult and children), smaller groups/ensembles, and expanded instrumentation.  The structure/content of the order of worship, in addition to the centrality of the preaching of the Word, contains Scripture, testimonies, confessions, and creeds, when appropriate, but not necessarily all these elements every Sunday. 

We recognize that times of prayer, the receiving of tithes and offerings, and informing the congregation of church family life activities continue to be an important part of our worship.  We desire an integrated approach to worship in which the preaching and other aspects of the service are consistent in content and theme.  We always need to seek to be led by His Spirit, remembering that Jesus, the Head of His church, said in John 4:23, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”

Covenant's Primary Sources for Corporate Worship

Indelible Grace (Reformed University Fellowship) www.igracemusic.com/hymnbook/home.html

• Our congregation connects deeply with old words set to new tunes. Matthew Smith, Chris Miner, Greg Thompson, Sandra McCracken, and others write engaging melodies that bring a fresh perspective to the wonderful theology of these older texts. We often sing Jesus, I Come; On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand; Come, Ye Sinners; Jesus, Lover of My Soul; and Oh, Love that Will Not Let Me Go. 

Keith Getty and Stuart Townend - www.gettymusic.com

• These guys write wonderful new hymns. We love singing their song How Deep the Father’s Love For Us as well as In Christ Alone and O, To See the Dawn.

Christ Community Church, Franklin, TN - www.communityworship.com

• We sing Come, Christians, Join to Sing; I Sing the Mighty Power of God; Come, Thou Fount;  Nothing But the Blood; and O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus from The Worship Team Hymnal regularly.  These hymns are arranged for worship teams, using the original tune with new harmonizations. We draw from re:awakening I &II for We Are the Body of Christ; Arise, My Soul, Arise; Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting; He Will Rejoice Over You and others. 

Sovereign Grace Ministries (formerly PDI) -www.sovereigngracestore.com 

• We enjoy Sovereign Grace Ministries' songs because of their gospel/grace centered texts and reformed perspective.  Some of our favorites are Before the Throne of God Above, How Great Is Your Love, In My Heart, and I Will Glory in My Redeemer.    

Hymns for Worship and Celebration and The Trinity Hymnal

• We love the old hymns that have stood the test of time and we regularly use them in what many consider traditional settings. These hymns allow us to sing with our brothers and sisters who have gone before us, pointing our hearts toward the day when we gather together to worship with all of God's people. A Mighty Fortress; All Creatures of Our God and King: Great is Thy Faithfulness; And Can It Be; Amazing Grace; Holy, Holy, Holy; O Worship the King; and Immortal, Invisible are some of the hymns we use in worship. We have "the blue hymnals," Hymns for Worship and Celebration, on hand for congregational worship, and we regularly draw from The Trinity Hymnal for other hymns and settings.

Robin Mark www.robinmark.com

• Revival in Belfast and Come Heal this Land are great worship CDs. Cov Pres resonates with the Celtic feel of these songs and we love singing Lion of Judah, Be Unto Your Name, Days of Elijah, Not By Might, and What the Lord Has Done In Me.

Home Grown Talent

• We use a growing cache of songs written by folks on our worship team, including Ever-Loving Savior, Who Is Like You?, Heart for the Nations, and Rock of Ages (Hide My Soul) by our worship pastor, Burress McCombe. We also love Mike Marsh's arrangement of Standing on the Promises and Brian Davis' new tune for Robert Murray M'Cheyne's lyrics, How Much I Owe.

Matt Redman www.mattredman.com

•  Simply one of the best current songwriters, Matt Redman has written some of our favorite songs, including Better is One Day, Blessed Be Your Name, and Once Again.

Spanish Songs

• Over the course of our 25 years, God has given Covenant a heart for the nations. He has blessed us with a vibrant Hispanic community. Our mission trips to Mexico, our Spanish-speaking neighbors, and our Alianza service influence the language we use in worship. Eres Todopoderoso and Grandes Son are songs we consider "ours," sung in our Spanish-speaking and English-speaking services. We also love to get together a couple of times a year and worship God in both languages, singing songs like Come, Thou Fount, Here I Am to Worship, How Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace, and Nothing but the Blood, alternating between the two languages.

Chris Tomlinwww.christomlin.com

• With his solid lyrics and singable melodies, Chris Tomlin consistently writes music that inspires us like Forever, The Wonderful Cross, and Kindness.

Other Songs We Like  

• Michael Card writes and sings texts of substance filled with the truths of Scripture.  In particular, we sing Be Thou My Vision and The King of Love My Shepherd Is (Ps. 23). (www.michaelcard.com)
• We also sing several of Fernando Ortega's songs, I Will Praise Him Still and Come, Oh Redeemer, Come. (www.fernandoortega.com)
• Laura Story's songs Mighty to Save and Indescribable are wonderful. We love them; they uniquely and deeply express our hearts for God. (www.laurastorymusic.com)
• We've enjoyed He Blesses His People with Peace, from The Odes of Solomon Project (www.theodesproject.com). The Odes folks have taken the lyrics from the first known Christian hymnbook and made them accessible for modern congregations.
• Some older choruses that express Covenant's heart for worship: You Are My All in All; Wonderful, Merciful Savior; Shout to the Lord; Salvation Belongs to Our God; Because We Believe; and Agnus Dei, to name a few.

Other Resources

• Red Mountain Musicwww.redmountainchurch.org
• Vineyard Music www.vineyardmusic.com

 

Date (Wednesday practice and Sunday Worship)	Worship Leader	Keys	Vocals	Guitar	Bass Guitar	Solo Instrument	Drums	Sound
Feb 22/26	Burress	Hannah	Sarah, Carrie, JT	Burress	Mike M.	Gaelen, Libby	Zach	Jeremy