Extremely so, in my opinion.

A song leader should be aware that a congregation contains people with all sorts of backgrounds and who all respond differently to different "flavors" of music. It's up to the leader to provide an eclectic mx, within the bounds of the intended worship focus, so as to appeal to the widest audience. For me, I would no more want to sing an exclusive diet of traditional hymns than I would want to sing all contemporary praise songs. They each touch a different part of my heart.

It is very important for song leaders to learn new songs, because after a while, singing the same songs all the time kind of makes it not as exciting. Singing songs to the Lord should always be joyous no matter what, old song or new song, but to sing something else that you don't sing on a normal basis is great. After not hearing it for a while, it's just a breath of fresh air.

tim magill
kansas city, ks