Texas Baptists Music & Worship to hold first annual Songwriting Competition, feature winning song at 2026 Annual Meeting

This summer, Texas Baptists Music & Worship is holding its first annual Songwriting Competition. Director of Texas Baptists Music & Worship Tom Tillman said the contest provides a meaningful way to step into the music publishing space. 

“Psalm 149:1 encourages us to ‘sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of His faithful people.’ This [contest offers churches] a new, congregational worship song that can strengthen and encourage the voice of the church,” said Tillman. 

To be eligible to submit an original song, contestants must not be under a current publishing agreement. Works should be original compositions intended for congregational worship, and at least one writer on each submitted song must be a member of a Texas Baptists church.

Each song submitted should demonstrate theological soundness, congregational accessibility (singable melodies, clear phrasing and corporate worship suitability), a strong theme and message, thoughtful lyrical and melodic craftsmanship and well-shaped structure and flow. 

Multiple submissions are allowed, but each song must be submitted separately, including a PDF or Word document that contains either the full lyrics, a chord chart or a lead sheet and an MP3 recording of the song (recording quality will not be judged). Each contestant may enter up to three songs.

The winner of the competition will have their song featured at the 2026 Texas Baptists Annual Meeting on Nov. 15-17 in Waco during worship and on all Texas Baptists social media platforms, and will be available for churches to download the lead sheet music. The winner will also be awarded a $500 prize. 

“We felt the Annual Meeting would be a natural setting to introduce this during one of our worship gatherings. Our hope is that this first year will spark a strong response and open the door for many more opportunities like this in the future,” said Tillman. 

Tillman said he hopes this competition will be a blessing to songwriters who have been looking for incentive to finally finish the song that the Lord has laid on their hearts. He encouraged each contestant to seek God’s heart and allow him to fill their minds with singable words and music that will glorify him when sung by congregations. 

Submissions will be accepted from May 15 to July 15. For more information about submission guidelines, visit txb.org/am or contact Tom Tillman at tom.tillman[at]txb.org.