Finding great worship songs led by women is harder than it should be.
Most “top songs” lists default to the same five male-led worship collectives, and finding female voices that actually work in a congregational setting — voices that lead rather than just feature, songs written from a woman’s perspective rather than a gender-neutral average — takes real digging.
I’ve been doing that digging. What follows is a list of songs led by women that work in real Sunday morning church settings. Some of these are CCLI top 100 staples that you already know. Others are songs that deserve far more attention than they’re getting. All of them have been tested in congregations and all of them hold up.
If you have songs led by female worship leaders that work at your church, leave them in the comments. I’ll add the good ones to the list.
Goodness of God — Bethel Music feat. Jenn Johnson | CCLI #7117726 | Album: Victory (2019)
This is the one that changed the conversation about female worship leaders in the modern church. Jenn Johnson wrote this in the car, singing into her phone, capturing something she didn’t have language for until the melody came. What she caught was a statement of lifelong faith — “all my life You have been faithful” — that lands differently coming from a woman who means every word of it. The melody is simple enough for anyone to sing, and the bridge tends to take over a room. Still top 5 on CCLI. There’s a reason.
Thank You Jesus for the Blood — Charity Gayle | CCLI #7167327 | Album: Endless Praise (2021)
Charity Gayle carries a gospel weight in her voice that most modern worship vocalists don’t have, and this song is the clearest expression of it. It went from an independent live recording to one of the fastest-rising CCLI entries in recent memory. The theology is simple and direct — the blood of Jesus applied, the chains removed — and the structure gives worship leaders room to breathe and lead. Works beautifully as a communion song, a Good Friday set, or any Sunday where the cross is the focus. Start with piano and vocal. Let it build.
A Thousand Hallelujahs — Brooke Ligertwood | CCLI #7188180 | Album: Seven (2022)
Brooke Ligertwood co-wrote this one with her husband Scott and Phil Wickham. The three of them produced something that sounds like a joyful declaration from beginning to end. It’s a celebration song in the truest sense. The groove locks in from the first bar and doesn’t let go. Ligertwood is one of the greatest worship songwriters of the past two decades, and this is her making that case.
In Jesus Name (God of Possible) — Katy Nichole | CCLI #7190476 | EP: Katy Nichole (2022)
Katy Nichole was 21 years old when this went viral on TikTok and then went to #1 on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs. Billboard ranked it the biggest Christian song of 2022. What’s remarkable is that it doesn’t feel like a breakout hit — it feels like a prayer. Written out of a season of watching someone she loved suffer through a battle they couldn’t win, the lyric “I pray for your healing, that circumstances would change” has the specificity of someone who has actually sat in a hospital room. That’s why it lands.
Who Else — Gateway Worship feat. Abbie Gamboa | CCLI #7223119 | Album: Crowns Down (2024)
Abbie Gamboa is one of the most compelling new female voices in worship right now, and this Gateway Worship collab is the song that introduced her to most churches. At 68 BPM with a hymn-like structure built around one central question — “Who else would carry me when I couldn’t walk?” — it opens a room. Gamboa’s vocal is unhurried and confident, which gives the congregation permission to actually mean what they’re singing rather than just keeping up. The song appeared on all three major charts simultaneously in 2024. Deservedly so.
I Speak Jesus — Charity Gayle feat. Steven Musso | CCLI #7136657 | Album: Endless Praise (2021)
This song went from a church prayer meeting to a global worship phenomenon faster than almost anything in recent memory. Charity Gayle didn’t write it — it was written by a team of six — but she delivers it flawlessly. The bridge is the moment: “Your name is a light that the darkness must flee.” Most congregations don’t know what they’re getting into until that bridge lands the third time. By then, they’re all in.
Still Waters (Psalm 23) — Leanna Crawford | CCLI #7228947 | Album: Still Waters (2024)
Leanna Crawford wrote this song in honor of her 103-year-old great-aunt Maurine, who memorized 90% of the Bible after learning she was going blind. That backstory isn’t just a press release. It shaped the song. “Anxiety hates Psalm 23,” Crawford sings. “So just say it to yourself ’til you believe it.” That’s pastoral advice wrapped in a melody, and congregations feel the difference. CCM Magazine named Crawford one of the women shaping CCM in 2025. This song is why. The acoustic-driven production makes it accessible for most teams, and the Psalm 23 hook gives people something they already know to hold onto.
Bless God — Brooke Ligertwood feat. Brandon Lake & Cody Carnes | CCLI #7214618 | Album: Eight (2023)
Ligertwood said this song was “a gift to me — I don’t know how I got to be in the room when that song happened.” Cody Carnes already had the chorus, and then the rest unfolded in the writing session. The result is a sweeping, joyful anthem that commands a room without trying to. Brandon Lake and Cody Carnes on the same track as Ligertwood is significant on paper; in practice, it’s the song that earns its place. Peaked at #23 on Hot Christian Songs. If your congregation hasn’t encountered this one yet, they’re about to.
Worthy — CeCe Winans | CCLI #7230112 | Album: More Than This (2024)
CeCe Winans has been one of the most decorated artists in gospel and Christian music for over three decades, and More Than This — her Grammy-winning 2024 album — is a reminder of why. “Worthy” is one of its quieter, more reverent moments: a slow declaration of who God is that builds into something that fills a room without raising its voice. It’s a different kind of power than most modern worship songs reach for, and congregations sense it. This one is largely undiscovered in churches that primarily draw from Elevation and Hillsong repertoire. The discovery is worth making.
The Wonderful Blood — Tiffany Hudson | CCLI #7218762 | Single (2024)
Tiffany Hudson stepped outside Elevation Worship for this solo release and produced something that sounds like it came from a different place entirely — quieter, more personal, more gospel. “The wonderful blood, the beautiful blood, the powerful blood of Jesus” is not a complicated lyric. It doesn’t need to be. Hudson’s delivery is what makes it work, and the arrangement leaves room for her voice to carry the weight it’s carrying. This is one of those songs that worship leaders will reach for on communion Sundays and never regret it.
You Say — Lauren Daigle | CCLI #7106807 | Album: Look Up Child (2018)
Still the most recognized female-led worship song of the modern era. Sixty-nine weeks at #1 on Hot Christian Songs. Grammy Award winner. And it still works on a Sunday morning because it addresses something that never goes away: the gap between how people feel about themselves and what God says about them. “You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing” — that line finds someone in the room every single week. This is a great one for keyboard-led bands.
God Will Work It Out | CCLI #7177864 | Naomi Raine | Single (2025)
Naomi Raine built her reputation as a core member of Maverick City Music, and her solo work carries that same combination of gospel roots and modern worship accessibility. “God Will Work It Out” is her most congregationally usable solo release to date, a declaration of faith that functions as a corporate prayer. It was released in July 2025 and is still largely unknown in churches outside charismatic and gospel-adjacent circles. That’s the opportunity. Worship leaders looking for a female-led song that brings a gospel choir energy without requiring a gospel choir will find this one delivers.
I Believe — Charity Gayle | CCLI #7228756 | Album: Rejoice (2024)
Charity Gayle keeps showing up on this list because she keeps writing songs that work in churches. The Rejoice album came out in 2024 and “I Believe” is its standout congregational moment — a slow-building declaration of faith over circumstances that has been climbing steadily on Christian charts ever since. Churches that introduced “Thank You Jesus for the Blood” and “I Speak Jesus” will find this one lands in the same theological territory. It builds slowly and then opens up completely. The live version is the one to use.
Center — Bethel Music feat. Abbie Gamboa | CCLI #7218904 | Album: We Must Respond (2025)
Abbie Gamboa appears twice on this list because she’s having that kind of moment. “Center” — co-written with Gabe Gamboa and Brian Johnson — is a worship song of adoration in the truest sense: not asking God for anything, not declaring a battle won, just placing Christ at the middle of everything and staying there. The arrangement is intentionally minimal — piano, pads, vocal — which means the worship leader has to carry it. If your vocalist can do that, this becomes one of those songs that a congregation holds onto long after Sunday is over.
Worthy of It All — CeCe Winans | CCLI #7187918 | Single (2022)
CeCe Winans brings decades of gospel excellence to this worship moment, and it shows in every note. “Worthy Of It All” is a song of total surrender built for the kind of quiet, unhurried moments that most modern worship services undervalue. “For from You are all things, and to You are all things” — that’s theology drawn straight from Romans 11:36, and it lands with the weight it deserves. Let the vocal carry it. Your band should support, not compete. This one is ideal as a response song after a message, an altar call, or anywhere you need to slow a room down and open it back up.
Like You Are — Red Rocks Worship feat. Sidney Bakken | Single (2025)
Red Rocks Worship has is an underrated worship collective in contemporary Christian music but with Sidney Bakken, they really shouldn’t be. Her vocal on this song is warm and personal — a worship song about being loved by God exactly as you are, not as you hope to become. It’s the kind of song that has a way of finding the person in the room who has stopped believing that. Released in 2025, it’s still largely off the radar for most church teams. That gap won’t last. Get to it first.
Well, that’s it for now but please keep the suggestions coming. I’ll add the good ones to the list.