I’m away for two days at an annual Songwriters Consultation that Graham Kendrick runs,  there are about 60 of us here from the UK and further. Having a great time. Today we had Jim Wallis talk about remembering the poor, justice and compassion. It was hugely challenging to be honest… Followed by a Q&A session with Jim, Martin Smith and Tre Shepherd.

I guess it’s easy to think that caring for the poor is what the ’social justice’ people do, or just a few projects we do on the side. But the truth is, it’s at the heart of the gospel. The first words Jesus proclaimed in public are quoting Isaiah 61 – ’sent to the poor’ (see Luke 4:16-20). Also, remembering the poor is quite a clear theme through scripture – which obviously climaxes with Christ, the One who became poor to save the poor.

Anyways, heard a lot of stuff today but here’s some thoughts for songwriters… There are three types of compassion/justice songs:

1) Songs that inform us about the poor and injustice. Eg the verses to Delirious’ Our God Reigns

2) Songs that help us worship in the place of poverty, injustice. Eg It is well with my soul

3) Songs that commission us to go to the poor. Eg God of Justice

But all of these MUST be in the context of the gospel – The God of justice sent His son to the poor to bind up their brokenness and bring freedom to the captives, and by extension we carry on this Kingly work of Christ as His hands and feet, as His church. Our motivation for mission and source of compassion is the gospel, and the agent for God’s mission is not a charity but the Church. Yes!

I’m challenged as I haven’t written any songs in either of these 3 camps. Hmmm. Well there’s my thoughts for the day. Over and out

C.J. Mahaney answers the question, “Why sing so many cross-centered songs in corporate worship?” at Bob Kauflin’s WorshipGod conference. Absolutely worth all 8 minutes 35 seconds. Phenomenal.

Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs

So it’s important that lyrics are true and reliable if people are going to sing them and allow them to feed truth into their daily lives. So does that mean we should restrict our song content to Scripture quotations?

While there’s a strong argument for saying “yes”, it is clear from Scripture and church history that the people of God have always benefited from contemporary expressions of eternal doctrine applied and expressed in a way that their generation can easily grasp. The meaning and content of Scripture should always be central to the songwriter’s work; but there is value in moving beyond the mere reciting of Scripture in order to explore the meaning, much as a preacher might do in a sermon.

Stuart Townend is known and respected around the world as one of the leading worship songwriters of his generation. Some of Stuart’s songs include In Christ alone, How deep the Father’s love, The Power Of The Cross and Beautiful Saviour. If you’ve heard any of his songs (and there’s a strong chance you probably have) you’ll know that there’s a theological richness to his lyrics as well as a depth of understanding of the Trinitarian God who we are called to worship. Stuart actively attends and leads worship at CCK, is one of the founders of Worship School and one of the authors of the Worship School blog (see more of Stuart’s blog posts). He is married to Caroline and they have three children – Joseph, Emma and Eden. A mate of mine, Yohaan Philip, chief editor of the CCKlife blog, recently had the privilege of interviewing Stuart and writes:

YP: It’s been great seeing Joseph and Eden play along side you on Sundays at CCK. They’re both top quality musicians. You must be a proud dad!

ST: Yes, I am proud of them. Joseph has been playing drums with me for some time now. He’s always been a very solid player, but he’s grown a lot in the last year in terms of sensitivity to the dynamics of a worship time – when to play out, when to pull back, and so on. Eden is only 13, but he’s already showing a tremendous dexterity and sense of rhythm in his playing, so I’m looking forward to getting him more involved. And I haven’t used Emma at CCK yet, but she’s a pretty mean keyboard player…

In Christ Alone tour

YP: Your song In Christ Alone, has touched lives all over the world. How did you come about to write the song?
ST: The song began in a very ordinary way. I had just met Keith Getty for the first time over a coffee at a conference, and he promised to send me some melodies he’d written. So when the CD arrived in the post, I put it on, and was really bowled over by the very first melody; it had a hymn-like stateliness, but a very powerful dynamic and a beautiful celtic feel that made it really memorable. So I immediately decided this ‘timeless’ melody needed a timeless theme, and got to work on a lyric that would take us through the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and what that means for us. It was slow going at first, but I have to admit, by the time I got to the fourth verse I was getting very excited!

It is astounding to both Keith and me how the song has been received. We still get lots of emails and letters about how the song has helped people at times of crisis in their lives, and it’s very humbling to know God is still using it.

YP: The In Christ Alone Tour looks very promising! Can you tell me more about it?
ST: It’s actually the continuation of a tour we began last year, which took in venues like Liverpool Cathedral, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, and the SECC in Glasgow. This time we’re at The Waterfront, Belfast, Londonderry, Chessington, Ipswich, Dundee… And our very own Brighton Dome on 27th June! For those who want to come, tickets are available from the Dome box office,
or www.brightondome.org, or by phone on 01273 709709. Details of other gigs are available from the www.gettymusic.com website.

CCK Live Album

YP: You are quite involved with the CCK album, Have You Heard which is being launched in July. There’s quite a buzz going around CCK about this new album!

ST: I have to confess I haven’t heard the finished mixes, but everybody who has seems to be raving about it! Simon Brading, Lou Fellingham and Phatfish, and myself all led worship over two nights at CCK, under the creative eye of producer Mark Edwards. It’s fair to say that we are all used to arranging and playing on live albums, but I think Mark helped us to take the songs in a fresh creative direction, and the result is an album that, while capturing the vitality of a worship time, has a musical edge and creativity that makes it a bit special.

YP: We see Stuart the worship leader. Can you tell me more about your personal walk with Jesus?
ST: My Dad was an Anglican vicar, so I was brought up going to church, and understanding what it really meant to be a Christian, because I could see the reality of it in my parents’ lives. But as I became a teenager I began to realise that, although I was surrounded by lots of Christian ’stuff’, there was no internal reality to it – I felt I was still on the outside looking in, if you like – and I knew I had to give my life to Christ. And that’s what I did, and the reality of knowing Him personally completely
turned me around.

And since then, in all the ups and downs, the joys and the sorrows, I’ve found God to be constant in His love and faithfulness, and I can trust Him with every day, whatever the situation.

–

See more of Stuart’s blog posts, or follow him on twitter

The Role of Songs

The first thing we must realize is that worship songs play a significant part in our lives; not only for us as musicians, but for all those who attend our services. Our congregations may hear some fantastic biblical teaching on a Sunday morning, but when they leave they’re more likely to be humming one of the worship songs than reciting a section of the sermon.

Let’s face it: songs stick in the mind in a way that the spoken word does not. And that means that in our daily lives we can recall truth when it is contained in a song. For example, I still sing the old chorus “For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” when I’m trying to remember Galatians 5!

This fact was not lost on great preachers of the past. For Luther, Newton and Wesley, the central message of their songs was the truth they were preaching in their sermons. In fact, William booth and others changed the words to popular secular songs of the day in order to better fix biblical truth in the minds of believer and unbeliever alike.

This is part 2 in a series of thoughts on Does it matter what we sing? More coming soon…

Well this is it, the Worship School blog is officially online!

Why?

To keep you up to date with Worship School news, a hub for theological discussion, a few songwriting thoughts and any resources that will hopefully inspire, encourage and challenge you.

My friends and I from the Worship School team, Stuart Townend, Lou Fellingham and Joel Virgo, will be the main contributors towards this blog, but we may have some special guests posting now and then.

Worship School has always been about building the local church for the glory of Christ. Our hope is that this blog contributes richly towards that end goal.