Undying Love
In the video above, I did a Skype interview with worship pastor and songwriter David Santistevan about their new live worship release, Undying Love. It’s now available at iTunes. Follow all the links at the end of this post to find out more.
After this interview I was super stoked about a few things. You’ll see why once you watch it, but here are a few things I was personally challenged by:
Songwriting
If you’re a worship leading songwriter, you should be writing songs for your church and trusting God with the fruit. There is no reason why any songwriter should compare themselves with the “big boys” of church songwriting and not think that they could serve their church or small group in some way.
Yes we should aim to grow in our writing and become better writers, but all with the goal to serve those in our sphere’s of influence, leaving the results in the hands of God. Of course we’re not limited only to our local places of worship. We have freedom to network with others and see how God might use our songs more broadly, but the contexts with people who are closest to us week in and week out, are perfect places to try out new songs, get feedback, and grow. This is actually very freeing.
Recording / Production
The same is true with creating albums and recordings. I could write for days about this. I’m big on having creative control with your own stuff and not being afraid of releasing new music regularly. Artists in churches should be leading the way with creating and releasing recordings, not waiting on some label to come and “discover them” before they do anything.
Does your recording need to sound good? Yes. We should do the very best we can with what we have. But where is that line of “good enough”? We live in a time where anyone, yes ANYONE, can create and put out music.
Worship Team Discipleship
David has done a wonderful job leading his worship team. He’s more than simply a song leader. He’s a pastor. He’s discipling young musicians and singers, and seeing them flourish in their walks with God, and in their unique callings as creatives. I was challenged by this. It’s easy to get in a rut of the week-to-week, autopilot, “set-it-and-forget-it” ministry mode.
I’m pretty good at choosing songs every week, leading a rehearsal, and organizing our worship ministry, but in order for there to be lasting impact, I need to go beyond just this coming Sunday and lead with vision and Kingdom direction, with the growth of each member of the team as a priority. I totally need the Lord’s grace in this area!
Go for it!
If you’re an artist, a songwriter, a worship leader, or anyone creative in a local church, may God bless you as you discover how to serve God’s people with your unique gifts and abilities; and may it result in eternal impact for the glory of God in the earth!