I was recently asked to do a songwriting workshop with young people to help them have a go at songwriting for the church. I felt very under-qualified to do it but by the grace of God it went well and it was amazing what came out the session which was only 45 mins long! We had a complete re-write of Foo Fighter’s Pretender from one group and some amazing lyrics and tunes from others. They wer...

On radio 1 there was a debate the other night on what is better; old songs or new. As you can imagine there were heated debates over txt and email as people argued their point. It got me thinking about this in a church context as I have heard similar debates on this topic. Personally I think we need both, to learn from and use the best of the rich heritage of songs yet still moving forward, pushi...

Many people in the church today speak of the word “worship” as though they know what it means. Yet if we are honest and break it down do we actually know what it means? Poll In 2006 there was a massive poll across North America by George Barna. He went round hundreds of churches asking the regular attendees to define “worship” The poll results were stunning; Two out of thre...

Check out this brilliant quote from John Wesley that is in the front of a hymn book dated 1761, simply amazing…. “Sing lustily and with good courage, beware of singing as if half dead or half sleep but lift your voice with strength. Sing modestly, do not brawl so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation that you may not destroy the harmony but strive to unite ...