Stuart Townend

New Horizon

Just to say I'm going to be at the New Horizon event on the north coast of Northern Ireland all next week. If you're planning to go, see you there! If not, please pray that it will be a event that glorifies God through the worship, the teaching (from John Piper, Nigel Wright and RT Kendall) and the fellowship of Christians from different denominations coming together to express their unity in Christ.

My being away does mean that if you put an order in for CDs after the 19th July, there might be a short delay before they are shipped out. All orders taken during next week should reach you at the end of the following week (week beginning 31st July).

Stuart Townend

Monumental response!

Thanks for your comments about the new album, "Monument to Mercy". It's getting a really interesting response! Some of you think it's the freshest thing you've heard in Christian music in ages (thank you); some of you are struggling to get used to the complexity of "The Lord's my Shepherd" and the air raid siren in "Beloved and Blessed"! But I do feel we've 'pushed the boat out' a little.

I believe we could have made an album that everyone thought was 'pleasant'. But I think there's a real danger that worship music is getting stuck in a musical rut. Already I hear people say "I don't like worship" - meaning they don't like the musical style that typifies most worship albums, not that they don't like worshipping God!

So I believe we should be exploring different areas of musical creativity in out expression of worship to our infinitely creative God - not copying one another in the belief that worship music and worship songs should sound a certain way. True, when it comes to singing songs in church, there are musical limitations in what the congregation (and often the worship band) can do. But when it comes to sitting down and listening to an album, why shouldn't it be an interesting and varied musical experience?

Keep your comments coming. I'm sure lots of you out there have some very definite ideas on the subject!

Stuart Townend

Worship in Spirit and Truth Part 1

Part One - the context of John 4

John 4 is a passage familiar to those involved in local church worship. It is obviously important to us all, but it particularly grabs the attention of the worship leader, as it’s the only time that Jesus specifically addresses the subject of worship, using this phrase ‘in spirit and truth” twice.

But it’s always seemed a very peculiar Biblical context for this theme. I’d have expected the chapter to begin, “Jesus was teaching the pharisees and the teachers of the law in the temple one day, and the subject of worship came up…” Perhaps it would have made me feel more important as a worship leader, that Jesus would have seen the subject as important enough to discuss it with the spiritual leaders of the day – after all, it’s always high on my list of topics to discuss with church leaders! But no. Jesus is taking a break. He arrives at a well in the heat of the day, he’s tired and thirsty. And a woman comes to the well.