Needless to say, my father has developed a bad attitude about worship and one really can't blame him when considering that what passes for contemporary worship in a lot of churches and Christian circles is mercilessly played-out material that holds nothing to the time-honored and theologically rich hymns my dad prefers.

While I would put the preaching and teaching of a church as my number one priority when looking for a place to worship on Sunday, it is true that I once stopped attending a rural Nazarene Church because my critical spirit could not handle tape tracks of "I Love You Lord" replacing a live piano accompanying morning worship. So when I started attending Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, the worship was not only not a stumbling block, but a breath of fresh air.

I quickly discovered that the songs weren't on my dad's playlist and they weren't four-chord self-centered jams making Jesus sound like a sought after bachelor in the dating scene either. They were, many of them, written by people who attended the church and participated in the life of the church. They were new songs sung to the Lord.

Over the summer months, these songs became so much apart of my Sunday worship that when this CD released in August I had to look at the liner notes to see what songs weren't songs I had known from before.

It turns out there's only one on the CD, the title track a reworked classic hymn that speaks to the prayerful intentions of a disc that artistically and conceptually urges listeners to live an attitude of worship, humbly seeking God daily in prayer, praise, confession, thanksgiving and adoration.

From the hushed vocals of the opening track "Come and Sing" and the '70s Spirit In The Sky-esque riff that opens "My Maker And My King" to the jazzy "I'm Coming Back" and the folky album closer "All Good Gifts," the music explores a vast array of vocal and instrumental stylings.

For those disinterested in anything having to do with Christianity much less "worship" or "church" this description may be anything but appealing. Still, as evidenced by a spot on the Kentucky Homefront radio broadcast and numerous public and TV appearances in the Louisville area since the record's release, the songs do carry some appeal outside the fold of believers.

And who knows, the songs may just be enough for my father to rethink his obviously skewed view of post-Charles Wesley music written for corporate worship.

posted [09.12.07]