In my last post, I mentioned that Doxa, the worship team from my church, Epiphany Fellowship, is releasing our debut album, Centered, on 1/30/2015. It’s available for digital pre-order on iTunes and Amazon, along with our single, “Hosanna.”

I thought it would be helpful to go through the album’s track listing and talk about the lyrical and musical content of each song. So for my next several blog entries, we will do just that!

Here’s the Centered track listing so you know what’s ahead:

1. Intro
2. You Alone Are God
3. Our Treasure Is Christ
4. Our Dwelling Place: Psalm 84
5. Jesus Is
6. Jesus Is (Reprise) [feat. Dr. Eric Mason]
7. Trinity (Spoken Word)
8. Hosanna
9. Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
10. The Power of the Cross (Oh to See the Dawn)
11. Nail My Glory
12. Nail My Glory (Reprise) [feat. Dr. Eric Mason]
13. To Him Who Sits on the Throne (Intro) [feat. Dr. Eric Mason]
14. To Him Who Sits on the Throne

The album itself is a blend of a variety of musical styles, but the unifying element is the Christ-centered content of the lyrics–whether it’s a reimagined hymn like “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” a revamped version of CCM songs like The Gettys’ “The Power of the Cross (Oh to See the Dawn)” or Sovereign Grace Music’s “Nail My Glory,” or an original like “Our Dwelling Place: Psalm 84.”

We sing all of these songs in our gatherings. As we journey through the track list, I’ll try to give examples of song placement in our liturgy, how I might use it to lead our congregation in worship through song, etc (worship leader geek stuff).  I’ll also speak to how the concepts are forming me as I grow in walking with Jesus (discipleship geek stuff). And I’ll probably ask you a few questions to help stir your thinking about how God might use them to shape you (I’d like some company in the Refiner’s fire).

Please like, comment, and share. I would love to hear from you!

I lead worship through song with Doxa, the band and vocal team at my church, Epiphany Fellowship.

On Tuesday 1/13/2015, we released “Hosanna,” the single from our debut album, Centered. It’s available on iTunes and Amazon.

Working on this project has been like raising a baby–really, two babies, since it has grown right alongside our own precious daughter!

Let’s see…

The earliest budget draft was done before she was even conceived. We couldn’t move forward because we didn’t have adequate funding.

During a conversation with a group of worship pastors in January 2013, my husband and I shared our heart and vision for resourcing urban churches with more contextualized music. These generous men offered to pursue funding for the album. I was 6 months pregnant.

My husband & I were literally at the keyboard at home recording vocal parts for rehearsals (including songs from the album) when my water broke–the day before Mother’s Day!

Everything after that is a blur. 😄

Our baby girl turned 11 months old the day after the live recording in April 2014…and she turned 20 months the day the single was released.

Wow. Only. God.

For my husband and I, each of these moments is a “stone of remembrance,” reminding us of the faithfulness of God through the whole process. When we couldn’t see the end with our physical eyes, God gave us eyes of faith to trust Him to bring the project to completion. And those same eyes of faith are still fixing themselves on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, and asking Him to use this album to bear fruit whose impact lingers into eternity.

Centered is available for digital pre-orders on iTunes and Amazon. The album will be released on Friday, 1/30/2015.