On Friday, May 17, our three congregations gathered to record Summit Church’s first live worship album. We sang original songs composed by worship leaders here at Summit - songs that recount the Lord’s activity and tell of his glorious grace. It was an exciting opportunity to capture the voice of our church and to document the songs of this season.
Why record a worship album?
At Summit, a core aspect of our worship gatherings involve singing. We believe that music is a means of grace that God employs to draw us to himself, teach us about himself, and grant us the opportunity to respond to him through singing. If you’ve been a part of our worship gatherings, you’ve likely experienced God’s grace in the moments we sing together. Truly God is “enthroned on the praises of his people.” (Psalm 22:3)
Over the last few years, we’ve had a growing conviction to write songs that contain the theology, mission, values, and story of God’s activity at Summit. Throughout history, God’s people have composed such songs. You can find examples of written songs in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, the largest book of the Bible, the Psalms, is a collection songs.
Recording a worship album is an opportunity for us to document the activity of God in this season. The songs we recorded are ones we are currently singing in our gatherings. When we release the final project, we hope that over the years we can look back and be encouraged by the work of God in this season.
But we also hope that as we listen to these songs in the future, we’ll be inspired to follow God in greater measures of faith. God uses music to strengthen and exhort us on our journey of faith. I have experienced many moments in my own life where singing to the Lord with other believers sustained my faith and encouraged me to draw close to him even when I didn’t feel like it. Paul wrote that we should “admonish one another...singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs.” (Col 3:16) We pray that these songs do that for our church.
What’s Next?
We have a little more work to do mixing, mastering, and releasing the project, but are aiming for a release in early fall. Over the summer, we ask that you would pray for our worship team in a few ways:
- Pray that God would inspire more songs at Summit. We hope and pray that he continues to give us fresh songs that tell of his activity here.
- Pray for Gospel Influence. We’re thankful to have seen songs from some of our worship leaders reaching people in SWFL and beyond. May our songs represent the gospel to every man, woman, and child who hears them.
We are looking forward to releasing these songs, and are praying God would use them in powerful ways for his glory.
-Mathis Turley
