New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture. Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community.

The sharing of this set list is in collaboration with other church music reports through the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.Com. Photos by Dan Canales 1. O Help My Unbelief, hymn text by Isaac Watts, music by Justin Smith, recorded by Indelible Grace.  One thing you can always say about Isaac Watts -- he never ... Continue reading »

'The New Way' from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo, taught by Lead Pastor Daniel Montgomery at our home, The 930 Art Center. Tomorrow we'll have our regular "Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs" feature, looking at the music set list from today's worship services.  The rest of the week will ... Continue reading »

Two weekends ago I shared a Jamie Barnes music video with you.  Jamie is a singer-songwriter who has received strong reviews everywhere from Billboard Magazine to the Louisville Courier Journal.  He's also a Sojourn worship leader and pastoral assistant to Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper.  Here is a video of Jamie performing his song ... Continue reading »

If you're new to Christian worship services, participating in them can seem like playing football when you've never learned the rules: Why is that guy on the sidelines yelling at you? Why is the crowd so excited? Why are some players trying to break you in half while others are giving you high-fives? This is the third installment in a once-a-week series here on sojournmusic.com, explaining some of the things you ... Continue reading »

Last week we looked at the music of three worship ministries that many Sojourn members and worship leaders have listened to in personal worship over the last few years, Mars Hill, Indelible Grace and Sovereign Grace.   Today we'll highlight some more worship music that various Sojourners mentioned when asked the question "What worship music (besides Sojourn's) do you listen to?"  ... Continue reading »

"Worship in the New Testament church is not simply practice for some later heavenly experience of genione worship ... " ... it actually is worship in the presence of God, though we do not now see him with our physical eyes, nor do we see the angels gathered around his throne or the spirits of believers who have gone before and are now worshiping in God's presence ... we must also ... Continue reading »

Jared Kennedy is the director of Sojourn's children's ministry, Sojourn Kids.  I sat down with him recently to talk about family worship.  Jared and Sojourn elder/ SBTS professor Rob Plummer recently wrote the Sojourn Family Worship Guide, a publication with many resources, lesson plans and ideas for leading worship in the home.  Jared talked about the scriptural reasons for Sojourn's emphasis on making the home, not the church, ... Continue reading »

Today’s recap is posted in collaboration with other church music ministries at Sunday Setlists.  Photos by Dan Canales. 1. In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross, by Sojourn's own Brooks Ritter and Rebecca Elliott.  We use this one at various spots in worship services.  Here, it was our introductory song.  You can view the chord sheet and hear ... Continue reading »

One of the typical comments we receive from those familar with our Before the Throne CD goes something like this: "Who is the dude singing?  He's amazing." His name is Brooks Ritter.  He's a worship leader and songwriter here at Sojourn, and he also performs his own music in venues around Louisville and the larger region, ... Continue reading »

See part one of this series (Why Christians Often Pray On Bended Knees) for an explanation of why we're presenting information that is probably obvious to many sojournmusic.com readers.  This series will run a few more times, once per week, and hopefully answer questions from those who are curious about certain expressions of Christian worship. Why Raise Our Hands When Singing And Praying? You will ... Continue reading »

This Monday, the United States and Canada celebrate Labor Day, held the first Monday of every September to honor working people (similar to most other countries' "May Day").  Although it is common for Christians to think of "work" as a result of the Fall in the Garden of Eden, this is not so: Adam and Eve were given the task ... Continue reading »

Sojourn member Will Kotheimer, who has interviewed Brooks Ritter and Eddy Morris for sojournmusic.com, recently asked a question on the Sojourn Church private message board: "Besides Sojourn CDs, what do Sojourners listen to in private worship?"  I thought it would be interesting to note some of the responses from our members, compared to many discussions I've had with Sojourners about this topic in the past. I'll make this ... Continue reading »

Aaron Marshall and wife Nichole (pictured together here) will soon be long-term missionaries in Africa.  But that isn't the only way they're seeking to declare the Kingdom of God in their future home.  Wait to you hear about Aaron's innovative iPods4Africa concept. I interviewed my fellow Sojourn deacon Aaron about iPods4Africa, the Marshall's upcoming move to the continent, and about ways to spread the gospel on ... Continue reading »

Worship Arts Pastoral Assistant Jamie Barnes, also a Sojourn worship leader and a singer-songwriter with several solo albums that have garnered international rave reviews in print and digital media, is the featured artist on the new episode of The Habanero Hour, a music and interview podcast that explores and challenges the sacred/secular dichotomy in the arts and the ... Continue reading »

This post is in collaboration with other Worship Leaders as a part of the "Sunday Setlists" blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.  Photos by Dan Canalas. 1. Blessed Be The Everlasting God, by Isaac Watts and Sojourn's own Luke Asher.  Luke is a singer-songwriter here in Louisville who has recently joined the worship team.  Luke revised and arranged the lyrics ... Continue reading »

'Doxology' - Mike Cosper from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.This video features Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper's recent sermon, "Doxology."  Last week I presented an audio player version, so visit that post if you'd prefer audio only (or to download it for free as a ... Continue reading »

A little something for your weekend.  Here is a video of Sojourn Worship Arts Pastoral Assistant Jamie Barnes, who also happens to be a much beloved singer-songwriter in the Louisville music scene.  This comes from Louisville's Blue Mountain Cafe. You can find the song, "Red Prescription," on his Honey From The Ribcage album.  Next week ... Continue reading »

"Worship Practices Explained" is a new series running here one day per week over the next couple months.  I'll talk about why Christians do things during worship services and other times that might seem strange to the uninitiated. Blog stats tell me that most sojournmusic.com readers are Christians and that probably at least half are actively involved in volunteer or staff ministry as worship leaders, pastors, church ... Continue reading »

Many of you are probably aware about the story that broke yesterday regarding Mike Guglielmucci, the Australian youth pastor who faked having terminal cancer.  He wrote the hit worship song, "Healer," inspiring others with this declaration: I believe You're my Healer I believe You are all I need I believe You're my Portion I believe You're more than enough for me Jesus You're all I need In one Youtube video that received 300,000 hits, he ... Continue reading »

Matt Redman is one of the top worship leaders and writers in evangelical Christianity, having penned modern classics like "The Heart Of Worship," "Better Is One Day," "Blessed Be Your Name," and "Let Everything That Has Breath.  One of my favorite Redman albums is 2004's Face Down.  I recently "rediscovered" it when flipping through my CDs and thought I'd give a little review. Redman ... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship leader/ songwriter Rebecca Dennison tells the story behind her song "My Rock and My Redeemer," one of our favorites here at Sojourn.  You can hear the track at Last FM and get the chord sheet from our These Things I Remember page here at sojournmusic.com before or after reading Rebecca's story: I wrote the words and melody to "My Rock and ... Continue reading »

  This video comes from Sojourn's fall 2007 appearance at Fourth Street Live, Louisville's downtown entertainment district.  We will return to Fourth Street Live Sunday, September 7.  Hope to see you there!

Worship arts pastor Mike Cosper preached a sermon entitled "Doxology" at The 930 during Sojourn's August 10 worship gathering.  This sermon emphasizes that our praise for God must flow from a good understanding of who He is and what He's done.  You can download it for free from our podcast, Sojournmusic.com Radio, available on iTunes and other podcast directories, or simply click the play button ... Continue reading »

This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com.  Photos courtesy of Daniel Canales.  1. Your Blood Says Everything, by Billy Sommerville for Vineyard/ Mercy Music.  This song got us right into the heart of Christian worship and witness --the cross of ... Continue reading »

Sojourn Music will participate in another Takin' It To The Streets event on Sunday, September 7.  This time the band will perform outside at Fourth Street Live, Louisville's downtown entertainment district.  This is our first return to Fourth Street Live since last year's TV taping for WBKI, the local affiliate for The CW Network. We'll have further details as the date approaches.  ... Continue reading »

It's a quiet day.  Sojourn worship arts pastor Mike Cosper is on his way to Michigan to, among other things, talk with John Witvliet and record some interviews with him for future broadcast on our Sojournmusic.com Radio podcast.  Dr. Witvliet has authored and edited several books on worship and written many articles for various publications.  He is the director of the Calvin Institute of Christian ... Continue reading »

Friday, August 29 at 10 am, my co-writer Lindsey Blair and illustrator Tessa Janes will read from our book Pastor Daddy at the Lifeway Christian Store in Southern Baptist Theology Seminary here in Louisville.  If you're in the Louisville area, we'd love to see you. I've written a few things about Pastor Daddy, Sojourn's first children's book, and ... Continue reading »

I've never owned an ESV Bible, although I've studied from it with increasing frequency online over the last couple years.  So when I read that Crossway was publishing a new ESV Study Bible this fall, I decided to order it. Last week the ESV blog published a pdf preview of the Study Bible introduction to the book of Psalms.  I'd encourage anyone ... Continue reading »

Lorie King is one of Sojourn's first and most experienced worship leaders, having served since shortly after our birth eight years ago. She's also served in various churches around the world and completed a Master's in Worship from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  In this eight-minute audio interview, Lorie discusses some of the things she has learned, answering these and other questions: What does it mean to ... Continue reading »

 This week’s recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com. 1. King of Glory, by Chris Tomlin.  This song of praise based on Psalm 24:7-10 has become a modern standard at many churches, including Sojourn.  Using scripture in song has long been one of Tomlin's strengths as a modern worship songwriter. We ... Continue reading »

I hope you've enjoyed some of the articles from this past week here on sojournmusic.com: information on Sojourn's upcoming Isaac Watts CD project, a look at our recent worship band auditions, singing instruction from John Wesley, a free songwriting seminar podcast episode featuring Dirt Poor Robins and a free mp3 of a Brooks Ritter worship ... Continue reading »

"Above all sing spiritually.  Have an eye to God in every word you sing.  Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature.  In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord ... Continue reading »

A few days ago I attended a small meeting where worship arts pastor Mike Cosper and worship leader Neil Robins outlined the steps toward our goal of producing two new CDs of music based on the timeless hymns of Isaac Watts.  Now that our brand new studio is nearly 100% operational, co-producers Mike and Neil are ready to lead the worship team through the recording process. As noted ... Continue reading »

Last Wednesday Sojourn hosted an open audition night for prospective worship band candidates. Nineteen Sojourners took to the stage of our main auditorium, performing songs from our latest full-length CD, Before the Throne, before worship arts pastor Mike Cosper and a small team of experienced worship leaders. For a list of songs the candidates were asked to perform, view our "Adding To The Band" ... Continue reading »

This past April, the award-winning songwriting/ performing duo Neil and Kate Robins gave a comprehensive talk on songwriting at Sojourn's home, The 930 Art Center.  Neil and Kate have written and performed songs on our last two recordings, Before the Throne and Advent Songs, and Neil is producing one of the two CDs on our upcoming double-CD project, for which he and Kate will contribute ... Continue reading »

This week's recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the "Sunday Setlists" blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com 1. Great and Mighty, by Caedmon's Call.  I love how this song portrays the "already/not yet" tension of our life in the presence of God, from the first verse: "Hold my heart, O God Keep me ever in Your will There is joy within your presence here and now but better still Is ... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship leader Lorie King recently wrote "Ten Tips For Worship Leaders: How To Enhance Stage Presence" for theworshipcommunity.com, a new site that features insights, advice, encouragement and information-sharing among worship leaders, pastors, songwriters, tech support personnel and liturgical artists across the globe from many churches and traditions. Read the full article at theworshipcommunity.   To whet your appetite, here are Lorie's first two tips: 1) Watch ... Continue reading »

Johnny Cash wrote his first song in 1955, a song about a train called "Hey Porter." His final composition, released in 2006 on the posthumous "American V: A Hundred Highways," is also about a train. The Delta blues-inspired "Like The 309" shows that he remained a master storyteller to the end. "Hey Porter" heralded the sound of a young man arriving -- an eager, ... Continue reading »

The new Sojourn Music studio is almost completely  in place -- a room on the third floor of Sojourn's home, The 930.  This room serves as the office of worship arts pastor Mike Cosper as well as a recording studio.  View the short interview with pastoral assistant/ worship leader Jamie Barnes on our Facebook fan page to see the recording setup and to learn about the exciting web-exclusive music that ... Continue reading »

Middletown, Ohio is an interesting town, an old blue-collar community that owed its existence for years to AK Steel.  Throw in the mix of students and educators from nearby Miami (OH) college and the fact that it sits on the I-75 corridor between Cincinnati and Dayton, near enough to each city for a work commute or night on the town, and it makes for a ... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship leader Rebecca Dennison recently took an intensive workshop at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on a subject that is transforming the way missionaries teach new believers how to engage in corporate worship.  This subject is called "ethnodoxology," the study of culture and worship.  Rebecca and I talked about the basics of ethnodoxology last week.  You can also view a report of the workshop she ... Continue reading »

This week's recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the "Sunday Setlists" blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com. 1. Let Justice Roll Like A River, hymn text by me and music by Rebecca Elliott.  We used this as the "come on in and let's worship together" song this week.  You can hear a live mp3 recorded during a Sojourn worship service, featuring vocals and piano by my co-writer, Rebecca:... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship arts pastor Mike Cosper (pictured above) writes about the technology that has transformed the way churches do worship ministry in recent years, the cultural situation worship pastors and leaders have emerged from, and more in this concluding part to his essay begun here on sojournmusic.com: What I want to ask is who will guide us? What will the reformation of church music education give ... Continue reading »

Worship arts pastor Mike Cosper writes about recent trends in worship ministry and the challenges ahead for the universal church, touching on music education, culture, pastoral responsibilities and more in this continuation of yesterday's post:                    ________________________________________________ With him, he carries the knowledge he's gained from this traditioning process - a totally different set of skills. The rock set at the local venue is governed by some ... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship arts pastor Mike Cosper writes below, on the current interest in worship arts and theology, modern renewal movements, and the challenging new paradigm in worship ministry:                     ~                                                       ~                                               ~  Scan the shelves or CD racks at a Christian bookstore and you'll find an incredible range of ideas about worship: where it begins and ends, what it is, whether worship is for God or ... Continue reading »

“The learning process for artists of all stripes usually follows the path of imitate, assimilate, then innovate.  If an artist is struck by something in his or her chosen art form, there is an all-consuming desire to absorb everything about it.  During the process of assimilation the artist’s output will be an imitation of the beloved form.  In the end, for the uniquely gifted, ... Continue reading »

"Ethnodoxology."  The International Council of Ethnodoxologists defines it as "peoples + praise," elaborating that it is "the development of culturally appropriate Christian worship, utilizing insights from ethnomusicology, missiology, worship studies and the arts."  Missionaries, worship leaders, Christians from all walks of life can learn how to "love people better" by considering how we can spread the gospel in such a way that peoples from "all tribes and ... Continue reading »

I was out of town this Sunday visiting great brothers and sisters in Christ at The Oaks Community Church, a new Acts 29 fellowship in Middletown, Ohio.   I'll talk more about that trip in the near future on sojournmusic.com, but below you will find the set list from Sunday the 20th at Sojourn.  After worship services, the morning band also played a "Takin' it to the Streets" event ... Continue reading »

Ever since I got my new Flip Mino camcorder, I've been having fun with friends and family.  In fact, you'll recall that I used it to bring you a little interview with worship arts pastoral assistant Jamie Barnes from the home of Sojourn's upcoming recording studio and new office of worship arts pastor Mike Cosper. I've also been running a feature called "Bounding Down ... Continue reading »

Sojourn artists and worship leaders often converse with each other on topics relating to Christianity and the arts, and worship theology.  Sometimes the conversations turn into heated debates, inevitably ending with scratching, hair-pulling, and name-calling.  Other times, we agree.  But always, the Bible proverb that likens friendship to "iron sharpening iron" proves true.  Here is a snippet of an email conversation between myself and ... Continue reading »