Author: Jamie Brown

Hey Everybody

It’s been almost a month since I last contributed anything helpful on Worthily Magnify, and that might be the longest stretch of non-posting since I started this blog in 2009. It’s been a very full summer for me, including several additional ministry things going on (I’ll share more on those later) and a seminary course through RTS’s online campus which I finished last week.

To dust off the blog a bit, I’m just going to share a little song I wrote for “Genesis Arts Camp” that we’re hosting at my church these week for about 200 kids. We need something fun and peppy to start off our sessions with, so for that purpose, “Hey Everybody” was born:

Ten Thousand Reasons For a Thousand Tongues Forever and Ever

Recently I’ve been challenging myself to memorize individual Psalms, so that I can use them as a call to worship at our weekend services. A few weeks ago I memorized Psalm 145, and was struck by just how many reasons David gives for why we should worship God.

He begins the Psalm in the first two verses by saying “I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.”

And then the list of reasons begins for why he should extol his God and King, and why he should bless and praise God’s name:

  • Because he is “great and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (verse 3)
  • Because of his “mighty acts” (verse 4)
  • Because of “the glorious splendor of (his) majesty, and… (his) wondrous works” (verse 5)
  • Because of his “awesome deeds…” and his “greatness” (verse 6)
  • Because of “the fame of (his) abundant goodness and… righteousness” (verse 7)
  • Because he “is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (verse 8)
  • Because he “is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (verse 9)
  • Because of “the glory of (his) kingdom, and… (his) power” (verse 11)
  • Because of his “mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of (his) kingdom” (verse 12)
  • Because his “kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and (his) dominion endures throughout all generations”, and because he “is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works” (verse 13)
  • Because he “upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down” (verse 14)
  • Because he gives everyone “their food in due season” (verse 15)
  • Because he opens his hand, and satisfies “the desire of every living thing” (verse 16)
  • Because he “is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works” (verse 17)
  • Because he “is near to all who call on him… in truth” (verse 18)
  • Because “he fulfills the desire of those who fear him” and “hears their cry and saves them” (verse 19)
  • Because he “preserves all who love him” and destroys the wicked (verse 20)

Finally, after all of those reasons, he finishes the Psalm in verse 21 by saying “my mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever”.

The best kind of worship leading – all across the musical, denominational, and liturgical spectrum – is the kind of worship leading that saturates the congregation at every service with fresh reminders of the reasons why God deserves praise. When people are well-fed with a feast of the goodness of God, then they are well-served by their worship leaders, and well-prepared to stand and open their mouths to declare his praise.

Love Never Ends: An Interview with Adam Wright of The Corner Room

Last year I came across the album Psalm Songs, Vol. 1 by The Corner Room (the music ministry of Cahaba Park Church in Birmingham, AL, led by Adam Wright). I was struck by so many things about that album: the beautiful arrangements, the excellent way the text of Psalms was set to music word-for-word, and how effective it was at helping me not only memorize, but also sing the Psalms. I had that album on repeat for most of 2016.

Here’s the lyric video to the setting of Psalm 121 from that album:

Earlier this year, The Corner Room released a stunning new EP entitled “Love Never Ends”. No pun intended, but I love it. Their website describes it this way:

“Love Never Ends is a three movement suite of 1 Corinthians 13 verbatim from the ESV Bible.  Written for piano, strings and brass, the resulting cinematic landscape make this a truly breathtaking journey through one of the most familiar passages in Scripture. This project is designed to help anyone, from children to adults, know and treasure God’s Word.”

Here’s a quick video sample:

I asked Adam to share with us a bit of his story, and the heart behind The Corner Room and their recent album. Here’s a short interview:

Tell us about yourself. 
My name is Adam Wright and I have lived in Birmingham, AL my entire life.  It’s definitely home!  I have a beautiful wife of almost 11 years named Jessica and two adorable daughters: Nora, 3 and Jill, 1.  I love to read and listen to music constantly.  I also enjoy a deep, thought provoking movie from time to time – Christopher Nolan’s films have been some of my favorites (especially The Dark Knight Trilogy).  I also am a stickler for correct grammar and punctuation.  Did I mention I’m a nerd?  I must have forgotten that part, but you’ve probably gathered that by now…

How did God call you into worship leading?
Music has always been a natural part of life.  From childhood to young adult years, there were always opportunities to grow and serve at church – youth and adult choirs, handbells, contemporary worship services, youth group worship, solos, etc.  There were more opportunities in college – some at churches and some with college ministries on campus at the University of Montevallo.  After graduating college, I got a part time job playing piano for a church which had both a traditional and a contemporary service.  After three years serving that church “behind the scenes,” I began working at Cahaba Park, which has been a wonderful place to use and develop God’s good gifts.  Initially, my perception of my job was to choose and lead four songs in the service – easy enough, right?  Wrong!  As I grew in my understanding of worship leadership, I found that there was a spiritual component that transcends executing songs.  There is a pastoral role in what I am choosing and planning every week for our congregation and for me, the weekly process is devotional.  I have loved working at Cahaba Park and am thankful for the opportunity to serve such a great group of folks.

Tell us about your worship ministry and the heart behind some of your recent projects.
In 2016, I created The Corner Room, a music resource ministry of Cahaba Park Church.  While we do have an EP of hymns (What Great Mystery, 2016), our specific focus is setting Scripture verbatim from the ESV Bible (the translation that our church uses in worship) to music.  The Corner Room has released two “Scripture song” projects: Psalm Songs, Volume I, a collection of ten psalms set to original music; and Love Never Ends, a three movement suite of 1 Corinthians 13.  Our hope is that these songs would create opportunities for people to experience the Word of God in a fresh and unique way, and serve as a tool for Scripture meditation and memorization.  While these projects are not intended for congregational singing, I believe that singing the Word of God to those in our services as they follow along is a powerful tool in corporate worship.  We played Psalm 8 in worship this past week and as I looked into the congregation, I saw husbands and wives, parents and children, youth and singles, following along in their Bibles while the Scripture was sung.  I’d like to encourage more music leaders to do this occasionally (or often), as it provides a moment for people to be still and reflect on the words and truths of Scripture.

Tell us about your latest project: “Love Never Ends”
All of the Corner Room projects to date have originated from the books of the Bible preached in our services.  Seeking to thematically incorporate the sermon text into the service, I took the texts that were going to be preached and prepared musical arrangements for them – both for Psalms and for 1 Corinthians 13.  Recording these songs was a natural extension of what our church was learning and created more opportunity for our people to reflect upon the text.

1 Corinthians 13 is one of those passages that is almost too familiar and it’s a challenge to create a musical arrangement that evokes a fresh sense of wonder and awe.  It’s such a tender text, but it’s also extremely vibrant in it’s descriptions of love.  Any previous interpretation I’d heard was extremely “ballady” and I challenged myself to think beyond the natural tendency to approach it that way.  Previous Corner Room projects had a very “rootsy” focus – I’m definitely inclined to write in that vein.  As I began these arrangements, I decided to use the both delicate and percussive piano as the main instrument and invited Grammy-nominated arranger/composer Don Hart, to score the accompanying (and phenomenal!) strings and brass.

This project has moved me to consider more deeply the love Christ has demonstrated towards me and the love to which he calls me to exemplify to others.  I remember my initial listen of the first movement.  In tears, I had to stop halfway through, drop to my knees and thank the Lord for his grace in Christ, and for the opportunity and gifts to create something like this.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  It was a truly humbling moment.

What’s next for you?
I am currently at work on Psalm Songs, Volume II!  I hope to have it completed by winter of 2017-2018.  Stay tuned!

Any chance you have any freebies you could give away?
I will gladly give away some freebies!  How about 3 digital downloads?

Thanks, Adam, for your ministry, and for sharing your heart with us.

If you’d like to get one of those free digital downloads Adam is offering, please comment below. At 12:00pm tomorrow I’ll randomly pick three commenters, and will put Adam in touch with you.

You can follow The Corner Room on Twitter @cornerroommusic.

Worship Leading in Real Life

The piano’s out of tune again. The sound board is possessed. The drummer’s belt pack just died, and over in his plexiglass space pod, he can’t hear a thing. The alto section decided to take the day off. The second verse of the opening song vanished from ProPresenter. The bulletin accidentally printed last Sunday’s hymn numbers.

And it’s only 8:45 am.

This is worship leading in real life.

A few months ago I had the opportunity to spend a little over 24 hours with worship leaders from all over the country at a little get-together we had in Atlanta. Over the course of our time together, as I sat with them at meals or while making a cup of coffee, I lost track of the number of times someone said how encouraging it was to hear real stories from real worship leaders, dealing with real issues, and to be reminded that we’re not alone.

Worship leading in real life isn’t all that glamorous. It’s a weekly exercise in humility, servanthood, leadership, patience, direction-giving, fire-extinguishing, and sometimes crisis managing, with a little bit of music thrown in.

It’s like this at my church, and it was like this at my previous church. It’s like this at your church too. And that other guy (who you think has it easy) deals with real life issues as well, and if you could have lunch with him you’d hear his own stories.

The airbrushed images of worship leading that we see presented to us can warp our expectations of what we will experience in our own local-church contexts, and lead us to think that we’d have it easier somewhere else. Just like airbrushed images of a man or woman in a magazine or on the internet can warp our expectations of what a real relationship with a real person will actually look and feel like, and lead us to think we’d have it better with someone else.

Real husband and wife relationships are messy, involve a lot of dirty dishes, require a lot more laundry than any pre-martial counselor ever told you about, and are more difficult than either party thought possible. Only Jesus can sustain a real marriage over the long haul and make it fruitful and joyful. Forget the airbrushed images. They’re fake.

Same deal with worship leading in real life. It’s messy, involves a lot of meetings, last-minute Planning Center cancellations, and maybe even a lady in the fourth row who scowl at you. But you’re not alone. Your brother and sister worship leaders are in the same boat as you. And once we realize we can’t get through this ministry thing on our own, we will see Jesus sustain us and remain faithful to us over the long haul, making us fruitful, and yes, even joyful, for his glory and our good.

Now to get that piano tuned…