Why Alexander Pappas Came Back to Church Music

Alexander Pappas, founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Hillsong Young and Free, has spent 15 years writing songs that congregations around the world sing without always knowing his name. Alive, Real Love, Echo, A Great Awakening — his fingerprints are on some of the most-played worship songs of the last decade. Now he is stepping out with a solo EP called Sunday, a project born out of a season of personal doubt, a reckoning with whether ministry was done with him, and a fresh revelation about why gathering with the church every week actually matters. Worship as strength training, the power of praise, and a God whose plan has always been Jesus: Alexander unpacks why he believes Sunday gatherings are not just services but practice sessions for the hard moments of real life, what it looks like to sing a song you don't fully believe yet until you do, and how studying Abraham and Isaac gave him a song called Always Been Jesus that traces the thread of Christ all the way back to the first time the word worship appears in Scripture. He also tells the story behind Echo, the elevation Worship hit he co-wrote and was supposed to sing before a broken tour bus changed everything, and why after 15 years he still finds the high energy praise song just as powerful as ever. Highlights Why Alexander named his solo EP Sunday and what it took to feel called back into making church music How he came to see Sunday worship as strength training, a physical therapist preparing you for the hard moments of real life The story of Always Been Jesus and how the first use of the word worship in Scripture points straight to the cross Writing Love Won't Let Me Down out of a season of feeling let down by God, and singing it until he believed it The broken tour bus story that kept him from being the lead vocalist on Echo, one of the most-played worship songs in the world How alive clicked Hillsong Young and Free into their identity after early songs that sounded like Hillsong United B-sides His current work with Lakewood Music and Hillsong Church while writing for other artists simultaneously Resources / Links / CTA 🌐 Alexander Pappas website: https://www.alexanderpappasmusic.com 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexander.pappas 🎵 NEW EP: Sunday 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.