The Resound Worship Songwriting Podcast

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Robb, Emma and Andy. Together they look back on recent recordings and retreats, review the 'If Only' songs from February and set a new challenge for March. The featured song is 'Behold the Road to Zion's Hill' by Andrew Finden, from the Jubilate album 'Journey to Resurrection'.

In this episode, Joel, Sam and Rebecca look back on January's songs of Repentance and Restoration, picking out a few favourites, and set a fun new challenge for February.

In this episode, Joel and Sam are joined by Peter, Robb & James. Together they discuss the whys and whats of self-releasing music to streaming services, the John's Gospel songs from December, and the different ways to thing about repentance and restoration in worship for the January challenge.

In this episode Joel is joined by Chris and Cath. Together they reflect on AI-create hit Christian songs, look back on November's 'December Songs' challenge and set a new challenge for December.

In this episode Joel is joined by Chris Juby, Andrew Finden, Elise Massa and Derek Boemler. They begin by discussing Resound's recent EP release 'All Our Voices' with a bit of a roundtable on the principles and approach behind the EP, also considering how to incorporate the community singing focus into 'normal' church. There's a review of the Boundless Songs challenge with plenty of featured songs and then a new challenge is set for November (confusingly called December Songs). The featured song is 'We Will Glorify' from the EP Community Songs Vol.1: All Our Voices.

Sam talk to Mark Greene, Mission Champion and Former Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity about Mark's passion for whole life discipleship and the recent Boundless songwriting project that aimed to draw those themes into the sung worship language of the church. https://licc.org.uk/ourresources/boundless/ https://licc.org.uk/ourresources/fruitfulness/

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Jon, Keiko and Andy to look back on September's 'Fruit of the Spirit' challenge including a montage of songs representing every flavour, and set a new challenge for October inspired by a recent album from our friends at LICC and Integrity. The featured song is 'This Is the Day (Live)' from the album 'Boundless' sung by Philippa Hanna and Noel Robinson. For more about LICC and the boundless project, head to https://licc.org.uk/ourresources/boundless/

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Travis, Lesley and David to look back on August's Adoration Songs challenge, explore the Fruit of the Spirit theme for September and reflect on the life of their much loved friend and colleague Kieran Metcalfe. The featured song is 'I Need Not Fear (Greater Saviour)' by Kieran Metcalfe.

Sam takes the chair, welcoming Andrew, Emma and first-time-guest James to reflect back on July's Remakes, Spinoffs and Sequels, and set a new challenge for August.

In this episode, Sam talks to Breen Marie Sipes from Music That Makes Community about songs, singing and songwriting in the context of community-forming, covering the work of the organisation and Breen's own story. https://www.musicthatmakescommunity.org/

Joel is joined on this episode by Chris and Peter to look back on a wonderful retreat at Wydale Hall, review June's 'Community Songs' challenge and set a new challenge for July.

In this episode Joel and Sam are joined by Elise Massa, Ruth Sutherland and Chris Juby. Together they look back at May in the 12 Song Challenge where we wrote songs inspired by the 'other' Songs of the Bible, and they explore the theme of 'Community' as the new challenge for June.

In this episode Joel and Chris are joined by 12 Song team captains Jon and Rebecca to look back over the first month of the Challenge, highlight a few songs, do a bit of live critique and set a new challenge for May. www.resoundworship.org www.12songchalleng.org

The 12 Song Challenge is back! Joel and Sam launch the new season, talk about how to make the most of being involved, and set the first challenge. The featured song is 'Spirit, Come, Refresh Me Now' by Emma Billington. https://12songchallenge.org/

In this episode, Joel meets Steve Harding, A&R Manager for Integrity Music. Together they cover Steve's journey into Christian music, as a keyboard player, producer and volunteer worship pastor, through the Push Community initiative into his current role at Integrity; the ins and outs of an A&R role at a significant label; the importance of community and homegrown food in a worship diet; plus his hopes and vision especially for the UK scene.

In this extended episode, Joel & Sam are joined by Robb, Ruth, Andy, Andrew, Rebecca, Elise,Chris, Travis, Olwen, David and Kieran to celebrate another year of the 12 Song Challenge, featuring favourite songs and challenges, memorable moments and shout-outs to numerous writers and team-stars-of-the-year. The featured songs are "Jesus it's You" by Sue Crossman, performed by Hopestream Worship and "Turn my tears to gladness" by Phillip Laycock, sung by Peter Assad.

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Rebecca and Andrew to review November's AI songs challenge and set the final challenge of the 2024 season!

In this episode, Chris meets Jonas Kurlberg to talk about the rise of AI and its potential impact on creatives, creativity and the writing of songs for worship. Joans is Director of Postgraduate Studies and a Tutor in Theology at Spurgeon’s College in London, leading the MA on Digital Theology. His primary research interest lies in exploring the intersection between Christian faith and digital culture. MA in Digital Theology at Spurgeon's College https://www.spurgeons.ac.uk/ma-in-digital-theology Global Network for Digital Theology https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlzB7qamlogFMkeeFOvtRA ChatGPT https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/ Suno https://suno.com/ Worship.ai https://worship.ai/ Justin Bieber - Holy Jesus (Ft. Evan Tunes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBCbhIKKup8

In this episode Joel is joined by Chris Juby (while Sam has a half-term break) and together they review some fascinating data gathered from 12 Song participants about song usage in church, look back over a month of Happy Songs in October, and dive deep into a conversation about how to tackle the new November challenge. Make sure you also listen to episode 129 and Chris' fascinating conversation with digital theologian Jonas Kurlberg. The featured song is Lord, You Hear the Cry by Geraldine Latty. 12 Song Challenge https://12songchallenge.org/ MA in Digital Theology at Spurgeon's College https://www.spurgeons.ac.uk/ma-in-digital-theology Global Network for Digital Theology https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlzB7qamlogFMkeeFOvtRA ChatGPT https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/ Microsoft Copilot https://copilot.microsoft.com/ Midjourney https://www.midjourney.com/home Suno https://suno.com/ Udio https://www.udio.com/ Worship.ai https://worship.ai/ Justin Bieber - Holy Jesus (Ft. Evan Tunes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBCbhIKKup8

In this episode Sam and Joel are joined by Chris and Elise to look on September's retreat at Eagle Rock in Tennessee, review the 'Songs for Someone' challenge including some live song-feedback and set a new challenge for October.

In this episode Sam and Joel look back on August's Olympic Songs Challenge and set a new challenge for September. The featured song is 'There's a time for tears' by Sam Hargreaves from the Downcast Souls Expectant Hearts album.

In this short episode Joel and Sam take a look back at the early songs from Isaac Watts challenge and set a new challenge for August. Links: https://12songchallenge.org/ https://prattgreentrust.org.uk/hymn-competition-results

In this episode Joel talks to Daniel Johnson about the hymnwriter Isaac Watts to coincide with this 350th birthday! They discuss Watts' early life, the context in which he operated, his prolific writing, some characteristic themes of his hymns and his influence on future song and hymn writers through the centuries.

In this episode Joel and Sam are joined by Olwen to look back at June's 'Jesus of Nazareth Songs' challenge and set a new challenge for July. The featured song is 'In the Valley (Your Everlasting Love)' by Judy Gresham -- Watts' texts on Hymnary https://hymnary.org/person/Watts_Isaac Daniel's recommended reading: Daniel Johnson: Isaac Watts’ Hymnody as a Guide for the Passions https://t.co/EI9cYgaxij Graham Beynon – this is the best intro to Watts https://www.amazon.co.uk/Isaac-Watts-Life-Thought-Biography/dp/1781912653 And a wonderful book about Watts’ hymns https://www.amazon.co.uk/Repeat-Sounding-Joy-Reflections-Hymns/dp/0881467693

Joel is joined by Chris Juby and Rebecca Beese in an episode so epic it includes a break in the middle. We cover the story of staging a town-wide worship event, contributing to the launch of a new hymn book, the ins and outs of copyright when writing songs from Bible translations, a deep-dive review of the Word-for-word Scripture Songs challenge, a new challenge for June, and some very poor attempts at accents from Joel. The featured songs are 'In the Valley (Your Everlasting Love)' by Judy Gresham from 'Downcast Souls Expectant Hearts' and 'Jesus is Here' by Chris Juby,

Joel meets songwriter Randall Goodgame to discuss his journey into writing, the story behind Slugs and Bugs, his approach to setting scripture texts to music and a new scripture hymnal. Find out more about Randall and his songs at https://slugsandbugs.com/

Joel and Sam are joined by Travis and David from teams Shannon and Malin on the 12 Song Challenge to look back on April, featuring songs from every team, and set a new challenge for May. Sam and Joel also report back on a fun couple of days songwriting and a unique experience in an undercroft. The featured song is 'Mary's Song' by Liturgical Folk.

Sam and Joel are joined by Robb, Olwen, Andy & Chris to look back on the Hero Songs challenge from March with 10 songs featured! And Sam sets a new challenge for April based on Engage Worship's new Whole Church Worship resources. https://engageworship.org/project/whole-church-worship

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Andrew and Elise to look back on February's 'Acts Challenge' and set a new challenge for March. The featured song is 'Gethsemane' from Jubilate's 'Journey to Resurrection', written Susan Goforth and David Hill.

In this episode Sam and Joel meet New Testament scholar Prof Steve Walton to talk about the book of Acts, his new commentary, and inspiration for songwriting in the Biblical text.

In this episode Joel and Sam look back on the first month of the 12 Song Challenge, with a featured song snippet from every team, and set a new challenge for February. The featured song is 'Lord We're Waiting' by James Martin from the new album 'Downcast Souls Expectant Hearts' from Resound Worship.

In the episode Sam and Joel are joined by Elise from United Adoration to kick off the new season of the 12 Song Challenge. They share their top tips for surviving the challenge, how to make a start on a song and how to give and receive constructive feedback. And they introduce the the first challenge of the season, offering a variety of angles from which to approach it. The featured song is an exclusive first listen to 'O Gracious Light' by Elise Massa and Andy Clark, from the forthcoming album 'Downcast Souls Expectant Hearts'. Links to things mentioned can be found at www.resoundworship.org/podcast

In this episode, Sam talks to Joel and Matt about the new song 'My Redeemer Lives', the first release from the upcoming Downcast Souls / Expectant Hearts albums. They talk about the origins of the song, the writing process, and some of production elements that lead to the overall sound. A bit of an insight into the whole process!

In this episode, Joel and Sam are joined by Keiko, Andrew and Stephen to review August's 'Closing Songs' challenge, and look back of the last year of the 12 Song Challenge.

In this abbreviated episode Joel looks back on the Creed Songs challenge, picking out a couple of highlights from the Wydale retreat final night concert, and sets the final challenge of the season.

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Emma from 'Welcome Churches' to review June's Refugee Songs challenge. And they set a new challenge for July. The featured song is 'We Believe in One God' by Chris Juby from the album 'Songs for Sundays'.

In this episode Joel flies solo, presenting a selection of songs from lasts month's 'Eurovision Songs' challenge and setting a new challenge for June. The featured song is 'We pray for those adrift, afraid' by Laurie Gauger available from jubilate.co.uk

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Andrew Finden and Rebecca Beese to review the songs from April's 'Worship for Workers' challenge, and to set a new challenge for May. The featured song is 'Lord Protect My Heart' by Andrew Finden.

In this episode, Joel talks to Matthew Kaemingk and Katie Roelofs from the Worship For Workers project.

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Andy and Elise to chew on some questions about introducing homegrown songs, review the community's attempts to complete the Psalter in the March challenge, and set a new challenge for April. The featured song is 'Now I Lay At The Altar' by Elise Massa, from the album 'Songs For The Sunset'.

In this episode Joel tells Sam all about the recent Resound Worship trip to the US, Keiko and Andrew join in to review the February 'Songs of Rest' challenge, and a new challenge is set for March. The featured song is 'House of the Lord' by Rebecca Beese from her recent album 'Psalm Twenty Seven: Ask, Seek, Dwell'

In this episode, Joel and Sam are joined by Resound Worship co-founder, Matt Osgood. As well as review January's 'Assembly Bangers' challenge (with the help of some special guests) and setting a new challenge for February, they also revisit the beginnings of Resound Worship, each telling the story from their own perspectives.

In this episode, Sam & Joel are joined by Olwen and Elise to kickstart 2023 with a review of December's 'Global Songs' challenge and a new challenge for January. The featured song is 'Sing a Hymn to God's Great Glory' by Michael Saward and Sam Hargreaves.

In this episode, Sam and Joel are joined by Travis and Rachel as they review the 2 Corinthians challenge from November and set a new challenge for December. The featured song is 'The Stillness of the Night' by Andrew Finden from the recent 'December Songs' EP.

In this episode Joel and Sam are joined by Olwen and Rebecca to review the Fujimura Challenge from October, featuring songs from a number of 12 Song Challenge participants, and set a new Bible-based challenge for November. The featured song is 'All the Earth Was Waiting' by Andy Clark and Elise Massa from the recent 'December Songs' EP.

In this episode Joel and Sam are joined by Elise and Andy to review September's 'Songs of Hope' challenge, featuring songs from some of the participants. The team set a new challenge for October and herald the release of a new song that has been in the pipeline for a whole year! [The featured song is 'Alpha and Omega' by Andy Clark and Matt Weeks]

For our 100th episode we have a very special guest interview. Makoto Fujimura is an internationally renowned visual artist. He’s an advocate for 'culture care', speaking to policy makers, industry & academia, and a Christian who is steeped in God’s word. These strands have come together in his book 'Art + Faith: A Theology of Making'. Sam spoke to him about how “slow art”, New Creation and the Japanese tradition of Kintsugi can inspire and renew us as songwriters. There is laughter, creativity and a whole deep well of wisdom.

In this episode Joel, Sam and Keiko launch the new season of the 12 Song Challenge with some top tips for surviving and an exploration of the September theme. The featured song is 'Tell All the World of Jesus' from the forthcoming 'Sing a Hymn' album.

In this episode Joel and Sam reflect on five glorious days at the Worship Songwriter Retreat and start getting ready for the new season of the 12 Song Challenge that starts in September.

In this episode, Joel meets songwriter and producer Isaac Wardell to talk about the new Porter's Gate album 'Climate Vigil Songs'. As well as drawing out some of the ecological themes of the album they also discuss some of the finer points of the writing process, digging into several songs, and the vision that lies behind the whole Porter's Gate project.