Greetings from the Music Rooms in the Chapel. As Alex has mentioned already we’ve managed to stay busy over the last while and one of the main projects I’ve been involved in is a new album from Resound Worship. I’ve worked with these guys before so they’ve probably been mentioned here before too.
They are a network of grassroots Congregational songwriters mainly from the UK but now from all around the globe that write songs for their local church environment. This recent album they’ve been writing for is called Doxecology. https://www.resoundworship.org/doxecology
Doxecology is a made-up word that they’ve created which perfectly describes the album project. Songs of praise that are oriented around creation, the current ecological situation and our role as stewards on the earth.
We all are increasingly facing up to the urgency of climate change and all the various things that we can do to respond. Resound Worship realised that the Church would start to need songs that would address these things and offer a way of bringing them into our corporate and sung worship.
So the project was born, the songs were gathered and the project went into full production. The original plan was to record and video about 80 people up at Wydale Hall in Yorkshire worshipping to these songs, but with lockdown setting in the project turned into a studio album that the Ash Vale Chapel was perfect for.
It’s been a real honour and a great responsibility to be involved as the producer for the project. And as the project comes towards its end we’re really excited to see how it will be received. Resound are not a massively well-known outfit so we need all the help we can get with social media posts and shares to get the project out there.
There will be an early release of one track on the 4th August, a song that I co-wrote with Joel Payne called “Heaven’s Voice Brings The Dawn” which I’m really excited about! Then the rest of the album will follow when it’s released on the 1st September.
The album has purposely been released then because from the 1st September to the 4th October will be a period in the Anglican Church calendar called Creationtide, or the Season of Creation.
This time will be dedicated to God as Creator and Sustainer of all life and the theme will be ‘Jubilee for the Earth’. Jubilee is a time of rest for the land from exploitation, and to restore ecosystems and people.
So as the global Anglican Church joins to consider this Creationtide, we hope that this album and these songs would assist, uphold and encourage the church as she worships.
By Matt Weeks (Musician in Residence)
