This week a new set of worship songs is released, written by some of the UK’s most prominent song-writers, guided by theologians.
The project is called 'Boundless', as the songs worship a God who cares and is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives, including our places of work.
The lead track is ‘As we go’. It is an honest attempt to re-institute the idea of a ‘Song of Dismissal’ which sadly so often has been forgotten in our rush to a ‘time of ministry’ at the end of a service - at times, just focused on us rather than the world we are leaving the room to serve.
Yes of course we are asking for a fresh infilling of his Spirit that we might pour ourselves out to the world, but culture eats strategy for breakfast, and the incremental impact of an ‘in-the-room’ focus can leave us with a more individualised lens on our faith.
In the words of ‘As we go’ we speak to each other as well as God, encouraging those present to ‘go in the strength of the Lord’ and ‘keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, his Spirit will lead us’.
As Mark Greene from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) has often said, in every decade since the Second World War, a different theologian has won the theological battle in terms of the secular-sacred divide. The idea that what happens ‘in church’ is somehow more important than what happens in ‘the world’. Its lingering influence is the reason we have to fight hard for our Christian young people to aspire to be politicians as much as worship leaders is just one example!
The divide has however been obliterated. The battle has been conclusively won by the likes of John Stott and Leslie Newbiggin etc.
But Greene goes on to say something scarily profound. He says that the battle has been won, but that it has never led to a functional change in the Church. Our ecclesiology has not caught up with our missiology. We happily embrace a holistic gospel and long for the transformation of all of society – for the Kingdom to come in all its fullness, but if you do an audit of where churches invest their time and money, the vast majority are still invested in the gathered rather than the scattered church.
We can’t seem to get away from trying to put on the best show possible, or even worse, trying to be the best show in town. Our time, roles and finances are mostly engaged with our buildings and services. Where is the investment in the places where our people spend most of their time? Where is the specific training? Where is the commissioning of all the people rather than just the ‘professional Christians’?
“Keep your faith in the Father, his Spirit will scatter us all."
This line puts front and centre the truth that it is his will that we be ambassadors in our daily lives, and that if we would only heed the call, he would place us strategically in every corner of society.
This song was written after the songwriters involved had been taken on a tour of Parliament, praying and singing their way around those hallowed halls. Something shifted. The songs that were written after the visit were tangibly different to those before the trip. The heads and hearts of the writers were not just in ‘sanctuary’ mode regurgitating ‘sanctuary language’ which often fails to straddle into the real-world contexts in which we find ourselves.
Perhaps just maybe, the pre-eminence of our gatherings is one of the things we need to let go of. As the chorus says, “Let your Kingdom come, let our kingdoms go ...”
Some backstory: for a few years, LICC and myself had been working on a project called ‘Changing the Soundtrack’. It’s based on the reality that you can’t change a culture until you change its language. The words we sing as the Church have become a primary form of spiritual formation, yet rather than curating this culture-forming space, we have largely outsourced that responsibility to the wilderness of the marketplace. Out there, often whatever is newest, shiniest and best promoted tends to grab the attention.
The first fruits of this partnership were the new hymn ‘We Seek Your Kingdom’ which went viral as we emerged from lockdown, with the call to “transform, revive and heal society”.
‘Boundless’ has been formed by the organic coming together of some of the UK’s most gifted songwriters with razor-sharp theologians. A camp took place in 2024 where songwriters collaborated with three or four others in a room combined with a theologian, there to ensure theological consistency and throw in concepts and thoughts. The fruit from that process was remarkable.
In a musical world often dominated by ego and celebrity, it was truly inspiring to see writers and artists travel hundreds of miles to simply sing one verse or sing backing vocals for their fellow writers. This project has obviously grabbed the hearts of those involved, and you get the sense that the artists understand its potential impact on the UK Church, and have therefore been willing to sacrifice so much of their time and energy.
The songwriters/artists involved in 'Boundless' are Lou Fellingham, Noel Robinson, Philippa Hanna, Graham Kendrick, Elle Limebear, Steph McLeod, Lucy Grimble, Jemimah Paine, Andy Flannagan, Sam Hargreaves, Joel Payne, Nick Herbert, Laura Farrar, Steve Renswick, Nathan Jess, Marc James, and Donna Akodu.
The co-writers on ‘As we go’ were Marc James, Jemimah Paine, Nick Herbert, Andy Flannagan and Rev Graham Hunter. It is published by Integrity Music and London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.
