Project: Worship

UNASHAMED PLUG:
CDs are available to buy, just £5 each from me or one of the others.

It must've been about 8 years ago, maybe even to the week, that I got a text asking if I wanted to try out as the drummer for a band. At that point I hadn't played properly for a while, and I was excited at the prospect of knocking the rust off.

It took a couple of weeks for me to make it to my first rehearsal for various reasons, but little did I know that getting in a car with a stranger in Townhead late at night, and driving into a random industrial estate to meet 3 other guys in a rehearsal room that was dark, dingy, and stank of all sorts of substances. I wouldn't be surprised if we would all have tested positive for something had we been tested, just through being in the room after all the creative geniuses that went before.

Little did I know that those guys and that outlet would be exactly what I needed...

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Shortly after they approved me, they also invited Suz to join as well and female vocalist and solo instrumentalist. Together the 6 of us became Church.

Between us through the seven years we were regularly getting together there were highs and lows, joys and pains, strengths and struggles, inconsistencies and disappointments with life, as well as new and exciting experiences and opportunities that emerged.

And through it all there was a constant. Our times together varied in regularity and location, but every time we met, there was a pattern that emerged:

        Turn up   |   Set up   |   Tune up   |   Banter   |   Play   |   Worship   |   Create

Through it all was a longing in each of us to meet with God. Each of us came broken and humbly to offer wha we had at the table. Together we laid everything at the door. For that 3 hours it was all about us and God. Nothing else was going to get in the way.

There is a certain cameradery that I will always associate with the rugby field, in spite of the fact I've not played for a decade, but what we had in that rehearsal space was even more than that. These guys soon became, and remain, people who I can be vulnerable with, who I can be myself with, who I can share with and who I can trust. That's what church is supposed to be.

In this company I grew. My faith grew. My knowledge of God grew. My musical ability grew. And my ability to worship grew.

I met God more regularly and more intensely with my drum sticks in my hands with these people than I can remember with any other people in any other place.

The fruit of the encounters we had, and the presence of the Spirit, the realisation of the gifts we had been given, and the longing to give back to God was a whole host of our own songs. Songs that came from where we were, and were written to try and help people meet with God.

We were never going to be famous, I don't intend to have to do a repeat run on CD's, and I'm not expecting millions to sing our songs, but for me the beauty was in the journey, it was in the relationship and the friendships that grew.

There are hundreds of miles between us now. I doubt we'll ever all be in the same place playing together again, but I wouldn't be surprised that if we did, we'd slip straight back into it.

I'm glad I have a CD to remind me of my "Church". I'm glad I have these friends. I'm glad that we all drew close to God together.

​I'm glad I know what worship is.