What Do Sojourn Worship Leaders Have In Common?

They love to eat.

I had lunch with Neil Robins at J. Gumbo today, part of Louisville’s 4th Street Live entertainment district.  We talked about the upcoming free songwriting seminar he’s leading with his wife, band-mate and writing collaborator Kate, and about the upcoming Sojourn worship project that he’s producing with Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper.

For those of you who can attend the April 26 seminar, Neil and Kate will discuss songwriting as a way of life, of treating songs as produce rather than products, meaning that the creative process becomes organic and natural to you — quite different than an assembly line operation. 

Neil is an experienced and awarded songwriter, as well as an experienced conference speaker.  He and Kate plan to create a seminar that is full of information, yet fun and interactive, too.  I could sense his excitement and passion for this topic as we scarfed down our gumbo and chicken dishes.

He also spoke with animation about the songs selected for Sojourn’s next worship project, and the plans to shape this project using our community of worship leaders.  Neil and Mike each have a lot of experience producing records and bringing out the best in those they work with, as well as the material, so the resulting album should be something special.

Speaking of meals and worship leaders, last Saturday I went to dinner at Annie Cafe, one of Louisville’s great Vietnamese restaurants.  Quite a few Sojourners gathered around two tables that we’d scooted together for the occasion.  Worship leaders and songwriters present included Jamie Barnes, Rebecca Dennison, Lorie King and Dave Moisan.

Jamie has recently accepted a Sojourn staff position as Mike Cosper’s assistant.  This is great news, because as we’ve grown in the last couple years from a church that rented space and averaged three hundred or so congregants for weekly worship gatherings to a church that owns a 57,000 square foot community center and regularly hits 1200 in our worship gatherings, Mike’s responsibilities have likewise grown.

Jamie talked about the tasks he’s taken on and the challenges ahead for our community and for the worship arts ministry in particular.  I think everyone who knows him would say that the right man got this job. 

We also talked some about our preferance for forks over chopsticks, about each of our current songwriting efforts (and I got a glimpse into his thought process as he begins gearing up for his next solo album), and about ways to encourage new and young singer-songwriters.  In between all this, Jamie’s wife Kelsey entertained our half of the dinner party with tales of her father, and of Jamie’s interaction with him.

I didn’t get to talk with the other worship leaders as much because they were a little further down.  Usually, after cleaning my own plate, I try to steal things off of Lorie King’s but she sat out of range, probably because she was hungry.  Lorie, a Sojourn worship leader since a few months into our existence, will be traveling to Amelia, Ohio soon to talk with the great folks at Landmark Baptist about aspects pertaining to worship planning and other music ministry issues.  Lorie contributed seamless background vocals to our These Things I Remember CD.

Rebecca Dennison was sitting a bit closer but I don’t try to take food from her plate because I’ve heard she’s dangerous with a bo staff.  She did, however, write several songs for our upcoming worship music project, as she did back on These Things I Remember (she was also a featured vocalist on last year’s Before the Throne).  Rebecca was the person-of-honor on this occasion, as we were celebrating her recent job promotion.

Speaking of songs on the upcoming CD, Dave Moisan and I collaborated one, during the first songwriting session we’ve attempted together — a fun Saturday afternoon that taught me a lot about Dave’s quick but studious creative process.  I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him since he’d gone on a trip to Europe to do some songwriting and lay down some tracks — it sounds like he had an incredible time.

Dave was featured on last year’s Advent Songs record, his first (but I highly doubt last) appearance on a Sojourn CD.

There’s nothing like breaking bread with your brothers and sisters in Christ, your co-laborers in the gospel.  They don’t always say “I’m feeling full all of a sudden — do you want to finish this?”  In fact, none of them ever say that.  But regardless, I still believe what the Bible says — as iron sharpens iron, so does one friend sharpen another.