New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture. Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community.

Johnny Cash wrote his first song in 1955, a song about a train called "Hey Porter." His final composition, released in 2006 on the posthumous "American V: A Hundred Highways," is also about a train. The Delta blues-inspired "Like The 309" shows that he remained a master storyteller to the end. "Hey Porter" heralded the sound of a young man arriving -- an eager, ... Continue reading »

The new Sojourn Music studio is almost completely  in place -- a room on the third floor of Sojourn's home, The 930.  This room serves as the office of worship arts pastor Mike Cosper as well as a recording studio.  View the short interview with pastoral assistant/ worship leader Jamie Barnes on our Facebook fan page to see the recording setup and to learn about the exciting web-exclusive music that ... Continue reading »

Middletown, Ohio is an interesting town, an old blue-collar community that owed its existence for years to AK Steel.  Throw in the mix of students and educators from nearby Miami (OH) college and the fact that it sits on the I-75 corridor between Cincinnati and Dayton, near enough to each city for a work commute or night on the town, and it makes for a ... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship leader Rebecca Dennison recently took an intensive workshop at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on a subject that is transforming the way missionaries teach new believers how to engage in corporate worship.  This subject is called "ethnodoxology," the study of culture and worship.  Rebecca and I talked about the basics of ethnodoxology last week.  You can also view a report of the workshop she ... Continue reading »

This week's recap of songs is posted in collaboration with other worship leaders on the "Sunday Setlists" blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com. 1. Let Justice Roll Like A River, hymn text by me and music by Rebecca Elliott.  We used this as the "come on in and let's worship together" song this week.  You can hear a live mp3 recorded during a Sojourn worship service, featuring vocals and piano by my co-writer, Rebecca:... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship arts pastor Mike Cosper (pictured above) writes about the technology that has transformed the way churches do worship ministry in recent years, the cultural situation worship pastors and leaders have emerged from, and more in this concluding part to his essay begun here on sojournmusic.com: What I want to ask is who will guide us? What will the reformation of church music education give ... Continue reading »

Worship arts pastor Mike Cosper writes about recent trends in worship ministry and the challenges ahead for the universal church, touching on music education, culture, pastoral responsibilities and more in this continuation of yesterday's post:                    ________________________________________________ With him, he carries the knowledge he's gained from this traditioning process - a totally different set of skills. The rock set at the local venue is governed by some ... Continue reading »

Sojourn worship arts pastor Mike Cosper writes below, on the current interest in worship arts and theology, modern renewal movements, and the challenging new paradigm in worship ministry:                     ~                                                       ~                                               ~  Scan the shelves or CD racks at a Christian bookstore and you'll find an incredible range of ideas about worship: where it begins and ends, what it is, whether worship is for God or ... Continue reading »

“The learning process for artists of all stripes usually follows the path of imitate, assimilate, then innovate.  If an artist is struck by something in his or her chosen art form, there is an all-consuming desire to absorb everything about it.  During the process of assimilation the artist’s output will be an imitation of the beloved form.  In the end, for the uniquely gifted, ... Continue reading »

"Ethnodoxology."  The International Council of Ethnodoxologists defines it as "peoples + praise," elaborating that it is "the development of culturally appropriate Christian worship, utilizing insights from ethnomusicology, missiology, worship studies and the arts."  Missionaries, worship leaders, Christians from all walks of life can learn how to "love people better" by considering how we can spread the gospel in such a way that peoples from "all tribes and ... Continue reading »