Whether we are Baptists, Methodists URC or C of E, we are probably indebted to Stuart Townend. If we don’t know his name, we have probably joined in singing his worship-songs. Son of a Vicar, he is a song-writer whose songs are to be heard in churches of various stripes. They include ‘How deep the Father’s love for us’, ‘In Christ alone’ and a rendering of the 23rd Psalm (which I have noted for my funeral).
Not only does Stuart Townend have a following as far as the pattern of worship in the Churches is concerned. In our day, when music and Gospel-songs define loyalties, just as Charles Wesley’s hymns did 200 years ago, Stuart’s particular affiliation to Newfrontiers, a movement founded by Terry Virgo, which now has 100 churches in five continents, is significant. Stuart’s songs are sung in Newfrontiers worship meetings in the UK, Canada, Scandinavia, Tanzania and Zambia. Music has become the vehicle of worship; it outdoes liturgy (worship-script) in the make-up of common worship. It is a unifying factor in the worship of a variety of churches.
One such church is City Church, Sheffield. This came into being in 1997. It purchased a redundant synagogue, a building of some distinction, in 2000 and houses the Christ Central School of Leadership as well as a worshipping congregation.
A song-writer in Stuart Townend’s position has to steer a course that is marked by authenticity and that elicits a composed response from worshippers. He has to avoid sentimentality, stridency and languor. In achieving this he has demonstrated discretion and imagination. Not all contemporary worship song-writers have managed as much. His study of literature at Sussex University has no doubt nurtured his discrimination. The tips he gives to aspiring song-writers are an indication of his sure judgment. He advocates ruthless editing of a lyric. That enables him to strengthen our worship-patterns by emphasising the essence of the Gospel. He does us a favour by reminding us that the Church of England is one amongst many churches that are being tested in the field by new worshippers. They rightly look for evidence of initiative and energy in forms of worship that are palatable in today’s society.
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