lives in certain ways. Bellarive was birthed out
of community, and then we were road dogs in
the van and trailer sense.
We spent a lot of time together in challenging
scenarios. In a van, if you’ve got a beef you have
to work that out, you can’t drive from Florida
to Pennsylvania sitting in silence because
someone is mad at somebody. That’s a twenty-
four-hour drive, so you’ve got to work it out!
So, we became a really close family, and as it
was closing up, it felt right. We probably went
through six months coming to terms with that
and having to admit that. It began to feel right
for us, so then the pain was that God was
going to lead us all in some different directions.
That meant that we were not going to see each
other as much. We learned to commune with
the Spirit of God and to be sensitive to the Spirit
of God with each other. That was it, we were
the only people who had ever played with each
other for seven years, so experiencing holiness
and experiencing worship with each other in a
deep relationship was beautiful.
And so, we miss that and I’m still longing for
that again. That’s the side of my ministry that’s
taking new shape, but it’s something that only
comes with time. So yeah, it was challenging on
the relational side, it was deep stuff. We were
really young kids when all of that was taking
shape, so our identity and our understanding
of identity got a little blurry. You tie too closely
your own (laughs). You know, you have to write
“It’s important it on your own so that you get to know where
to value the images, or where your strengths are with
personal side of put yourself into positions where you’re writing
songwriting, and to learn your strengths and weaknesses there
of communing silence, be comfortable with the stillness, and
with God, and wouldn’t want one without the other.
your strengths are with vocabulary or creating
poetry. So I think its a really healthy balance to
collaboratively with people, because you get
too. But then to also be comfortable with the
press further up and further into something. I
learning what
[WM] Many of your songs draw from a deeper
it’s like to have
lyrical pool, a well, when compared to many of
today’s worship offerings. Sean, you champion
Christ in your songwriting and worship leading.
the Holy Spirit
Do you bear that in mind when composing?
Where and what is your “well” for songwriting?
as a partner in
songwriting. In
some sense you
[Sean] I think it always comes back to the
personal side for me. I’m trying to answer
the “why?” of life. Just why are we here? In
Acts 17, when Paul says, “We live and move
and have our being.” What is that? Why are
have to face
we here? How can I live most fully, and how
certain things and can I love most deeply? I believe, I live with
you get to know teaching and the ministry of the life of a guy
what you’re really of that? It requires honesty and vulnerability
made of”. do value songwriting that honors that, and that
the belief that those answers are found in the
named Jesus. So how do I become a student
from me, I have to bring that to the table. So, I
invites people into that. I heard Jon Foreman (of
“what you do” with “who you are”, and they Switchfoot) say once that songs are scaffolding
are very different. But when that thing starts for the soul, and I love that. There’s a support
to fade, you ask yourself some questions that
solo songwriting. Can you comment on this?
send you out of orbit for a little while. We had
system for the soul, that through songs, can
help you get to places that you might not get to
to do that sort of sifting too, and I think that’s [Sean] I would say that I think it’s important on your own. The soul is bigger than you think
natural, especially for creatives. But we look to value the personal side of songwriting, and it is, and it feels deeply, much pain and much
back on it now with nothing but love, but no of communing with God and learning what joy. So I’m interested in my own life having
one would tell you it wasn’t hard, it was a hard it’s like to have the Holy Spirit as a partner in songs that help me walk through joy and walk
time. Letting go is hard. songwriting. In some sense you have to face through pain with God, never around it. I think
certain things and you get to know what you’re that’s where the songs come from and carry a
[WM] Although you are no stranger to really made of. I might equate it to growing personal tone, but hopefully also a corporate
collaboration in songwriting, having written with up and my Mom helping me with my English spirit. I want to sing these together, we should
Brenton Brown, Jason Ingram, and Kristian papers. Some of that is helpful. But then you sing these together.
Stanfill, just to name a very few. You have also realize that parts of that weren’t helpful when voiced your preference at times for the craft of you get to college and you have to write it on
12
June 2019
[WM] One of the most intriguing things about
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