Worship Musician June 2020 | Page 12

From a youth group, to a conference, to a band, to a movement, and to a church, Jesus Culture has influenced the church for the past 20+ years. Their new radio single, “More Than Enough” is but one of many great new song offerings from their new projects, Church: Volumes One and Two. With a heart to see a generation impacted, Jesus Culture truly now has become “a global movement awakening hearts to worship and serve God”. [WM] It’s great to visit with you both! I’ve interviewed your Jesus Culture bandmates Bryan and Katie Torwalt, Chris McClarney, and Mack Brock, all within the past year for [WM], so this is a treat for me to talk with you. [Kim Walker Smith] Yeah. [Chris Quilala] It’s my privilege. [WM] The two of you have been leading worship together since the inception of Jesus Culture at Bethel Church twenty-one years ago. What was that initial meeting and coleading opportunity like for you? [Kim] It’s kind of funny, the very first Jesus Culture Conference is where we started as a summer youth conference. I was a freshman year college student and was just there at the conference. It was the second conference actually that I was at it and got involved helping with the youth group. I was the social events director and I planned all of our parties and special outings, and Chris had been a kid in youth group and grew up in that. Banning became the one running the worship for the youth and for the Jesus Culture Conference. At one point a few years in, I had been doing a lot of work with the youth but not in worship, and Chris knew that I could sing and asked me if I would help to train the teenage girls to sing backup vocals and things like that. He asked me to help out with some of the girls who wanted to be on the youth worship team and wanted to sing, and I said I’d be glad to. And then Banning asked me if I would help lead the worship, and so I did, and the rest is kind of “history”. Chris and I were friends and More Than Enough working together in the we started leading toge comfortable and easy. I my brother. We’ve been now, we know each o through a lot as a tea together. I lost my dad within about five month were both grieving and things and we could u each other. But leading together is f my brother. We’ve defin I’ll be honest, there hav disagree or don’t get a worked through that, th [Chris] It seems so lo but we were just kids fi just a youth group goi were having these mom we were encountering So, we had no intentio or even to make an a just seeking the Lord. K prophetic anointing on having these youth gro started doing conferenc our youth pastor, but he in Sacramento. Bannin an album, maybe we’ll mainly we just want to they have something to at home or wherever jus worship with on their ow is, someone put one of Loves” on YouTube and from there. But back in just us going after Go June 2020