Until the pandemic hit , Meredith was balancing her family life and motherhood with touring , conference teaching , church responsibilities , and recording . Her on-demand streams number over 100 million , she ’ s had three # 1 radio singles , and almost 16 million views on YouTube . But the past year has given her much time to reflect and re-adjust , just as it has for all of us . Meredith ’ s new project with Word Records is recorded entirely in Spanish , Ábrenos Los Cielos . As Meredith says , “ It has always been a dream of mine to record a Spanish album . God ’ s heart is for the nations - every tribe and every tongue - and I ’ m honored to release this collection of songs .”
[ WM ] Meredith , it ’ s great to talk with you today . It ’ s been a while . Thanks so much for taking this time with me .
[ Meredith ] Of course . Thanks for this time , Alex . I appreciate it .
[ WM ] You are well known in the worship leading community , and we ’ ll talk about worship in just a bit . I would love to ask you about your upbringing in eastern North Carolina . What was that like ? Who were your earliest musical influences ? Did you find your faith early on ?
[ Meredith ] Yes , I did . I grew up in a little town called Wilson , which is eastern North Carolina , about an hour from Raleigh . My family still lives there and we grew up going to a tiny little Assembly of God church and I loved it . I loved being a part of church . We were there every time the doors were open . My parents were really involved , just volunteering in ministry . My Mom with children ' s ministry and leading worship and my Dad was an elder and cut the grass every other Saturday .
It was there that I gave my life to Jesus when I was five years old , I responded to an invitation that our pastor gave . It was actually three weeks in a row that I went forward and finally my mom was like , “ You ' re good . You ' re in !” And then I started singing when I was about six . The first time I ever sang in church on stage was , I
was six years old and I sang , “ I Love You Lord ” for the offering special music . I loved growing up in eastern North Carolina . My parents were foster parents and we had kids living with us from the time I was eight until the time I was about 12 or 13 . I think 20 or so kids . Some of them stayed a few months and some stayed for just a weekend . I have three adopted brothers now from the foster care system and yeah , that ' s kind of in a nutshell .
My earliest influences were Darlene Zschech , who is at the top of that list , Rita Springer , Nicole Nordeman , and Rebecca St . James .
[ WM ] There ’ s an old adage that says , “ Those who can , do . Those who can ’ t , teach ”. That ’ s a fairly derogatory reference to teachers in general , and one that I find completely without merit with regard to worship leaders . Gifted worship leaders are an invaluable source of information to aspiring worship leaders and worship team members . And you are part of this dynamic by inspiring and teaching many at conferences and seminars everywhere . What can you tell us about your involvement in this ?
[ Meredith ] You ’ re right ! I just love getting to pour into people on a more personal level because I get to teach and look into their faces and sharing my own experiences and stories . I get their feedback and we do Q & A , and give people a chance to ask what ’ s on their hearts . I like the accessibility of it . I ’ m a very real human . I never set out to be some kind of celebrity . I want to minister to people . I ’ m just a mom who loves Jesus and homeschool my kids and do the best I can . Worship is a lifeline . It ’ s how I shift my perspective from earthly , tangible , temporal things to heavenly , unseen , eternal things . I just want to be faithful to Him . And with teaching ,
Glory in the Highest it gives me an opportunity to talk with people . We are at the foot of the cross and trying to grow and just walk it all out . I ’ m still learning and growing and I ’ m honored and humbled to pour into people .
[ WM ] That ' s a good , humble attitude . You ’ ve been prolific in your song writing collaboration . One only has to check CCLI ’ s Song Select to see your history . What can you tell us about the art and inspiration behind writing with others ?
[ Meredith ] Well , collaboration and cowriting is such a sweet space and it ' s such a gift because when you get several people in the room with different perspectives , different life experiences and stories , you ' re going to ... well - it ' s that old saying two heads are better than one . It ' s like you get this well-rounded viewpoint .
I just love playing off of other people and hearing their story . Diving into how can we write a song from that place ? Because it turns out songwriting can tend to be some great therapy , because you ' re just in a room with people talking about the things that God is walking you through and teaching you about . And chances are it ' s going to resonate with the others in the room , and that ' s where the song is born from . And it ' s just a really sweet comradery and opportunity to get together and create . It ' s amazing !
[ WM ] Just recently you released “ Glory in the Highest ” as a single . What can you tell us about this track ?
[ Meredith ] Well , “ Glory In The Highest ” is actually from my Christmas album that came out , I think two or three years ago . We released it as a single , because we ' d never singled that at Christmas time before and it ' s got a little bit of energy to it . It ' s more of an up-tempo Christmas song , which you don ' t necessarily hear all the time . “ Glory In The Highest ” was actually a song that my husband Jacob wrote with Matt Papa and we used to do it at our church in Chicago for years . It never was