Worship Musician Magazine September 2020 | Page 22

it work by having a small band, and leading
worship outside when it’s dry (in the U.K. not
much!).
I obviously can’t wait to be together as a church
again and I miss the power of singing in unison,
but I am also so grateful for the scientific
community who have found that singing in
close spaces is a sure-fire way of spreading the
virus (actually that’s how I think I got it, right at
the start of the pandemic). The last thing I want
to do is spread this thing around, and that’s
what I interpret to be the Christ-like thing to do
for our community. Plus, worship is so much
more than just singing obviously.
Also, we’re an inner-city church, and there’s a
lot to learn from how city churches in the past
responded to disease outbreaks. Our pastor,
Pete, has been sharing a story about the early
church. When a pandemic struck in a city,
everyone would flee, but the Christians did the
opposite. Christians would enter the cities to
care for the sick and the isolated and because
of that, many people came to faith. In the 16th
Century, when the plague hit his hometown in
Germany, Martin Luther refused calls to flee the
city and protect himself. He chose to stay and
care for the sick, even though, tragically, that
decision resulted in his daughter dying. Our job
in these times is to care for people and to share
the hope of Christ in whatever way we can. As
the church, we should be actively engaged in
a battle against all of the destruction this virus
is causing - not fighting against the regulations
that mean our church services need to look
different and are there to protect us. That’s
why I’ve been so proud of how our team have
served our community and those tuning in
during this time.
[WM] It’s funny because in listening to your
song, “This is Not the End”, I could not help
but think of the Great Reformation leader
Martin Luther. Your song contains an absolutely
haunting chorus. Like us, Luther lived through
some pretty dark times, and his great inspiration
during that time was Psalm 46, which was the
catalyst for his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our
God”. A portion of his adaptation of scripture
reads…
“God is our refugemand strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth
give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the
sea,
Though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the
city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress”
Please tell us about the inspiration behind “This
is Not the End”, and how worship leaders and
22 September 2020
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