Darlene ’ s new release , Testament , celebrates the 30 years since the release of “ Shout to the Lord .” It also contains 30 songs , 25 of which are reimagined plus 5 brand new titles . She ’ s been an acclaimed singer-songwriter , worship leader , co-pastor , author , and speaker from Australia who pioneered a fresh movement of worship music in the Church from the 1990s onwards . She and her husband Mark have initiated HOPE : Global , a non-profit organization bringing hope to people through education in many countries across Africa and Asia .
[ Alex ] So I ’ ve got to begin by telling you that I was a worshiper in the crowd at the Worship Together Conference in Southport UK , just north of Liverpool , if you remember that . That was 28 years ago , I believe , back in ’ 96 . And you led worship along with the Hillsong team . So that was amazing to me . And I was an invited guest of John Pac and Kingsway Music and I remember that Matt Redmond opened up that particular night of worship . So very strong memories , good memories of that night . Really good .
[ Darlene Zschech ] Yeah , there ’ s been so many special moments .
[ WM ] Well actually that ’ s what I ’ m going to ask you about first . Isn ’ t it unbelievable what has happened in the church since those days ? There ’ s certainly some good things that have happened , and then again , a bit of not so good ones as well . Some of those positive things would be the growth of real worship in the church and the furtherance of the understanding of God for new generations . What say you ?
[ Darlene ] Yeah , I totally agree . And to be honest , I never really over focus on the terrible things that are happening in the church . I think humans are humans and I know God is a God who is full of grace , but He also won ’ t be mocked . And so you learn to just leave those things in His hands and watch him build His church and watch the gates of hell not prevail . And over the many decades now , I am just wholehearted around building the Kingdom of God , seeing His church do what it was to do and be part of the sound , to be even a little fingernail , part of the sound of worship in this last little season , my greatest privilege .
[ WM ] That ’ s right , that ’ s right . When I was at EMI many years ago , I wrote the marketing phrase that I used to launch Kingsway at the time . It was “ Unchanging truth has found a new sound !” It seemed to be the right thing to say . There are some things that a worship leader cannot communicate to worshipers because those things are born from individual experience , whether it be healing , deliverance from real challenges , or even the presence of God intervening and in dwelling us . Indeed , the Spirit is close to the brokenhearted and saves
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