Welcome
|
Welcome to my worship music songbook.
What you have here is the unexpected fruit of 18 years in ministry. A bit to my own surprise I’ve combined my faith, my ministry in the church, my love of music, and my love of the guitar, and found that new songs for the church are often the result. I am an Associate Pastor at Bethel Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Before arriving here in 2009, I was an Associate Pastor at Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach, Manitoba for 11 years. Thanks goes to both congregations for giving me the space to combine my calling with other passions and allowing me to contribute my music to our worship. In many ways this songbook is a gift from my congregations to the wider church. While other influences show up, the songs I write are very much a reflection of the Anabaptist / Mennonite church they come from. The lyrics emphasize God's love and desire for peace and justice, while the melodies and song structures have more in common with traditional hymns than contemporary worship music. As you’ll see on the song page, this resource has been brought together with gifts that are far beyond me. Thanks to Darryl Neustaedter Barg for much technical advice with recording audio, and for often being the first critical ear to hear a song or new guitar. Thanks to Bill Derksen for his generous encouragement and all his work in transcribing the music, making the music accessible to many more congregations. And thanks to my wife Heather for all the work and tasteful decisions she shared, and for building this site! I’m also grateful to Heather and our girls, Ava and Lia, for allowing me to drive them nuts, playing and humming the same melodies in circles for weeks and even months while I search for the lyrics.
|
