I can still see the view from that old church balcony. I can hear the sound of the organ piping and the choir singing and the sopranos going for the descant on that last stanza as I challenged myself to join them. As an 8 year old, it was a little easier than it is now.

I also remember the last Sunday I spent singing from that balcony as, at the age of 16, my family had our bags packed for their next call in Southern California. This time it was not the choir I was singing with, but my older, and only brother. He had gotten just good enough to play acoustic guitar and I my voice was just good enough to accompany him. We played and sang the song “The Mountain,” by Steven Curtis Chapman as a “special music” piece. The only way we knew how to say thank you and goodbye to a congregation that had raised us, taught us, and loved us for our entire lives to that point. It was a far different sound than the one with organ and trumpet and choir. Yet it was the most heartfelt way my brother and I could express our faith.

Years later I would begin a journey to serve the church I loved in the same way my brother and I sought to on our last shot from that balcony. I deeply desired to create songs that would proclaim the gospel with sounds, rhythms and harmonies that had moved me deeply throughout my life….

Kip is a songwriter and the Director of The Songwriter Initiative…an initiative of the Center for Worship Leadership at Concordia University Irvine. He holds an MA in Theology from CUI and over twenty years of experience as a songwriter and Director of Parish Music. His passion is to find, support and develop songwriters and composers in the church. Kip also teaches Songwriting for CUI's Commercial Music program.