“Overcome” – Recording Time Again

Last night, we had the members of the North Side Worship band over to the house.  We canceled normal practice to eat, hang, sing, dream, and pray.  We have been planning to record again this summer, and this was the official meeting to kick things off.

Sitting around a circle in the floor last night, I laid out the plan for the new recording entitled “Overcome.”  Let me tell you some things that got us here:

• Songwriting – I emailed the team’s songwriters and told them to submit songs they had been working on.  I was feverishly working on some ideas as well.
• The Conversation – Kennerly asked me after services on May 23 if there was an overarching theme coming out.  I said that depended on his upcoming submission.  His title, “Wait for the Lord.”  My response, “Yep, there’s a theme.”
• The Message – That Sunday, Jeff preached a messaged entitled “The Hope for the Suffering Church” to conclude the New Testament 101 series.  It was a call to endure – to make it to the end.
• Whiteboard – As I began to put possible songs on the board, it was evident – this project was meant to encourage our church to keep on keeping on.  The title, and one of the songs, became “Overcome” (1 John 4:4; Rev. 12:10-11).  I started playing around with key and arrangement options.  I started messing around with the order, then as always, ideas started getting a tad crazy.
• Tweak – With the concept and order in concrete, I went back and tweaked some things in the songs so that the listening experience would be one piece of music rather than individual songs.  We have had tracks fade into others before, but nothing like what we are going to experience on this one…
• Preparation – With the help of Jessica, I was able to put together music books and rehearsal CDs for every member.  I also provided them with a CD of music intended to “inspire” their certain instrument or vocal style.
• Order – I don’t want to give away too much yet, but there are 3 major movements on the CD, the music will never stop, and there are definitely a couple of surprises along the way!
• Singalong Night – Last night, we sang through the CD all the way through.  We started with how the first notes will go, to how if the CD is on repeat, how the musical experience won’t miss a beat.  We introduced a lot of new songs last night.  In fact, the only non-original on this project is a 45-second clip of an old gospel song.  Everything else has been written by our team.
• Next Steps – All team members have their practice assignments.  The band is going to start practicing a couple of extra times, and I will start meeting with singers next week to see who needs to sing on what.  The plan is for the band to hit the studio June 21, with vocalists to follow soon after.

Whew!  That’s a quick rundown.  As we concluded last night, we prayed over these songs, this project, and our church.  We realized that some people need to be encouraged today to overcome, and yet some people don’t even know the encouragement they will soon need due to what is upcoming in their lives.  Over the last month, we have been praying over ever member by name, and we are praying that God uses this project to encourage our church (and others) to overcome in the midst of conflict in this life.

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
-1 John 4:4

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,
“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.  “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
-Revelation 12:10-11

We would love if you would pray for us as we embark on this process!  We would so appreciate it!  For the Overcomer!

Travis Agnew

Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.