Modern hymn writer Stuart Townend’s new release, The Journey, is a modern folk-style offering of new hymns, modern psalms and introspective tunes. Townend attends and regularly leads worship at Church of Christ the King (CCK) in Brighton, UK.
Departing from the usual electric guitar and drum based tracks of most modern worship bands, Townend pulls out what one might expect on a folk album – slide guitar, mandolin, drums, guitar, fiddle, flutes, whistles and banjo. It is a mixture of bluegrass, Celtic and mountain music, not in the usual mold of worship music. But Townend is convinced that this, too, pleases God. He states, “So I hope that this album might provoke some of us to broaden the musical and thematic horizons of what we do week to week in our local churches. But most of all, I hope it causes us to see the providential grace and love of God in our lives and to respond in worship and obedience to Christ.”
Tracks include the upbeat and dance-like Vagabonds, a new bluegrass take on the hymn It Is Well With My Soul, and a new take on the traditional chant, Kyrie Eleison.
Purposefully departing from the norm of the modern praise and worship style, The Journey by Stuart Townend is just that – a “journey” down a new a fresh path of worship and contemplation.
-Ann Ahrens
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