I'm pleased to announce that we have begun recording a full length record of traditional hymns as a followup to 2010's Christmas Nights. Since we started the Gathering Church, I have wanted to record an album of traditional hymns with new arrangements. I saw it as an opportunity both to teach the congregation hymns they may not know, and to share with others outside of the congregation as a calling card of our church.
Seeing the reaction to the Christmas EP encouraged us further to record a complete album, full of songs we are already well familiar with (The Doxology, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, How Firm a Foundation) and others you may have forgotten or not learned through the years. We started work this Spring on two of the songs and are hoping to work through the Summer for an October/Fall release.
Part of the vision for this recording is it will (like Christmas Nights) be a fundraiser for the music budget at the Gathering Church, and my hope is we can take as little from the church budget as possible in funding it. This is where you come in. Kickstarter is a site that utilizes a method called "crowdfunding," where folks give small (or large) donations to help fund projects like our hymns record. You can give a donation of any size to help us achieve this vision we have. In addition, there are fun incentives that you can get as you give that you may be interested in. For instance, at $10 you can download the record when it comes out – basically paying for it in advance.
The money you give will go to a recording and printing budget originally estimated at $10,000. We are asking for $5,000 on Kickstarter because we have to hit the target to get any money – so beating the target would be ideal. Lots of players are giving hours of their time to get a polished product, and printing and designing CDs alone can run upwards of $2,000.
But enough of money right now. I sincerely think this project can span all three of the phrases we use to define our church:
Present to God: using the songs as a tool for our individual and corporate worship and connection with God.
Connected to Each Other: sharing in these songs and recordings,and in the hymn sings and events that surround their release together, as a Body
Engaged in the World: in sharing these recordings with others who are not in our congregation, perhaps as an introduction to who we are and what we stand for.
I've already found these songs to be a tremendous ministry opportunity – the quality of writing and familiarity of these songs to everyone makes even the most skeptical listen to the words, ponder, and discuss them.
I hope you share this with your friends, coworkers, and family, and give generously. We need your help as a community and are very much looking forward to sharing the final product with you. If you click on the Kickstarter page, you can see a video with the first song we began recording, "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms" with Phil Cook from the band Megafaun. We have a lot of work to do, and a lot of exciting guests we're sharing our vision with. We are excited to share it with you too.
Thanks for reading, and for participating!
Jeff