Lifeway Worship songwriter and Nashville session vocalist Kirk Kirkland has recently recorded a new album, Hymns & Songs.
We’re thrilled to offer charts and tracks from the album at LifewayWorship.com.
Read Kirk’s heart and inspiration behind the album below:
There has been much “discussion” about music and worship in the church. Throughout my life and career I have listened intently to this discussion, and it usually comes down to people’s preferences. Not often enough does the discussion turn to God’s preferences. After all, worship begins and ends with Him. It’s from Him, it’s about Him, and it returns to Him…and if not, it’s not the worship of God, but of something or someone else. Of course, the scripture doesn’t give us a lot of insight into God’s musical preferences. But it does guide us into understanding what He wants from us when we gather to worship. We should focus on the message of the Messiah – Jesus. We should think of others before ourselves – teaching and encouraging one another. There should be variety in our singing – psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And we should be grateful. No matter what else changes, this should remain the same.
I have been a member of Judson Baptist Church (Nashville, TN) for over sixteen years. And I’ve been privileged to be the Minister of Music and worship leader for the last five years. As a church, we have grown much in our understanding and expression of our worship of God. In this current role, I see myself as a bridge between the old and the new, the proven and the progressive. I wholeheartedly appreciate what the church has sung in generations past, and I hope to be one who is creating what the church will sing in generations to come. So, you have in your hands Hymns & Songs…a blending of the old and the new, all about Jesus, and offered here with much gratitude. Let me be quick to say that the hymns on this project did not need to be improved, but I wanted to deepen the understanding of their meaning for a younger generation of worshipers. I pray this recording will help the church – all of us – worship God day by day, and whenever we come together.
-Kirk Kirkland
“Let the message of the Messiah dwell among you richly, teaching and encouraging one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
Colossians 3:16
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