Circle of Hope Audio Art is a non-profit mission team of Circle of Hope in Philadelphia and South Jersey. We are trying a missional process of recording and distributing worship music as a tool for training and edification. We are celebrating all the creativity around us and are responding to a felt need for new worship material that is creative, theologically sound, and not commercial.
“Light the Way” is a response to the growing cynicism, fear, and alienation during conflictual times in the United States. We’re hoping to contribute courage and strength to those working for God’s cause - through peacemaking, solidarity, working for justice, and forming spiritual community. In the midst of good work during difficult moments, God continually offers us joy.
“Finding Home” describes part of the spiritual journey that we are all on. We are working through our own sense of limits, mistakes, alienation, and brokenness as well as that of our society. Like our friend Cheryl Bear says, we are trying to be Good Story-tellers. We are weaving a narrative through the worship music and poetry we write. The Good Story is God working in each of us and in us collectively calling for creative expression and inspires us to worship. We are being formed into this family with Jesus on a redemptive mission powered by the Holy Spirit.
We chose “Patiently Impatient” inspired by our Cell Multiplication Plan - “We are patiently impatient to embody what God has in mind for now.” Many of the themes of the album are around that almost paradoxical state of expectantly waiting and preparing a place for Jesus to come and live. It’s winter and cold in our region as we finished up on the final days of Advent. We’ve digitally released it the day after Christmas. We are making plans to print cds with full booklets soon. Over 50 musicians from all four of our congregations and a dozen songwriters.
We have written nearly 100 original songs with over a dozen songwriters and music teams contributing to our worship experiences. We’ve learned a number of ethnic songs that don’t have recordings accessible. We’ve been gifted as humans with imagination, and co-creating with Jesus moves us towards wholeness. We want to respectfully teach the songs to our music leaders. We want to offer our friends outside Philadelphia new music to use for worship. We hope that we make some new friends, new partners for Circle of Hope, and can proliferate more creativity in how we live into God’s big story in the tradition of the church and making something.