Interview: Quick Stop with Brenton Brown

|PIC1|Meet Brenton Brown - the author of modern worship anthems such as "Lord Reign In Me", "All who are Thirsty", and "Hallelujah" ("Your Love Is Amazing"). Brown was former worship pastor at Oxford Vineyard and the coordinator of the UK Vineyard Worship Development Team. The inspiring worship leader currently resides in California with his wife, Jude.

What is the favourite song that you've written?

Actually it's not a worship song. It's a song called "Whatever". Somehow I managed to get 6 years of political philosophy homework into that one song. That's why I like it. I guess my favourite worship song at the moment would be the one I wrote with Ken Riley - "Everlasting God".

What sort of changes do you wish to see in this generation in terms of worship?

Well I guess my eyes are on the next generation already. I want to see more Leeland and Jack Mooring's and Zach Hunters coming through. People who love God creatively and actively. The Mooring boys are young but are full of fire and amazing talent which go together so well in their music. Zach is even younger but is worshiping God by leading a youth movement against contemporary slavery. It's exciting to see that with the resources available to this generation we can affect global change as early on in our lives as we want to. I want to see real progress made in the way we as the church interact with questions of injustice globally.

Tell us about your involvement with the HIV/ AIDS concert in London in May?

Well I'll be leading worship with my friends in an event that my wife Jude is organising. So it's all family and friends for me! My band is coming out from the States and I love playing with them. And joining me will be an old friend of mine, Paul Baloche. Paul is also a worship leader and writer. So it's going to be an amazing privilege to share this moment with my buddies at such a great venue for such a good cause. My Dad is also coming over from South Africa with my mom to celebrate his 60th Birthday - which I'm really happy about!

What's your relationship like with Brian Doerksen?

Terrible. We never talk and when we do we're always fighting over lyric changes! Not really. I guess I feel a little bit like Brian's annoying younger brother. He's been such a great influence on me and I like to give him a hard time for that. There's only so many times you can say 'as Brian Doerksen would say' before you want to call him up and harass him.

Any new song(s) on your new album Everlasting God, which you think could become a worldwide hit like some of your other previous songs ("Amazing Love", "Lord Reign in Me")?

I guess I'm hoping that [songs] "Everlasting God" and "Hosanna" will find some kind of home in the church. These songs are special to me for different reasons but both of them remind me that our God is a God who saves us!

What do you think are the challenges worship leaders face these days?

I guess the challenges we face today are the same challenges Christians have always faced. I'm reminded of John in the Revelation of Jesus repeatedly being told by the angel guiding him through heaven to 'worship God'. It seems like such an obvious mistake to make and yet our minds and our hearts are constantly being assailed by impostors demanding our adoration - excellence, celebrity, even leaders. If John the apostle, famously recognised for his tender heart towards Jesus, could be waylaid by the splendour and sights of heaven, we surely can be waylaid by the distractions of this earth. Pretenders to God's throne in our hearts can come from anywhere. Our challenge, like the saints who've come before us, is to worship God.

Where do you gain inspiration to write songs?

Inspiration for me fortunately comes from almost anywhere - stories in books and film, the ocean, the mountains, the landscape of California where we live. But what guides my choice of theme for the worship songs I write more often than not is the simple act of putting a worship set list together. Sometimes I feel as if there is a particular truth we need to affirm as the people of God, a particular prayer we need to pray to our Father. When I can't find those prayers in contemporary songs, I feel compelled to try and write them myself - with varying results!

Who did you grow up listening to?

For better or for worse these are the people I grew up listening to: Barney Kessel, BB King, Michael Jackson, Men at Work, Bob Marley, the Eurythmics, Guns and Roses, Metallica, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Shawn Colvin, Dave Wilcox.

What do you do when you're not writing/performing music?

Eating, sleeping and hanging with my girl. If there's any space left over I'm probably in the ocean doing something.