Steve Schallert lives in Hawaii and works often with Youth With a Mission.  He is a soulful and passionate songwriter and artist who writes beautiful songs of longing, lament, and the call for biblical justice.  This simple but powerful "Song of Lamentation" will touch the hearts of many and give us all a deeply needed way to sing our prayers for healing and wholeness.

A common critique of "contemporary praise and worship music" is that it does not touch the brokenness of the world enough and that there are too many "happy clappy" songs and very few songs of lament.  Lament is a crucial step in response to the pain of the world and the processes of grieving, healing, and regrouping we all need both in our individual lives and in our communities of faith.  CMP is grateful and proud to have songs like this on our site and to point you toward the work of Steve Schallert.

A wonderful new song based on the "Taste and See" text from Psalm 34.  This is widely used as an invitation to the Table and a song to sing during Holy Communion.
 

From the first line, “The whole world is waiting, the whole world cries…” to the last, this new song for Advent gives us a way to sing about the realities we are living at this moment. It gives us a song to sing honestly in these days of devastating war, climate crises, political upheaval, hatred, exclusion and division. It gives us a way to cry out to God and look for hope. Originally written by Kate Hurley several years ago, Kate and The Many’s lyricist, Lenora Rand, got together recently and created a new version of the lyrics. When word of their work began to spread, our new friends, Flamy Grant, and Ben Grace of The Calendar Days, soon joined The Many and Kate to create the powerful and moving new recording included here on the site. This is the song we need to be singing this Advent and Christmas season. A song that assures us there is a God that hears the “cries for justice and the longing to be free.” Who “heals and shows us what can be.” And it also reminds us that love can change things. A reminder we all desperately need to hear right now. One License # 265086 CCLI #7229442 Learn More

Another brand new Ken Medema song focusing on Holy Communion.  A beautiful invitation to the Table and to the Extravagant Welcome at the heart of the Gospel.  This one will also work well as a choral anthem in addition to a congregational song.

The lyric sheet product is a chord chart with lyrics and chords. The lead sheet product bundles lead sheet, congregational melody line and songleader's guide. This song is licensed via OneLicense.net, CCLI and Worldmaking.net. This song is part of Richard Bruxvoort Colligan's intergenerational camp song album, "Branching Out: Neo Camp Songs." This song is designed for campfire or candle-lighting worship. It's a chant that is fun to do with hand drums or, at a faster tempo, with claps, knee slaps and finger snapping. Once learned, try it in canon. This song could also function as a prayer response sung amid petitions. Learn More

Picture her sputtering in awe when you imagine Saint Angela of Foligno singing, "This world is pregnant with God." It's a powerful feminine metaphor for change. Sing it in Springtime, either Lent or Eastertide, on Earth Day, or any moment to remember humankind's interconnection with creation. The simple refrain deepens in meaning as the verses suggest dimensions of the metaphor: if creation is a pregnant witness of Christ incarnate in the world, then every living thing is kin (verses 1-2). For verse 3, I was thinking about the parable of the treasure in the field, and of my family's roots in farming. John 16, Mark 13, and Romans 8 refer to labor pain as a metaphor for the pain of transformation and renewal (verse 4). Teach the community the single-phrase refrain, and your music leader or choir sings the verses. Learn More

A simple song written initially to go with a camp curriculum and with the Emmaus Road road story from Luke 24:13-35. Easy to play and accessible to all ages. Learn More

This is a brand new song for Advent 2016 from The Many.  We're really excited about this one!  So timely in light of all that's going on in the world right now.  This beautiful, singable, easily accessible song could work as an anthem, a congregational song, or a solo.  It taps into the Advent themes of waiting and longing for God to come, act, and bring about Divine justice.  And yet it is also a call to action, love, service, and hope while we wait. 

Thanks for another GREAT song Gary, Lenora, and Hannah Rand!

The lyric sheet product is a chord chart with lyrics and chords. The lead sheet product bundles lead sheet, congregational melody line and songleader's guide. This song is licensed via OneLicense.net, CCLI and Worldmaking.net. This song is part of Richard Bruxvoort Colligan's intergenerational camp song album, "Branching Out: Neo Camp Songs." This song explores John 15's words of Jesus and the church: "Abide in me and I'll abide in you" and "I'm the vine; you're the branches; God's the gardener." Good for a reflective campfire moment or a quiet moment in the worship service. Learn More