This song was written to go with the "Day 3" Scriptures and Themes of the 2018 "Beyond Belief" Outdoor Ministries Camp curriculum published by Chalice Press. The theme for the day is "What If We Hope?," and the Scripture is the story of a man's friends bringing a sick friend to Jesus for healing and cutting a hole in the roof in order to get through the crowd." This song is simple, accessible, but layered with meaning and will be useful in many different contexts, from Church camps and retreats to Sunday morning worship. Learn More

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." Resilience, not happiness. Nothing wrong with being happy, but if that's the only goal for our kiddos, we will be forming grown-ups who understand seasons of unhappiness as failure and be unprepared for inevitable losses in a mature life of faith. Many outdoor ministry settings happen around woods, so this uses a tree's growth rings in the forest as a metaphor for how each person's stories is embedded in our daily life. Learn More

A worship song that communicates the Kingdom of God as Jesus explains it: unfolding right in front of us and pointing toward justice. CCLI #7236611 Learn More

When the world diverts our attention from the important to what seems to be urgent, we can feel frazzled. We have a weakened capacity to reach out to others because we are depleted. But if we choose instead to listen to God, we become centered, renewed, and able once more to minister to the world around us. This lovely meditative song is suitable for congregational singing. Learn More

From singer/songwriter Tracy Howe: "A song celebrating and cultivating intimacy with the Holy Spirit." Learn More

From Brian McLaren:  "This was another older song that I rewrote during my sabbatical.  It attempts to take prayer out of its box, and let a more mature contemplative spirituality invade and enrich all of our lives, so that we truly "pray without ceasing."  I'm especially happy about the line, "Death is my life praying" (along with the reference to death in "Praise to the One") because I think we need to get more comfortable with the reality of death, to integrate it into our spiritual lives, and to stop reducing it to an enemy.  It is, like all profound things, both an enemy and a friend."

From CMP: Brian McLaren was on a road Sabbatical for the first 8 months of 2016.  During this time away from the grind of constant travel and preparation for live events Brian wrote, rewrote, compiled, and recorded demos (not finished studio recordings) of 21 songs.  9 of these demos are currently available here on the CMP site, and we are in the process of creating lead sheets and piano arrangements for them.  If you would like to purchase this entire collection of Brian's demo's, lyrics, and some notes he wrote about each song (21 songs for $18), please email Bryan Sirchio, CMP Lead Designer, and he will send you a link you can use to purchase Brian's entire collection.

A gentle and soulful prayer to be open and receptive.  A simple and repetitive lyric, close to a chant, with a hauntingly beautiful melody and a lovely descant.

Based on the Dies Irae melody, this song encourages us to receive the wholeness of Christ’s love even amidst and through the apparent dualities of life. The audio file for this song is just the guitar and vocal, and the video features harmonies and a beautiful trumpet part played also by Chrisitan, Learn More

This song was written specifically with church youth campers in mind and as part of a package of songs that go along with the Scripture texts and themes for Chalice Press's 2017 "Branching Out" curriculum. But it works in lot of other contexts as well. Easy to play, easy to sing, and a simple prayer to be able to hear the voice and leading of the Divine. Learn More