The new live album recording by the Asbury Worship Collective (AWC) drops Feb. 21,
with live shows at both 6:30 and 9:00 p.m. The event is ticketed at $5 per student, and while the
albums have been great in the past, live events are always a wild card. Should you spend hard-
earned money on a ticket to the recording? In a word: Yes.
The theme for this year’s album is “Closer Still,” which is an invitation into a
communion of worship with the individual and the triune God. Junior Leah Amarosa, who
helped with the songwriting process and plays keys in the album band, says the whole idea
behind the album is the incarnation, which shows that “God is a humble God.”
The songs on the album were written over a period of weeks which culminated in a fall
retreat to finalize the lyrics and melodies. The lyrics are powerful, and truly promote a spirit of
worship in the hearts of listeners. The songs deal with difficult topics and speak to the shame,
fear and anguish that can accompany life, even when one is trying hard to seek God. But there
are also songs of pure praise that exalt the God who is present in these difficulties.
The lyrics remind us that God is pursuant, humbling himself to take on “the form of a
servant … and became obedient to death, even death on a cross,” as Philippians 2:7-8 says.
These songs hold a reminder that God chases us down even as we are running away or actively
chasing Him – the good news is that we are not asked to walk out this faith alone.
The purpose of the album is to “bring congregational worship songs that we could see
churches doing or being played in chapel,” says senior Austin Lepard, the album’s director of
music and songwriting.
In the past, Asbury’s worship arts albums, while certainly well-written and well-played,
have been more performance-oriented songs that would be hard to sing in a congregational
setting.
This year, however, the AWC really tried to make these songs accessible, and they have
succeeded. The lyrics are easy to follow without being too repetitive, and the music carries a
transcendental quality that makes for a beautiful background to worship without being only the
same three cords in every other worship song.
Lepard also added that the AWC “tried to put [themselves] in other people’s shoes, and to
view worship as a whole, not just within the Worship Arts department. We really tried to do
away with trying to define God in a simple sentence or on one album. This ‘Closer Still’ concept
is just trying to get closer to God.”
This genuine heart of pursuing God leads to an authenticity in the lyrics that I haven’t
noticed in previous albums and will certainly lead to real and vulnerable worship during the live
album recording and when played later in chapel.
The live album band is playing one of their original songs in chapel Friday, Feb. 21, so
attendees will get a sneak peak of the hard work and dedication on the part of the band that will
certainly pay off in the album recordings. The AWC has truly given themselves to this project,
practicing throughout the year and every night this week to prepare these songs to be heard in
and recorded among the Asbury community.
So buy a ticket. The accessible and authentic worship you will hear tonight is well worth
the five dollars. Go expectant that God will move in the hearts of people at the recording just as
much as He did in the process of crafting such genuine and moving lyrics and music. You won’t
be disappointed.
