RULE IN MY HEART
4.5 stars (out of 5)
Some of you may be familiar with Beth Croft from the summer festivals or Soul Survivor albums, and you may already know that the girl can sing. This colourful solo album follows in the same footsteps, establishing Beth as an excellent singer songwriter. Rule in my heart’s ten tracks are a mix of dance-based anthems and contemporary worship music, suitable for breaking the hearts of even your most hardy young people.
Having Rule in my heart on repeat in the car for the last week has confirmed that this type of music isn’t merely for church. Beth’s slower moving tunes are soulful and perfect for reflective worship (or facilitating a drop in road rage!), and her upbeat songs are accessible for young people.
The album gets off to a great start with a catchy dance number akin to David Guetta’s ‘When love takes over’ (with the same title) – it’s a tune and a half, building throughout the first verse to a pumping chorus that’s guaranteed to get even robots moving. There are some other highlights too. ‘Say the word’ is beautiful both vocally and instrumentally, and the album’s title track is perfect for responding to the Holy Spirit.
At its halfway mark the album moves into the hauntingly brilliant ‘Arms of grace’, arguably the best track on the album. The only slight oddity is the last song, ‘Lectio Divina,’ which has a distinctly 90s feel with its Cher-like electronics.
Rule in my heart is consistently strong, providing no need to skip tracks, except for possibly the last one. Beth’s music works whether it’s in church, a small group, or alone in the car, making it a bright addition to your personal collection. Plus it’s a sure fire way to ensure the next generation has easy access to biblical truth and authentic worship music.
LUCY GREENLAND IS YOUTH WORKER AT LEATHERHEAD YOUTH PROJECT.
THE ACTION BIBLE REMIXED
2 stars (out of 5)
The action Bible remixed accompanies The action Bible; a graphic novel Bible for young teenagers. It takes contemporary worship songs, such as ‘Let it be known’ by Worship Central and remixes them with electronic beats and synths. Each song is linked to a story in The action Bible to be used alongside it.
As an eclectic music lover, I spend a lot of time listening to a wide variety of music and I am a fan of remixed tracks. However this album doesn’t cut it for me, as the quality of the remixes sound disjointed from the worship songs; I don’t know how teenagers would feel about this. In my opinion, quality shouldn’t take a backseat, whatever the target market.
I asked three young people, aged 10, 13 and 15 their opinion of the album. All three had really enjoyed The action Bible, and when it came to the album, the 10 year-old enjoyed it and to a lesser extent, so did the 13 and 15 year-old. Both the 13 and 15 year-old commented that they couldn’t see the connection between songs and the stories they had been paired to. They also commented that this wouldn’t be an album they would want to play to their friends. It seems that the concept is brilliant but that the end product isn’t something to get overly excited about.
LIZZIE TELFER IS A WRITER, CONSULTANT AT CREATIVELY EMPOWERING AND A TRUSTEE OF SOPHIA NETWORK.
THE RISE OF THE NONES
3 stars (out of 5)
‘The single fastest-growing religious group of our time is those who check the box next to the word none on national surveys,’ this is the American reality into which James Emery White writes. His excellent contextual knowledge is the main struggle for the British reader. It is so clearly and precisely written for the American context that it is difficult to identify and apply the learning that is transferable to ministry in the UK. However, there are some themes that do connect with ministry here, particularly linking to the increasing number of people who would describe themselves as having no religion.
The book is structured in a way that is easy to read, clear and concise. After setting the context in the opening chapters, he moves on to reimagine how we might engage with the ‘nones’ and it is in these later pages of the book that most of the culturally transferable ideas emerge. The main thoughts that resonated with me are what Emery White terms the ‘easy wins’ in terms of growth that we prioritise ahead of what he describes as the more difficult conversion growth. Emery White argues that we need to prioritise conversion growth but this requires a greater sacrifice than many of our church communities are prepared to make. My sense is that this is not news to youth ministers. In fact, there is little in this book that will be new to anyone who has been in youth ministry for a few years. For me, this is an example of the Church learning for itself what youth ministry has been telling them for some time, and therefore I would recommend this book as a gift to your minister. I’ll be buying a copy for mine!
DAN CROUCH IS YOUTH WORKER IN THE PARISH OF KEYNSHAM.
