Songs with a pastoral heart

SONGS FOR CHURCHES VOLUME ONE
By Ben Slee
Available on all platforms from 28 October

Having followed Ben Slee’s music for about ten years, there are two things you should know about him:

1. He loves expanding the circle of Biblical themes that we sing about in church – a challenge because you can’t rely on other people’s good ideas about how to frame complex theological ideas.

2. He is a consummate practitioner: everything that Ben writes you can tell he’s written for a large crowd of people to sing and to enjoy singing.

With both of those in mind, I can Songs for wholeheartedly commend his Churches Volume One. Ben has given us five songs, encompassing a broad span of theology. But none of these songs are merely dusty doctrinal textbooks set to music. There is a pastoral heart behind each one. Let me highlight my two favourites from the set:

One with Christ is the song that concludes the set. It is a refreshingly Trinitarian meditation on our union with Christ. Ben has teamed up with two seasoned wordsmiths, in the form of Tim Chester and Charles Wesley! Watch out for the closing lines of And Can It Be sneaking in as the chorus comes to a climax – it works surprisingly well! Although the arrangement is a little bit ‘throw-the-kitchen-sink-at-it’ for my taste, it is a fine song with rich lyrics that bear repeating many times over and will serve the church well.

However, my favourite in the collection is You are my Father. We have distressingly few songs on the theme of adoption, and I know, from having attempted some of my own, how hard they are to write. Ben (along with co-conspirator Joe Smith) really excel at balancing profound theology with lived-out sweetness, both in their words and musical setting, neither veering into sentimental shallowness nor cerebral dryness. Lines such as ‘You guide my feet, teach me to plant my steps in Yours’, and ‘…I turn and see You running, with forgiveness in Your gaze – still I’m welcome in my Father’s embrace!’ reveal a heart full of love for his Father in heaven. I pray this song might be used by God to cultivate such a love in the hearts of Christians far and wide.