A Movement of Worship
What happens when a church starts writing its own songs?
Across Commission, churches are finding different answers. For some, it has been about putting Scripture into song. For others, it has meant capturing the story of their church, responding to what God is doing in their city, or simply creating songs that help their people worship together.
I spoke with four UK churches about their songwriting journeys — the stories behind their songs, what they have learnt along the way and how writing their own music has shaped their church communities. These are just four examples of what is happening across Commission, but they offer a glimpse into the ways churches are creating and using their own songs.
Each journey looks different. But there is a common desire at the heart of all of them: to create songs that come from the life of the church and serve the people within it.
Westminster Chapel: Songs that Bless the Church
Album: Everlasting Day, Vol. 1
At Westminster Chapel, songwriting started with a simple desire: to create songs that would bless the church and help people encounter God through worship.
Although Mike, Worship Pastor at Westminster Chapel, had been writing music for many years, the church's songwriting journey really began in January 2025, when four team members started meeting fortnightly to pray, write and collaborate.
The group quickly discovered that songwriting wasn't just about creating music. The way they worked together was shaping their team too — teaching them humility, openness to feedback and the importance of putting the needs of the church ahead of personal preferences.
Their debut album, Everlasting Day, Vol. 1, includes ‘Rivers of Peace’, inspired by Colossians 3:16 as a prayer for unity, and ‘Psalm 23’, written during a difficult season as a reminder that God is the faithful Shepherd who walks with His people through every circumstance.
The songs are already finding a place beyond Sunday gatherings. After a recent worship night, people were asking to hear more, while others shared how the music had strengthened them through difficult seasons. One particularly memorable story involved a woman who was drawn into the church after hearing worship from outside.
For Mike, that's exactly why songwriting matters: new songs help bring a fresh expression of worship and creativity, celebrating the gifts God gives us and drawing others into the life of the church. His encouragement to other churches is simple — welcome collaboration, receive feedback with humility and use your gifts to bless and strengthen the church.
Citygate Church: Writing Their Own Story
For Sean, Elder at Citygate Church, songwriting began back in 2004 when he started leading worship. Over time, it became part of a wider vision for Citygate Creative.
He believes God has made us creative, and that creativity gives us a way to tell the story of what He is doing among us.
The church's more intentional songwriting journey began in 2018, when 10–12 people started gathering to write together. What began as a creative experiment grew into an ongoing part of their worship life, eventually leading to songs including Jesus Messiah and Formed.
For Citygate Church, writing their own songs has created space to express experiences and emotions that existing, mainstream worship songs don't always capture. It has also brought people closer together, with collaborative writing sessions and songwriting retreats becoming an important part of the team's life.
There is something quite personal about writing a song that could only have come from your church — a song shaped by the stories, experiences and language of your own community.
For the worship team at Citygate, that is a big part of what songwriting has become: writing their own story. Their encouragement to other churches is to bring the whole team on the journey, write songs that genuinely reflect your community and be willing to invest for the long term.
Hope Church: Middle Brook Worship
For Hope Church Winchester, songwriting has become part of how they equip their church and feed their flock.
Their latest songwriting journey began in November 2023, when seven members of the worship team came together with a desire to write songs that were biblically rich, theologically grounded and accessible for the whole church to sing.
Inspired by Psalm 45:1 — “My heart is stirred by a noble theme” — the team began writing with a clear purpose: to create songs that would feed and equip their congregation.
Matt, the pastor for worship at Hope Church, explains that there is something powerful about putting Scripture into song. We might forget something we have read or heard, but singing it can help truth stay with us. For the team, songwriting has therefore become part of their pastoral ministry — giving people words to worship, pray and remember throughout the week.
Importantly, the songs were developed within the life of the church before being taken into the recording studio. The team spent time rehearsing them with the congregation, allowing the songs to become familiar and seeing which ones resonated most strongly.
That process has now resulted in Exalt: Volume 1, a six-song EP currently in its final stages of production. Tracks include ‘Advocate’, focusing on the Holy Spirit, ‘Glory in His Church’, inspired by Paul's prayers in Ephesians and Romans, and a reworking of the hymn ‘Come Thou Fount’.
The EP will be released under the name Middle Brook Worship, with the team hoping to launch it by the end of October.
And for Hope Church, this is just the beginning.
As they look ahead, there is a desire to connect with worship teams from across Commission, learning from one another and exploring how their different songwriting journeys could encourage and strengthen each other. Ultimately, Middle Brook Worship is about creating songs from the life of the church, for the life of the church.
City Church Bristol: Writing for Their City
At City Church Bristol, songwriting has become a way of capturing what God is doing in their church and giving their congregation songs to pray, worship and live out together.
They first released an album, City Sounds, in 2013. Then, in 2019, they restarted their songwriting journey, when a group of songwriters began gathering together again. As the songs developed, they began working with producer Jonny Bird to bring them to life.
More recently, they released three songs across a month: Let Your Kingdom Come, One and Only and Until All Have Heard.
The songs are deeply rooted in their local context and the story of their city. Let Your Kingdom Come was inspired by George Müller’s prayer for God’s kingdom to come in Bristol, while Until All Have Heard reflects City Church’s heart to see the gospel reach the nations.
James’s encouragement to other churches who want to start writing their own music is to begin with what God is already doing in their context. Gather creative people, pay attention to themes coming through sermons and church life, and create space for songs to develop.
For City Church, writing songs has helped them build faith for the future and recognise the importance of worshipping together as a church.
As the church continues to grow, their hope is that these songs will do more than fill a playlist. They want them to help their church pray, worship and live with a greater vision for God’s kingdom — both in Bristol and across the nations.
From Our Churches, For Our Churches
Across these four churches, songwriting looks different, but there is a common thread: songs are being born out of the life of the local church.
They are writing about what God is doing among them, the things they are learning, the challenges they are walking through and the hope they have for the future. These songs are giving people words to worship, pray and remember what is true. What’s been encouraging is seeing how each church has found its own expression.
Whether your church has been writing songs for years or you've never written one before, we hope these stories encourage you to start where you are, gather people together and create space for songs to grow. Because sometimes the songs that speak most deeply to a church are the ones that could only have been written by that church.
These are just four churches in the UK, but we know many Commission churches around the world are on this journey too. If your church is writing songs, we'd love to hear what you're creating and the stories behind them.
Chat to us: comms@commission.global — we'd love to hear your story.
You can listen to the songs mentioned in this article in our Spotify playlist below.
