Trevor Raggatt quizzed Jock James and Steve Gambill of Bradford's RPM youth ministry about their forward momentum

Jock James

Since the turn of this century the Abundant Life Church in Bradford has, under the leadership of senior pastor Paul Scanlon, been carving out an enviable reputation as one of the UK's most forward thinking and, for want of a better word, "successful" churches. Alongside this has grown a flourishing worship music ministry. Initially founded on a Hillsong-like model, over recent years Abundant Life has been developing its own modern worship style and focus. The church's last album, 'Send Me', displayed a more rock influenced sound than previous offerings and now hot on the heels of that comes 'Give My All', a new CD/DVD set from Abundant Life's youth ministry, RPM. Cross Rhythms last spoke to the team behind RPM in 2006, just after the release of their second CD, 'I Surrender All'. With the growing success of the Rocknations event and a new album on the racks it seemed like a good time to catch up with Abundant Life youth leaders, Steve Gambill and Jock James.

Trevor: So how has RPM changed over the last couple of years?

Jock James: Currently, there are more than 70 young singers, dancers, breakers and musicians who are part of the RPM crew. More than ever before RPM is stepping to meet the various opportunities that the wider Rocknations ministry is creating both locally and abroad.

Steve Gambill: RPM was originally birthed out of a desire to see young people use music to reach their generation. Early on in our ministry we discovered how effective music was in reaching young people. Over this past year it has been so rewarding to see young people that we have invested in for years, emerge strongly in their musicianship and songwriting. Consequently, ALC young people have really been inspired to develop their own musical abilities and a big momentum has now kicked in.

Trevor: Certainly it's impossible to deny, on witnessing the energy charged delivery of RPM, that "momentum" is an appropriate description. One other thing that becomes clear when visiting ALC is that both music and youth ministries are firmly rooted within the life of the church.

Steve: I believe that's kept the whole church young at heart. One woman in her late 90s loves RPM because she loves seeing young people in church. A short time ago when RPM led worship in the Sunday night service an elderly woman 100 years of age accepted Christ into her life for the fist time! Hundreds of young people have become very active and involved because the style of worship is within their culture. Creating a church culture that young people enjoy is essential to keeping the future of the church intact and on course.

Jock: However, each young person [in RPM] is also a part of the church worship team and as they grow in confidence and ability they'll be playing/singing at large scale events. It rehearses young people, helping them practically to praise and worship to various age ranges. That means weekly rehearsals, leading worship on Fridays and being involved in the Sunday services.

RPM

Trevor: That cross-fertilisation with the "main" worship team becomes clear when watching the worship at ALC. RPM "special items" are often used as "openers" for the church's annual Stronger conference and often flow through into the conference worship times. There are clearly synergies at work.

Jock: Being part of a wider team is a huge strength to us as we all learn and grow together. Within the team we get to express our worship in different ways but the same DNA runs through both RPM and the church worship team. We have a wealth of young gifted musicians and singers now growing up in the church. As they see RPM and they experience church on a Sunday they get challenged and inspired and have something to aspire to. How much better that their role models are people in the church!

As we are encouraged to get out of us all that God has put in us it has certainly unlocked the potential in our teams. The freedom in worship that has grown in our youth ministry as a result has certainly had an effect on our church which has been greatly encouraged by our senior pastor Paul Scanlon. That effect can be well seen and heard on the last ALC album 'Send Me'. The sound of this album was definitely influenced by the energy and freedom being brought out of the youth ministry into the church.

Trevor: This begs a question as to whether it will become difficult to retain a distinctive voice from RPM over time?

Jock: Not really. Our core values remain the same as the main church team but we are looking to engage a different audience. The songs have to contain the truth of the Word of God in everyday language and be relevant to the culture people live in today. Young people are exposed to a much wider variety of music and to new music on a constant basis. They have much less baggage about how a praise and worship song should sound and, therefore, it's actually easier to push the boundaries with music for RPM.

Trevor: So what differentiates an "RPM song" from a mainstream Abundant Life worship song?

Jock: Sometimes it's simply dictated by style. When Mike Harvie writes a song such as "New Creation", it becomes very clear that although the truth is relevant to all, it's going to get a better response amongst a youth congregation simply because of its style. Sometimes songs are written because of a particular message for the audience they are aimed at; the song "Fire" for example. Although it has a wide appeal it was actually written for young people. I wrote that song as I was leading worship in youth one Friday night. I could look at all the faces and see the potential God had put inside everyone. I began to think about what would happen if every single person in the room was 100% sold out for God - if, when they went back to school or into their family situations, they never compromised; never stepped backwards and always advanced. I wanted to put an anthem to that thought that would strengthen the determination of young people to live for God. My prayer for every song that we write is that young people don't just sing empty words but they take the truth of the Word of God that is contained in the songs and then apply it to their lives.

Trevor: So, how has the RPM sound developed since the last album and DVD?