Clem Jackson went to Holy Trinity Brompton to talk to Tim Hughes about his new CD/DVD and the responsibilities of worship ministry

Clem: Talking about new songs, what themes do you think are emerging in worship song lyrics?

Tim: I think that one of the exciting things is that, for those of us involved in CompassionArt, it seems everyone is continuing along the theme of God's heart for justice. Personally I've been thinking a lot about this sense of the Father heart of God. I think that if you look around, particularly in UK, at the fatherless generation and the amount of destruction that causes, so much of that comes down to insecurity and pain, a lack of identity. I think that sometimes in the church we're scared of talking about God as a Father because fatherhood has so many negative images for people. It is one of the most profound truths that we are loved by the Father. If we could communicate that through song and that truth could permeate people's lives, inside and outside of the church, it could be an amazing impact.

Clem: How did your involvement with CompassionArt impact upon you and what you do as a songwriter, worship leader etc.?

Tim: Firstly, it really hit home the power of a team, a community. It was amazing working with all these different worship leaders, different styles, different churchmanship, and different countries coming together with one purpose - to worship God and write songs for his church. That really made me even more passionate about unity. Secondly, it inspired me creatively. It's amazing to sit in a room with people like Graham Kendrick, Michel W Smith, Israel Houghton and the others and see how they approach songwriting and learn from that. I came away thinking I want to be a better songwriter, I want to give more of my time to do this and I want to learn from others. And I think that's a really healthy thing. Thirdly, there's the sense of the importance of making a stand for those who have nothing; again just really affirming God's heart for the poor, the broken, and that actually as a church we have to play a part in that.

Clem: As a songwriter you have a tremendous responsibility, because what you write and what gets published forms the basis of theology for many people. How do you handle that?

Tim: I think we're all becoming more and more aware of how our songs shape people's theology. I've really tried to work very closely with senior church leaders, people like Mike Pilavachi at Soul Survivor and latterly Nicky Gumbel here at HTB and I really try and pick up on the things they are teaching. And the other thing is to work with theologians. Here at HTB we have Graham Tomlin and I'll send him some lyrics and get his input. In one sense it is making the whole songwriting process a team activity. In the past the danger has been that some people worked solely in isolation - which is never how the great hymns used to be written. With the emergence of co-writing we're moving back more to that which helps.

And we all need the sort of opportunity which Compassionart gave, to receive constructive criticism to help us all develop and become better at what we do. I think there are a lot of songs around which aren't actually finished and still need working on.

This article first appeared in the April '09 issue of Christian Marketplace and is used with permission.