Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

St. Thomas' Church is a large missionary church in Sheffield with a vision to "call our city back to God" and Elevation Records have released this CD as the next in their Worshipping Churches series of live albums. Leading worship is New Wine's Pete James with Neil Costello producing. Nine of the songs are written by Pete, all dating from 2010-2011, so will probably be new to most listeners. The CD kicks off with a strong declaration that "We Have Come To Worship" and moves straight into the pop-styled "Our God Is Stronger", stating truths about God's might and power. This sets the tone for the rest of the songs, which are focussed on the greatness of God, in and of himself as well as in his creation and in his love for mankind. Musically the songs are highly singable, with memorable melodies that are easy to pick up. As a guitarist, Pete leads from the guitar, both electric and acoustic, and he has a solid band reinforcing him - it's not clear if the band is primarily from the church or whether they've come in with Pete. The clear highlight for me is the beautiful, gentle "Jesus Loves Me" which sings of God knowing us at the start and end, our dreams, our reality and everything in between. Also worth mentioning is the medley of "You're Beautiful" and Iona's arrangement of "When I Survey" which seamlessly places "When I Survey" in the middle of the song rather than tagging it on the end as would be more usual - this works really well. Whilst this is an undeniably competent release, it seemed to me that there is a bit of a lack of emotional intensity to draw the listener in.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Live Worship from St Thomas Church, Philadelphia, in Sheffield, led by New Wine favourite Pete James.

Join this established love-filled and thriving church as it celebrates Christ's victory, and the work of His Spirit in its life. New and well-known songs led by worship leader Pete James offer an insight into the life of real people in a real church! This CD will inspire you to join with them as they worship.