St. Marks Worship have recently released their brand new Christmas single ‘The King Became Homeless’, which is the invitation of the Gospel to come home to the Father. After this release, we had an amazing opportunity to interview Andy Shelton, the Worship Pastor who wrote the song.
What are your hopes for this year’s unusual Christmas?
Our prayer is that this would be an unparalleled season of opportunity for the Church to share the hope we have in Jesus to a world that is weary and short of hope. Just as at the beginning of lockdown there was a research that found 1 in 4 people in the UK had watched an online church service. Our prayer is that again, in this unusual year, people would open their hearts and receive Jesus the hope of the world
What has been the best moment in the band’s journey so far?
I think the process of making our EP together were the best moments so far. Gathering the team together for a songwriting retreat, the process of workshopping the songs and recording them. It’s so special to see the songs emerge and take shape out of those sessions and having a great time hanging out together in the process
How did you find the process of making the video while social distancing?
It was actually so nice to gather everyone who had been part of recording the song. We recorded much of it over the spring and summer which meant most of it was done in isolation bouncing tracks back and forth. So meeting together to record the video to me felt like a celebration and completion of the project, getting to play the song with the friends that made it happen. Obviously, there were limitations on what we could do which were frustrating particularly in the phase of dreaming about what the video could look like. We spoke about recording the whole thing outside with a choir which sadly wasn’t possible, but in many ways, it forced us to keep it simple
What would you like people to take away from the release?
My hope is that it helps people see the message of Christmas in a new way, or on a deeper level. To understand the gravity, the hugeness of what Jesus did by leaving the heights of heaven to become the lowest, homeless and a refugee. In a year when Christmas is going to look different for a lot of people, perhaps not being to see the people we love, this distance that we’re all experiencing. Jesus has been there and is with us now, that people would feel the warmth of God’s love as he makes his home in us
Any big plans for 2021?
Back in April we planned to have a big worship night to celebrate the songs that we had released, but as with everything else it got canned by corona. So the thing I’m looking forward to most in the new year is hopefully being able to gather everyone together for a giant worship night to celebrate that Covid is behind us and to sing the songs with everyone who’s been listening and on the journey with us
Connect with St. Marks on Facebook | Instagram | Website || Download/Stream ‘The King Became Homeless’ HERE
