In a world where contemporary worship has come a long way and worship albums are often sleek, polished and heavily produced, is there a space for raw, stripped back songs capturing the heart and feel of a community that is both intimate and personal as well as welcoming and outward-looking?
The Orphan No More community based in Bath, South West England invites us all to leave our egos, expectations, limitations and unworthiness as we step into a circle to join them, vulnerable before the one who already knows who we really are with their new worship project “Exhale Vol.1“. These songs draw us as worshippers to our knees, abandoning the self we’ve created to find our true selves in the One who made us.
“You’re the mystery that after all these years I still don’t understand, you’re the mystery but you are the only place I trust to put my hands”.
The connection is intimate in ‘All I Am’ – ‘your deep calls to my deep’, empowering in ‘You Say’ – an invitation to take God at his word and healing in ‘I Belong’ – ‘I know who I am I don’t have to be afraid’, as well as reminding us to be curious about ‘God in The Mystery’. Punctuated with some powerful spoken word pieces the project is unique and truly beautiful.
The songs were born out of personal experiences within the community but, as they began to sing songs over themselves they realised they were also meant for others:
“We wrote these songs because we needed them. We began singing them as we gathered in community each month, marvelling at His goodness, trying to express our gratitude to God. We sung them over our dear friend Esther till our throats were dry believing for her healing. We used these songs like swords, swinging them into the shadows, declaring death wouldn’t have the last word because He is the God of resurrection. We sung them together with joy and much sadness as we celebrated both her life and her passing into the next. We sung through tears, but we sung these same songs, still believing, still convinced that despite all the unknown He’s the only place we really want to be. We are transfixed on the expanse of His goodness and even now we can’t turn away. We hope that as you listen to these songs they give you strength like they gave us. Not to shout or to scream but to simply believe that even now He is who He says He is, and Hope will have the last word.”
With a ‘live’ feel to the instrumentation and production and some truly stunning vocals, Exhale is a breath of fresh air to the worship scene and many will be touched by the songs for years to come.
Click the image below and download/stream your copy of Orphan No More’s “Exhale Vol. 1” worship project today!
