exchanged living.

3 Great Advent Music Resources

Advent begins this coming Sunday, November 27th. It has quickly become one of my favorite seasons of the Christian calendar, and each year, I come across different music resources for those designing worship for the practice of Advent in their communities. Here are three Advent albums I hope to make use of this year: 

1. A Child is Born - Sojourn Music: This is the second Advent album released by this band of musicians in Louisville, and like its predecessor, the album wrestles well with the tension of waiting and arrival in the Advent/Christmas season. Very musical, very creative. A great source of ideas for planning this season. 

2. Half Spent Was The Night - Redeemer Community Church: Redeemer is a young church in the Birmingham area with a growing depth of liturgical resources coming out of their community. This is their first recording project, a number of fresh, simple folk arrangements of hymns and songs from time past and their current journey. A lot of talent, and a lot of great content for a gathering. 

3. Volume 3: From The Belly of a Woman - The Opiate Mass: On first listening, you may not know what to do with this group, but the more I listen, the more I am stunned by some of their musical and theological ambitions. Check them out, especially the opening track, an arrangement of a portion of Handel’s Messiah. Seriously.