The annual Asbury Worship Collective live album serves as a time for students to showcase original worship songs, which are recorded live during the event. The entire album is written, recorded and produced by Asbury Students. This year’s album is called “Jesus Be.”
“The vision for this year that was on my heart was to facilitate more vertical worship,” said Lauren Wilding, producer of this year’s album. “Worship that is all pointed to God and who He is and what He has done. I truly believe this unifies the body of Christ in powerful ways when we all fix our eyes on Jesus and glorify the Lord alone during our corporate time of worship. We also wanted to write songs that are congregational, especially for the live night, so that everyone can worship even if it is their first time hearing the song.”
This year’s band has been working since last summer, when they began writing for the album. Unlike in previous years, when album band songs were not released until months after the recording, this year’s band had the opportunity to release an EP early so that students could become familiar with the songs before the night of the live recording.
The album and live recording do not simply serve as performances, but as a ministry opportunity.
“There is a lot of fundraising and detail involved, but when it comes down to it, our purpose is to share the light of Christ through the songs we have written, bringing encouragement and hope to those who hear them,” said Ruby Price, producer for next year’s album. “We want the songs to be ones people can resonate with, honestly sing along to and believe in.”
Viewing this album as an opportunity for ministry rather than performance has impacted every part of the process of writing, recording and producing the album.
“For campus, we really pray into the writing process to discern how to minister to the students, and what may be happening spiritually. Since we are a collective with the University, our focus is to minister to the campus, especially with the live performance, then the surrounding areas, and those who stream worldwide,” said Wilding.
As the performance approaches, anticipation continues to build among both the cast and the campus community.
“The collective has been working very hard on this all year and is so excited to share our hearts with campus and ultimately minister to Jesus,” concluded Wilding. “We are praying that through this night, people will have space to see/experience Jesus in new ways, worship wholeheartedly, and process [and] reflect on their personal testimony to identify areas where Jesus has divinely led them or been present.”
This year’s live recording will take place on March 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Miller BlackBox Theatre. Tickets can be purchased in person or online through https://our.show/jesusbe.
