NCC Worship On the Inspiration of Mark Batterson, Resourcing the Church, & Their New Album

Integrity Music announces ministry partnership with National Community Church (NCC) and releases globally NCC Worship's first label-distributed recording, You Alone, March 31 as a digital-only Worship Resource Pack. National Community Church is a multi-site church that meets in theaters around the Washington, DC metro area. NCC and its worship team, NCC Worship, exist to make the name of Jesus famous in our generation. To that end, NCC, much like its nonprofit partner, Integrity Music, will donate proceeds from the recording to carry forward that mission. 

Hallels: So grateful for your time. I am so looking forward to your new album "You Alone." For our readers who may not be familiar with you, tell us more about National Community Church and its worship team.

We are a multi-site church that meets in theaters around Washington, DC. We exist to make the name of Jesus famous in our generation and we are passionate about reaching the unchurched and de-churched in our city. We want to see the world transformed one life at a time through an encounter with Jesus Christ. Consequently, we are passionate about missions - local and international. In fact, we use the sales from one of our local initiatives, Ebenezers, a former crack house that we converted into a coffeehouse, to help fund our other missions projects.

NCC Worship is the worship arts and music ministry team for NCC, serving together and at each of our individual church sites. Our vision is "global revival through personal worship." God's presence is the catalyst for every move of the Holy Spirit... we don't need another great sermon, band or service. We need more of God's presence and we believe 2 Chronicles 7:14 is the key.

Hallels: I must admit that I love the writings of your lead pastor Mark Batterson. Is he involved in this project with the worship team?

All of the songs off this project were inspired from messages taught at NCC. Mark is our lead pastor, so he has a pretty big role inspiring the songs, and we refer to every message preached at NCC as lyric fuel. We love to turn the message into music, and make the word and worship one in the same. Most of Mark's books also have worship songs that we've written that coincide with his themes. For instance with his book "All In" I wrote a worship song that goes by the same title. With the "Grave Robber" our team wrote a song called "Faith to Believe." Both songs are available online for worship teams to use as a resource, whether their churches are doing small groups, or singing them in corporate worship services!

Hallels: How did you get to partner with Integrity Music for the release of "You Alone?"

Back in 2013, I took part in a project called "One a Worship Collective," which started my relationship with Integrity Music. Over the course of the next year, there was a natural partnership that developed, and it was obvious that God was orchestrating a way for the story of NCC and the sound of worship in Washington DC to be heard by the world.

Hallels: You have chosen to release the album of 5 songs with studio, stripped down versions and live renditions. Why are you offering these alternative versions?

We know that churches from many different sizes, backgrounds, and styles will hear this album, and our hope is that we can offer a resource that makes it possible for every church to lead these songs in an authentic way that makes sense in their congregations. That's the same reason we're doing devotionals, tutorials, and song-studies on this collection of songs. To take it beyond the music, and into the worship!

Hallels: As we are getting closer to Easter, one song that I believe would serve churches well for this season is "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today (He Is Not Dead)." What is the inspiration behind this song?

Newer renditions of hymns are becoming more and more a mainstay in our modern-day worship experiences. I never grew up with a huge knowledge base of hymns, so when I got to NCC my eyes were opened to many of the classic hymns, like "Come Thou Fount" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness." I come from a rock band background, so one thing I love to do is add new guitar lines, hooks, and write choruses to these wonderful hymns. Every Easter, along with thousands of churches worldwide, we lead the song "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," and I did a little update on it, with the new chorus "He is Not Dead." It's a huge anthem of our faith, declaring that we serve a LIVING God, and that Jesus Christ is our hope! After doing a live acoustic video of the song last year, we saw a huge response online, and knew that it was a song that needed to be on the album. I believe it's one we can sing, not only on Easter, but in many expressions of worship, declaring the Jesus Christ is the living King!

Hallels: I believe the sale of "You Alone" will be used in the development of a local Washington, DC "Dream Center." Tell us more about this Dream Center?

The DC Dream Center is a place dedicated to meeting both spiritual and tangible needs in our city. We believe that Jesus calls the church to be peacemakers and a people of reconciliation. We believe it will be a place where hope becomes habit, and all people can experience the life-changing power of Christ. We want to offer things like after-school programs, mentorships, and NCC Worship is stoked to be able to teach some music and recording classes to at-risk youth in our city.

Hallels: For our readers who would like to purchase "You Alone" and/or find out more about you, where can they go?

Beginning March 31, it will be available through all major digital service providers like iTunes and Amazon.

 

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