Worship Leader Mitch Langley Shares About the Importance of Hymns, His Ministry, & New EP

Mitch Langley has been singing, worship leading, and songwriting for over 11 years now. He came to Christ on the campus of The University of Kansas in 2001 and that is where he started his musical journey. Langley has led worship on mission fields, in churches, coffee shops, and on the streets. Since then, Mitch has released three full-length records.  He has just released his brand new worship EP "Through It All." 

Hallels: Who is Mitch Langley?

I don't love speaking in third person about myself but Mitch Langley is a believer in Jesus, husband of 8 years to beautiful bride Kristi, father of 4 amazing boys, and a worship leader/songwriter for the local church. We currently reside in Lawrence, KS (go KU!) and I work full time at a church in Topeka, KS called Northland Christian Church. I grew up in a small town south of Kansas City where I went on to graduate from high school and attend the University of Kansas as a naive 19-year-old. It was at KU where I found Christ and was mentored by a guy who helped me develop into a worship leader for campus ministry.

I started writing worship music out of a heart to better connect with God personally but also to see students be transformed by the gospel as well. I love songwriting, recording music and just sharing about the power of the gift of God. Salvation found in Jesus is the greatest gift anyone can receive. That's a little bit about who I am!

Hallels:  How did you start off singing and recording? 

I sort of answered this question in my first answer but basically started singing for God after I got saved my freshman year on the campus at KU. Shortly after that I discovered some friends through the local church who eventually helped me record my first record. It sort of trickled down from there and each record has sort of grown out of different seasons in my walk with Christ. Through the highs and lows God leads us through.

Hallels: How is this EP different or similar to the other 5 records?

I think the best word that describes this new EP and why it is different is the word "fresh". Since this EP was co-written with a great producer/writer and friend Brian Hitt of Nashville, I believe we got the best of both worlds on this EP. Great production and great lyrical content. Sometimes a record can have a great feel and vibe but lack lyrical depth and originality. A great example of this is in the hymn we used. Come Thou Fount has the lyrical depth we need to enrich our theology, worship and growth with Lord. But we took a familiar tune and wrote an original chorus with a sing able melody and memorable lyrics.

It just works!

Hallels: What are hymns to us? Why re-imagine Come Thou Fount?

This is one of the coolest parts of the EP. When I started writing the first song for the EP, I called Brian and twisted his arm to write with me! And he humbly said yes! He said let's just do a 5 song EP and asked me to research some hymns I liked. We both sort of just fell on Come Thou Fount. I did some research online and didn't really find any new versions of this hymn. So we sort of took the Chris Tomlin approach and I wrote a new chorus to go with some amazing verses the hymn all ready had to offer. It fit really well together and Brian hit me back up with the vibe of the song in 4/4 instead of the original 3/4 time the hymn had. The cool thing was that the verses melody still worked in 4/4 so we could keep it close to the original feel but at the same time bring a fresh vibe to it.

We love hymns. A lot of hymns, in my opinion, are so rich in theology and help us draw closer to God at so many levels. Some of these songs we sing in churches have been being sung now for four-hundred years now so that carries a ton of weight. These songs just didn't hit the billboard top 40 then vanish into thin air. They have stood the test of time so I appreciate the vintage songs. It was so fun to bring a fresh vibe to the well-known hymn.

Hallels:  One of the songs I really like is "The Cross Has Made a Way." Talk to us about this song. 

Thanks Pastor Tim. I'm glad you have enjoyed the song The Cross Has Made A Way. The song closes the EP with the main message of the Gospel.

Jesus' finished work on the cross and His resurrection is where salvation is found. It's an amazing gift, from a perfect Savior. So we couldn't find it more fitting to end the EP with talking about forgiveness and where that is found. The world and different religions have many different offers and ways to God and achieving forgiveness. Most of them are through self effort and mere human goodness. But we know through what the apostle Paul spoke of in Galatians that a man is not justified by works or good merit. When we put our trust in Christ alone we are saved and forgiven fully from all sin.

It's the gospel and it's the greatest news we could ever promote or sing about.

Hallels: What is the inspiration behind the title cut "Through It All"? 

The inspiration behind the title track Through It All is really a personal journey I have been traveling. The local church I lead worship at is going through a lot of transitions and being a father of four boys there are many personal transitions and struggles.

Through It All brings a message of hope that no matter what we are going through, no matter how hard life gets we can choose to praise Him through it all. He holds us in His hand and not even for a moment does he let go or forsake us. God delights in us as we trust in Him through the storms of life and lift His name up. Is He worthy of all praise, for all time? I believe without a doubt He is the God of all creation and a God who is most worthy of all our praise!!!

Blessings to your ministry and thanks for asking me to share about this journey of how the EP became a reality!

Mitch Langley 

Musician/Songwriter www.mitchlangley.com

 

 

 

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