Celebrating the Union of Music & Message
Project Origins
Radiant’s first music endeavor was the “Rock for Water Tour” in 2006. Pastors Travis and Tiffany Aicklen visited Sudan and came back with a vision to grab a handful of songwriters and musicians from Radiant along with John Mark McMillan and Aaron Strumple to tour and raise money to build wells in Africa. After a successful tour, they returned again to Africa.
Radiant’s first sermon series music project was in 2010. Travis Aicklen, Lead Pastor of Radiant Visalia, commissioned a couple from the church, Daniel and ReNelle Rice, to create art work and a music score to accompany the full reading of the book of Nehemiah! This was given as a gift to every family in the church. In 2015 Radiant presented a sermon series on the book of Acts. Jerrod Turner, Lead Pastor of Radiant Tulare, had the great idea to write songs based on the book of Acts and use the proceeds for church planting and missions.
The Jubilee Church 'Psalms of Summer' series was a nine-week study that began in late May of 2021. Each week’s sermon focused on one of the Psalms, with an accompanying song and music video that was released via YouTube. What resulted was a completed album of storytelling as unique as the various writers, musicians and worship leaders who helped to create it.
Jubilee Church’s ‘Psalms of Summer’ Playlist
The Creative Process
Monica Stahl and team reached out to a dozen song writers who were eager and ready to help. There were several seasoned writers that were able to produce songs in a matter of weeks and they began recording in the studio. Some songs were written out of personal testimony, some captured stories like the blind man at the Gate Beautiful, some songs were a cry for wind and fire! Radiant sent the proceeds from the album to the New Frontiers churches in Turkey and Eastern Europe.
"For us, the process looked like gathering writers and sitting together in a living room sharing vision and throwing courage on each other. Then writing, sharing, submitting, and sometimes collaborating. It is such a vulnerable process, so creating and maintaining a safe, honest, honoring atmosphere, free of comparison or competition was essential. Then more risk and courage to step into the studio!
We tried to involve as many people as we could from our team for ‘Minor Prophets.’ We've done things in the past that felt too exclusive and we wanted to avoid that with this one. We have a lot of talented musicians and songwriters, so it was fun collaborating and just getting people in a room and seeing what happens.
This is always a very fun process; you go in feeling a little nervous and intimidated and come out championed and celebrated! These projects have not only produced some incredible songs that encourage the church and support the mission, but have also been a real team building experience!"
- Monica Stahl
"We took a VERY different approach to this project than anything we've done in the past when it comes to the writing process, as well as arranging the music and recording. We decided from the very start that we wanted these to be pretty raw and personal, both lyrically and musically. There's not a lot of bells and whistles in the arrangements. Some of the songs are very stripped back and simple. The lyrics, much like the Psalms themselves, deal with very personal issues like identity, depression, anxiety, and shame, while also carrying a tone of hope, joy, peace, healing, and praise.
For each Psalm in the series, we delegated it to one of our Worship Leaders and they were able to decide the specific writing process and approach for that song. Some gathered other Worship Leaders and musicians to collaborate, others wrote the song start to finish from their own personal experience with it, and everything in between. Once the song was written and we got an idea for the vibe/style, we would recruit a band to help arrange and record it. We would send out a simple demo to them, show up mid-week, and hit the ground running. We arranged and recorded each song in one night. It was crazy, but also a TON of fun." - Jordan Dillon
Radiant Church Visalia’s ‘Minor Prophets’ playlist
With Heart & Soul
In 2020 when Covid hit and the quarantine began. Monica reached out to song writers asking them to begin to ask God for songs in this season. Travis announced that Radiant would be doing a sermon series on the Minor Prophets.
“I immediately felt like we were supposed to pivot and write songs. I felt excited and also very intimidated at the thought of tackling such intense themes in scripture. This album was tackled differently than the previous two. During Covid we had a small consistent worship team. We would record a Sunday service worship set and then do a live recording of a ‘Minor Prophets’ song. We wrote and recorded as the series went along! And at the end of the series once again donated proceeds; this time going to justice missions going along with the themes of Justice throughout the ‘Minor Prophets.’
As we have continued to write and produce through the years it has opened the door for more writers to risk and grow and share their songs. Most recently one of our young adults, Elexa Sierra wrote and recorded a song from Isaiah and hopes to co-write an album inspired by the book of Isaiah. We currently have a new discipleship school at Radiant called Gap Year. I am hosting the worship internship program and have plans to collaborate with the media internship team to create some content with fresh songs from our young adults.” - Monica
“We've enjoyed leading many of these songs live during worship times at Jubilee and look forward to doing that more, and we've also been so encouraged to hear stories of how ‘Psalms of Summer’ has already impacted many. We don't take it lightly that we're giving people words to sing during the highs and lows of life. We have no set plans yet for future projects at this time, however we have tossed around ideas of recording a live album from a worship night we're scheduling for the start of next year, which we'd hope to include some of these songs on, and the potential of actually releasing some studio singles of some as well. You'll just have to stay tuned though!” - Jordan
Samples of Jubilee and Radiant album art
Jordan’s Tips for Crafting Original Worship Music
Be yourself - that's enough - don't try to be anyone else. Hillsong is amazing...Elevation Worship...Chris Tomlin...Maverick City...all of them are absolute blessings to the church. But diversity is one of the most beautiful things in the Kingdom of God. Learn from others, let others influence and inspire what you do, but you be you! God made each of us unique, therefore we each have something unique to contribute towards the glorious everlasting song of heaven. Find what that is and run with it!
Collaborate! - Songwriting can be a nebulous puzzle at times. Lyric, melody, concept, music, arrangement, production, and recording are all variables in the songwriting process that have to all come together in the right way to have a quality "product" (for lack of a better term). Some people are more skilled in specific areas than others and it's in the beauty of collaboration where you actually begin to see songs start to fire on all cylinders. It requires some humility and people skills, but it's a blast once you into the rhythm of it.
Write! - A LOT! - songwriting, whether in a secular or Christian context, is like any other art or skill - it requires practice. Get in the habit of viewing every life experience through the lens of how it could translate into song. Keep notes of potential lyrics, titles, hooks, or melodies that come to mind and start filling up your phone! Writing is much easier when you have a fully stocked fridge of good ideas and content to pull from.
Remember, it's about Jesus! - Worship is about Jesus. It's obvious, but sometimes we forget that. If songwriting becomes a means to any other end besides getting closer to Him and knowing Him more, then we've missed it. That's the beauty of songwriting! It's an opportunity to dive deep into scripture and prayer, to think deeply on different biblical themes and the characteristics of Christ. It also adds logs to the fire of our own personal worship to God. Then, it feels less like work and more like joy!
Get Music!
Jubilee Church’s ‘Psalms of Summer’ album is available on all music streaming platforms. Check it out on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and YouTube!
Get Radiant’s ‘The Minor Prophets’ on Bandcamp
