Online Advent Resource
A few years ago, I was singing a well-known hymn at my corps. I took a moment to stop and study the lyrics that often fly by at quite a speed. I needed to take time to read through each word and try to understand what the composer was trying to say through their carefully crafted and God-inspired lyrics. Shortly after that Sunday morning, I had the idea to create a video devotional series based on our Salvation Army Songbook. I hoped that listeners would grasp the meaning and theology behind the lyrics as well as the message that was trying to be conveyed. I chose to focus on Lent, Thanksgiving and Advent. We have now produced a great number of daily video devotionals that contain a song performance and spoken word that goes along with it. The series has grown substantially over the last couple of years with many thousands of viewers.
This coming Advent season presented a challenge in that I felt I had exhausted the repertoire of well-known public domain carols and songs. I had a few options to choose from, but with the help of the wider International Salvation Army, we are excited to release a new song everyday starting on December 1st, 2020. Through combined efforts of Territorial Music Departments around the world, each new song will be accompanied by a short inspirational devotional from a Salvationist in their respective territory. We are happy to include some songs in Spanish and feature contemporary singer-songwriters from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South America West (Chile) and the four USA Territories. Additionally, as soon as the video is released on Facebook and YouTube, downloads will be provided of the entire video as well as the song performance, lead sheets and chord charts.
They can be found at www.usamusicwest.org/sa-devotionals.
We hope this will be especially useful during these unprecedented times of predominantly online services.
We are blessed with so many talented musicians within The Salvation Army and I am thrilled this platform is available to them. This is an opportunity to create, express themselves, and ultimately worship our Lord and Saviour.
Click on the links below to see the Songbook Devotional Series
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TSAsongbookseries
Written By
Kevin Larsson
Divisional Music Director
California South Division