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Drawing from his own personal experience as a local pastor working to help his congregation worship during what may be the busiest time of the year, Baloche says, “We all love the content of Christmas carols, but often they don’t facilitate a vertical expression of worship towards the Lord. So the idea of this album was to take classic Christmas carols that we all enjoy singing and combine them with modern worship choruses to encourage worship all throughout the Christmas season.”
Produced by Baloche, Michael Rossback and Ben Gowell, Christmas Worship features special guest vocals by Aaron Shust on “Follow That Star,” All Sons & Daughters on “King of Heaven,” Kathryn Scott on “This Is Love,” Onaje Jefferson on “Offering” and Jennifer Holm on “Prepare Him Room.” The album also features additional vocals by Rita Baloche, who further wrote “Prepare Him Room” and “Follow That Star” for the album.
In addition to his wife, Paul was joined in the songwriting process for Christmas Worship by such acclaimed writers as Jason Ingram, Lincoln Brewster, Graham Kendrick, Glenn Packiam and Kathryn Scott. These “contemporary” songwriters crafted new choruses to seamlessly blend with the great classic Christmas hymnody from writers such as Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, George Frederick Handel and John Francis Wade.
The full Christmas Worship track listing with corresponding songwriters follows:
01. Hark The Herald Angels Sing/King Of Heaven - Hark The Herald Angels Sing: Charles Wesley & Felix Mendelssohn. King Of Heaven: Paul Baloche & Jason Ingram.
02. Joy To The World/Shout For Joy - Joy To The World: Isaac Watts & GF Handel. Shout For Joy: Paul Baloche, Jason Ingram & Lincoln Brewster
03. Offering - Paul Baloche
04. O Come Emmanuel - Traditional, Paul Baloche
05. Angels Intro
06. Angels We Have Heard On High (Deo) - Traditional, Paul Baloche
07. What Can I Do (Christmas Version) -Graham Kendrick & Paul Baloche
08. Your Name - Paul Baloche & Glenn Packiam
09. This Is Love/Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (with Kathryn Scott) - This Is Love: Paul Baloche & Kathryn Scott. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus: Charles Wesley & Rowland Prichard
10. Follow That Star - Rita Baloche
11. Prepare Him Room - Rita Baloche
12. O Come All Ye Faithful/We AdoreYou - O Come All Ye Faithful: John Francis Wade & Frederick Oakeley. We Adore You: Paul Baloche & Tim Janis
Taking the new music on the road, Baloche’s touring/workshop/teaching schedule takes him around the world. In the coming months, he will hold Nights of Worship in Calgary, AB, Canada (10/18-19), St. Louis, MO (11/1-2), Seattle, WA (tba), Jacksonville, FL (12/14-15) and New York City (tba).
Best known for such modern classics as “Open the Eyes of My Heart,” “Above All,” “Hosanna,” and “Your Name,” Baloche’s songs have been recorded by numerous artists, including Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, Matt Redman and Philips, Craig & Dean. His songs are also sung by millions of worshippers around the world, with 21 of them included in the CCLI Top 500 list, indicating the songs most often used in North American churches.
In addition to writing, recording, touring and his role as worship pastor at Community Fellowship in Lindale, TX, Baloche has created a variety of teaching DVDs, along with many free resources designed specifically for worship leaders and musicians. He has also written the books, The Same Love: A Devotion (David C Cook) and God Songs –How to Write and Select Songs for Worship. He is a further a contributing writer for both Worship Leader and Worship Musician magazines and is a featured blogger on ChurchLeaders.com.
Related Links:
• Buy Christmas Worship Now!
Experiencing Worship, The Study