The worship team at Beach United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Florida known as “Eleven22” is making national headlines with their new project titled The Reason, which was inspired by the life of McKenzie Noelle Wilson.
McKenzie was a 15-year-old high school student who accepted Christ at an Eleven22 worship event. Several weeks later, she died unexpectedly from swelling in her brain.
In the midst of their grief, McKenzie’s family desired to help young people recognize their full potential by providing programs that encourage caring for others, giving to those in need, and growing in their faith. They created a foundation in her name, which is now making a significant impact globally.
As a tribute to McKenzie’s life, the worship band Eleven22 (comprised of Ben Williams, Jonathan Berlin, Gretchen Martin and Maria Dunlap) put together an album filled with songs that were inspired by notes they found written in her Bible.
“There’s a song on the album called The Reason, which talks about being angry and broken, but knowing that in the midst of these emotions, that God still loves us and He is there with us,” worship leader Ben Williams said. “Our community has gone through the pain of losing someone special to us, and in the midst of brokenness, we have to remember to be very honest with our emotions and cry out to the Lord during very difficult times.
“We hope the songs on this album will allow people to experience an authenticity in their relationship with the Lord. In the midst of pain, we want people to know there is healing and hope in the Lord. McKenzie’s life serves an inspiration for us to dig deeper with the Lord.”
All proceeds from this album benefit an orphanage and an abandoned baby home in Uganda sponsored by The McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation. More info on the orphanage is available through this website www.caregivegrow.org and on this video http://vimeo.com/27774812.
For information about the album, please visit www.eleven22worship.com
Some of the amazing ways that the McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation is impacting lives can be found below. As you read stories on the websites and watch the video, you’ll be inspired by how the legacy of McKenzie Noelle Wilson continues to live on and continues to stir the hearts of others towards Christ.
McKenzie Cares:
· Random Acts of Kindness – encourages teens to care for others and take in interest in the welfare of their community by doing acts of kindness and passing out Random Acts of Kindness cards.
McKenzie Gives:
· Volunteering as a mentor or tutor, at special events, or raising funds for non-profit organizations that support youth development.
· Volunteering gives teens a chance to support and get to know their community, while growing themselves.
· Teens can sign up to volunteer and track their community service hours for school at www.mckenziegives.org
McKenzie Grows:
· Workshops and concerts that guide teens to develop their character and actively practice their spirituality.
McKenzie Clubs:
· Uniting and mobilizing students to care for others through volunteering and charity.
· Teens are encouraged to start clubs in all middle schools, high schools, youth groups and in their community and to participate in group volunteering and charity projects.
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Guest Blog from Andrew Greer!
31 JanSinger/songwriter Andrew Greer releases Angel Band: The Hymn Sessions (MA’M Recordings) today. We’re celebrating his release week by by giving him a chance to share his personal thoughts with you about this project, which features a host of talented artists, including Cindy Morgan, Ginny Owens, Sonya Isaacs, The McCrary Sisters and more.
ANGEL BAND: MY STORY IN HYMNS
By Andrew Greer
Growing up in rural Texas, daily life was structured around work, school and church. Church services, meals and special events organized our weeks and provided a common meeting ground in the community. We celebrated and grieved a lot of life with the members of our local congregation. And though sound sermons resonated life-changing truths from the pulpit, it was the thoughtful poetry of hymns – marrying foundational truths with sweeping Americana melodies – that first introduced me to God, and continue a dialogue between my best Friend and me.
Songs like “Jesus Paid It All” and “Softly and Tenderly” remind me of God’s grace through the death of Jesus. “The Lord’s Prayer” and “All Creatures of Our God and King” give me words to pray when I am struggling to connect with my Creator. With life-like lyrics (“And He walks with me / And He talks with me”), “In the Garden” intimates the Almighty – reminding me God is a personal friend, not just a distant judge.
As a singer/songwriter, I’ve been asked, Why record an album of cover songs? Hymns tell as personal of a story for me as any of my original tunes. So it was a no-brainer to cull, arrange and record a batch of these historic – but relevant – tunes on Angel Band: The Hymn Sessions. To insert a little of my own lyrical voice, I decided to contribute one original song (“I’ve Been Searching”), as well as write a new verse to a couple of hymns, keeping the melody intact, in hopes the listener will merely hear it as “the third verse” they never heard.
Having been sung corporately for hundreds of years, these songs connect us to the stories and lives of millions of passengers of faith, gifting us with a timeless, multi-generational connect. Wanting to capture the communal nature of hymns, I invited some of my close musical friends to make Angel Band a true community response.
Sonya Isaacs’ famous tearful soprano helps carry the title track, an early 1900’s tune introduced to me in a 2003 recording by her family bluegrass band, The Isaacs. Considering my awe for her artistry, it was a rare honor to have her vocal bring the recording of this song (and “Softly and Tenderly”) full circle for me. Ron Block (from Alison Krauss & Union Station) and his world-famous banjo reinterpreted “The Lord’s Prayer” in a way that helped me not just sing the model prayer, but actually pray the lyric of Jesus: “Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”
One of my first songwriter influences in Christian music was Cindy Morgan. As we’ve become friends, Cindy and I have had conversations about anxiety and its sometimes-hold on our work and lives. So I wrote the second verse of “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” a duet with Cindy, with her voice in mind, and as a spiritual focus for days of fear: “Though death it shall come in one moment / Forever in him life we share / Though my bones are anxiously groaning / My soul has not one single care / Turn your eyes upon Jesus . . .”
The legendary McCrary Sisters fulfilled a young white boy’s dream of singing Black Gospel so poignantly (“Jesus Paid It All”). And my dear friend Ginny Owens, who lost her sight as a toddler, gave “I Am Thine/Near the Cross” a poignant lift, as both songs were written by Fanny Crosby, a prolific mid-19th century songwriter who was also blind.
Sandra McCracken, Marc Scibilia, Julie Lee, even my own mom, also helped me tell this story of faith in a context more beautiful than I could have created on my own.
Hymns are messy. And life has been a bit messy for me. I would imagine for you, too. And with our modern culture’s obsession with me-centered techniques of self-help, it is a relief to sing songs born from the distress of the authors’ often trauma-riddled lives, but always pointing to a bigger picture – to an eternal help in surrender to Jesus, the Christ.
For more info on Andrew and Angel Band: The Hymn Sessions, visit www.andrew-greer.com.