Salvationist Song Writing: Laura Rowsell

How is The Salvation Army cultivating new worship music today? One way is through Salvation Worship, a publication of the Canada and Bermuda Territory. 

Laura Rowsell, worship ministries director at Glenmore Temple in Calgary, is one of the contributors to Salvation Worship. In this episode of the podcast, she talks about her song-writing process and why it’s important for the Army to cultivate its own worship music identity.

To learn more about Salvation Worship, visit salvationworship.com.

Laura's song: Take My Life (I Am Yours)

Transcript

Kristin Ostensen  

This is the Salvationist podcast. I’m Kristin Ostensen. Over the years, The Salvation Army has been blessed to have many incredible composers among our ranks, and many of their compositions are captured in resources such as The Salvation Army song book. But Psalm 96 also encourages us to sing a new song. So how is the Army cultivating new worship music today? One way is through Salvation Worship, a publication of the Canada and Bermuda Territory. Five volumes of Salvation Worship have been released so far, and a new one is coming in July.

Laura Rowsell, worship ministries director at Glenmore Temple in Calgary, is one of the contributors to Salvation Worship. And in this episode of the podcast, she talks about her song-writing process and why it’s important for the Army to cultivate its own worship music identity. Be sure to stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear Laura’s song, Take My Life (I Am Yours).

Hi, Laura. Thanks so much for joining us on the Salvationist podcast today.

Laura Rowsell  

Hi, Kristin. Thanks for having me. It's awesome to be here.

Kristin Ostensen  

So, can you start off by just telling us a little bit about yourself? Did you grow up in the Army? How did you get involved in music ministry?

Laura Rowsell  

Well, my parents are officers, and I grew up in Newfoundland, and they started me off singing when I was really young, so I've been singing in church ever since I can remember. And, of course, I was a part of the band when I was old enough to do so. And so that's been a big part of my life. And I started playing guitar when I was in Grade 7, I think. So, after I started playing guitar, I started, I guess, writing songs a little bit more, that kind of thing. And so, music’s always been a part of my life. It's just been something that's kind of just been naturally there. So I guess I credit my parents for getting me to sing when I was really young. And so that kind of just became my ministry, I guess. That's just what I've always done. So yeah.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, makes sense. And when did you start worship leading specifically?

Laura Rowsell  

Worship leading specifically—I think I started when I was in junior high, I think I started to do it a little bit. But when I was in high school, we lived in Gander, Newfoundland, and we had a youth pastor there, and he kind of pushed me a little bit to do it because, obviously, I was nervous and didn't know if I could do it or not. So, he kind of pushed me a little bit, and so that's kind of where I really started to do it. And so, we did it, like, regularly there in our worship team. And then, we worked at camp—I worked at camp and my husband worked at camp. That's where we met. So there, I did a lot there. So that's kind of, I guess, after high school, it just kind of became like a regular thing that I did. And so, yeah, and then it just kind of morphed into a career. So it's been really fun. So yeah.

Kristin Ostensen  

That's great. And when did you first start writing worship music.

Laura Rowsell  

Writing worship music—I have been sort of writing songs since I was really young but, like, no one ever really heard them. So, I’d write songs with my friends, like we would just get together and just write songs and just sing them for each other or whatever. And in different parts of my life, I've written songs—Scripture and stuff like that—that I've sung just for myself. And I remember I did write a song when I was in college that was a worship song that I only sang for one other person. But I haven't really written a lot of worship music. So, I don't know. I’ve probably only written a couple of worship songs that that I would consider worship songs, I guess. But obviously, I love worship music, and it's something that I am passionate about, and I would like to write more.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah. Can you tell us a little about your creative process when you are writing?

Laura Rowsell  

I get inspired a lot by different things. And I find myself like, if I sit down to try to write a song, and I'm not feeling inspiration, I cannot do it. It just does not work for me. But if I watch something, or I'm with a group of people and we're having good conversation, and stuff like that, and I get inspired, it's like a totally different thing. It's like, Oh, I could go and write that song right now because it's just there. Whereas if I try to do it, it does not work for me. So it really is like, I have to be inspired by something, and then, usually, I just find that a melody will come and then words will come with it. It's just pretty natural like that, if I'm inspired by something.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, that makes sense. How would you say the songs that you write reflect your own walk with God?

Laura Rowsell  

Well, I tend to be a pretty vulnerable person. I find that when people are vulnerable, that's how I connect with them, and how I connect with God because, through their vulnerability, I understand my relationship with God more. So, I tend to be more like that when I'm songwriting. So, I would say most of the time, I go to a pretty vulnerable place and I let people know kind of like where I am in my relationship with God. So, I would say that it usually really reflects wherever I am in my relationship with God. Usually that's where I'm writing from—out of a point of vulnerability. Whether I'm in a good place or in a not so good place—yeah, usually, that's reflected in whatever I do.

Kristin Ostensen  

So, when you are writing, are there any themes that are particularly meaningful to you, things that you come back to, or sort of patterns you notice in terms of what you write about? 

Laura Rowsell  

Yeah, I guess, grace is a big one that I find that is usually always an undertone in any song that I've written, because, I guess I'm always like, How could God loves someone like me, a sinner like me? And that's always kind of, like, where I'm coming from. So, it's always like, God is so full of grace that he could love someone like me. And this song has actually been going through my mind recently, about redeeming love. And that theme is something that I always come back to. It's like, he completely redeems us because we can't, we're nothing without him. So yeah, that is always the theme that’s sort of like running through everything that I sing, everything that I do. Yeah, grace is a huge thing.

Kristin Ostensen  

And on a practical level, how do you know if a song is going to work in a congregational setting? Because, of course, many songs are beautiful, but not everything does work. And so, in terms of both songs you've written but also songs you come across in the worship music sphere?

Laura Rowsell  

Well, I guess I look at sing-ability. A lot of the worship songs that are written are really not practical songs that congregations can sing because of the range, and the melodies are often complicated. So that's definitely one of the points. But I think, if it's something that we can sing corporately, and it's not, like, extremely personal, because a lot of the time, songs will be written that are extremely personal too, and so we can't really sing them corporately, right? So, I look for songs that are easy for us to sing corporately, songs that are pointing to God, songs that are solely about God, praise to God—those types of songs. And obviously, there have to be songs that are also moments of reflection, which we use. But yeah, I find that I just look for stuff that is easy for the congregation to sing, that the range is not too crazy. And that, obviously, the theology is sound. That's important. And yeah, just songs that we can sing as a church body, that mean something to us.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, that makes sense. And can you tell us about the song you contributed to Salvation Worship, which is called Take My Life (I Am Yours)? What was going on in your life when you wrote it, and what inspired you?

Laura Rowsell  

OK, so that song, I had been looking at the words of Take My Life for a long time and just thinking, I love those words. And I was thinking, I wonder if I could write something, some kind of melody, and a chorus that goes with it that would just change it a little bit. And I had been doing that for a long time—like, just reading the words and reading words and trying to figure something out. But during the pandemic, this day, I was at home, and we had just watched our online service. And I was sort of just sitting on my couch with my guitar, just, like, noodling. And this melody just came to me—the whole thing just came to me, like, in this moment, and I was like, OK. So, it really was, like, this moment of inspiration from God, just from what I just heard from our service and the place that I was in at the moment. Obviously, because we were in the midst of the pandemic, isolated from everybody else, and really just feeling like I didn't know where to go. I just felt so defeated. And the chorus says, “I am yours, even when the doubt sets in, even when I'm running in the opposite direction.” And that was kind of where I felt like I was at because I was doubting. Because we need community, obviously—like, I felt like I needed that community, and we didn't have it at that point. And so, the doubts were coming more easily, and I felt like I kept running to social media, and all these news outlets—whatever I could find, to try to find some hope that, you know, things were going to get better. But I wasn't running to God. And so, I just felt like I was running in all the wrong directions. And so that was my very honest, obviously, where I was at, at that point. And God just reminded me in that moment that he was still there, he was always standing next to me in the midst of that trial. So yeah, those words all just came so naturally. And obviously, it was God speaking to my heart at that moment.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, and I think a lot of us can relate to that because it was really hard, not being able to meet for so long. And it's so beautiful that we can actually gather and worship together again. 

Laura Rowsell  

Yeah, absolutely.

Kristin Ostensen  

And, of course, The Salvation Army has such a rich heritage of music making. Although, you know, we're a little bit more known, perhaps, for brass bands and our songsters. So, in terms of how you feel about worship leading and worship songwriting, why do you think it's important for the Army to cultivate that as part of our music ministry?

Laura Rowsell  

Well, honestly, I think I would have felt differently about this a few years ago, before Simon Gough and the team at THQ started doing the Salvation Worship thing. Because I always felt like, why do I need to write worship music when there are so many people out there who are writing great songs? So why do I need to do it? Why do I need to contribute? But I feel like God has things to say through all of us, like different things to say, and what I have to say may meet somebody in their journey differently than anything else that they would hear. So, you know, we can't ignore God speaking through each of us. And if he's asking each of us to do that, then I feel like we should. The Bible says, “Sing a new song unto the Lord.” So, I feel like each of us should take that, if we feel like we've been given the call to write a song. I feel like it could speak to anybody in any place that they're at in their lives. And I think it's really important for us to listen to that. And plus, not all songs that are written for people's churches are for everybody's church. So, you know, my church might need a different song than the church down the street does. So, I kind of know where my church is that, so if I write something that they need in that moment, then that will be important for them. So, I feel like it is important for us to each explore that and listen to God if he's telling us to do that.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, that's very true. And of course, even within the broader Christian world, The Salvation Army is its own movement, its own denomination, and we have our own sort of theology and ethos as well, right. 

Laura Rowsell  

Yeah. Absolutely.

Kristin Ostensen  

So yeah, it definitely makes sense that we would cultivate our own sort of songwriting to express that.

Laura Rowsell  

Absolutely. Yeah. And I feel like that's, in the Salvation Worship thing, that's definitely what's been happening because it does have its own identity. It's different than anything else. So, it's cool. Yeah.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, absolutely. And for yourself, what do you love most about songwriting?

Laura Rowsell  

I feel like it helps me to express things that I wouldn't know how to express otherwise, I guess. Yeah, things that I'm going through. And it brings me closer to God, honestly. It's really a way for me to talk to him that's different than anything else. So, I appreciate that about it.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, that makes sense. And you're kind of an up-and-coming Salvationist songwriter yourself, but thinking about others who might be thinking themselves about taking the plunge and giving it a go—what advice would you give your fellow Salvationists?

Laura Rowsell  

Well, I would encourage you, if you're doubting yourself and you're saying the same thing I did about, “All these other people are already writing songs so why would I try to do that?” I would say, you are unique and God has given you a voice that nobody else has. So, I feel like, he gives us each gifts and he has a calling on each of us. And so I feel like, even if you feel like it's not going to be a good enough song, compared to whatever, that doesn't matter at all. Really, what matters is that you're being true to God and true to yourself. And if you write a song and nobody else hears it, you've written a song to God that you can sing to God yourself. That's how I kind of feel about all of the songs that I've written, because most people haven't heard them, but it's still important for me to do it. And it's still special between me and God. So, I would say, Yeah, go for it. And you don't have to worry about whether or not people like it. It's really about whether or not is glorifying God.

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, no, that's absolutely great advice. And thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on songwriting. We're so happy to be able to spotlight Salvation Worship and encourage others to check it out. So, listeners, please have a look in the show notes for a link. And, Laura, thank you so much for your time today. It's been great to chat with you.

Laura Rowsell  

Yeah, you're welcome. It's been awesome to be here. Thank you. 

Kristin Ostensen  

Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Salvationist podcast. For more episodes, visit Salvationist.ca/podcast. To learn more about Salvation Worship, visit salvationworship.com. And now, here’s Take My Life (I Am Yours), by Laura Rowsell.

[music]

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only for my King;
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.

’Cause I am Yours, even when the doubt sets in,
Even when I’m running in the opposite direction.
And I am Yours, when the night is dark and I can’t see,
You’re always standing next to me
And I am reminded that I am Yours,
That I am Yours.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

’Cause I am Yours, even when the doubt sets in,
Even when I’m running in the opposite direction.
’Cause I am Yours, when the night is dark and I can’t see,
You’re always standing next to me
And I am reminded that I am Yours,
That I am Yours.

I am Yours, 
I am Yours.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
’Cause I am Yours.