Louder Than The Music

Beth Croft is a regular worship leader at the Soul Survivor festival, and contributor to their live albums. We caught up with Beth to get her thoughts on worship music and what it takes to be a worship leader.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what your day job is?

I'm currently the worship director at Soul Survivor UK. So I spend a chunk of my time leading worship at different events around the UK, the main one being our summer festivals during July/August each year. I also spend time pastoring the worship team in our local church, Soul Survivor Watford which I love!

Soul Survivor seems to be going from strength to strength, what was the highlight of this summer's event for you?

The thing I love about the summer festivals is that every year without fail, God shows up, tons of kids come to know Jesus for the first time, people are healed emotionally and physically, lives are changed. It's a really amazing and humbling place to be. I also loved working with a fantastic bunch of musicians and singers this year. They all have such big, servant hearts and we had a lot of fun together.

How did you first come to be involved with Soul Survivor?

When I was a teenager, Lex Buckley really took me under her wing. At the time she was heading up the worship at Soul Survivor. To cut a long story short, she was a great friend to me - and still is - a real inspiration and an amazing worship leader. I began co-leading with her at several events and she always encouraged me to pursue my call in worship. Since then, it’s simply been about God’s timing and I love that my husband, Andy, and I now get to do this for a living!

Which new worship songs are you most excited about at the moment?

I know it's been around for a little while now, but every time I hear or sing 'How He Loves', it just gets me. It's such a simple truth, yet so often we just need to hear those words of affirmation from our heavenly Father.

In your opinion, what makes the perfect worship song?

I think God breathes on different songs for different seasons and different congregations. It's so exciting when a song really connects with people and gives them a vehicle to express their worship to God. Then it doesn't become about the song, or who wrote it, but all about the God it was written to, for and about.

You've appeared on a number of Soul Survivor albums and compilations, but will we see a Beth Croft album one day?

Songwriting is something that hasn't necessarily come naturally to me, but I do feel it is something God is calling out of me for sure. I have no idea what the future looks like for me as a songwriter. I'm just really keen to write when I've got something to say, rather than trying to bash out songs for the sake of it. So I try to carve out time to write new stuff and work on old ideas too. Undoubtedly, there is a huge element of hard slog involved as you take that initial idea and make it into something that others can sing as well.

If you could work with any song writer, who would it be and why?

We were privileged to have Phil Wickham lead at our summer festivals this year and I love the way he writes - his lyrics are so fresh, poetic and insightful.

What advice would you give to any aspiring worship leaders out there?

If you're just starting out leading worship, I'd say, don't underestimate the importance of preparation. Jesus spent 30 years of 'preparation' before doing only 3 years of ministry. So if you think you might be called to be a worship leader, use the season that you’re in to cultivate the heart of a worshipper. Spend time digging deeper into God, in private prayer and worship. None of that will be done in vain; He totally honours what we do in the secret place.

You're stuck on a desert island, it's hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your mp3 player. What track is it?

'Desert song' by Brooke Fraser would probably be the most appropriate in that situation... It's also a great song!

What does the next year hold for Beth Croft?

I'm doing a couple of overseas ministry trips in 2011 which I'm really looking forward to. Always love seeing what's going on in different parts of the world. I'm also thinking hard about how we can raise up the next young generation of worship leaders. There's lots to ponder on...!

The latest live album 'Soul Survivor - Light The Sky' is available now. [Special Offer]