Grand Canyon University's Canyon Worship Releases New Album
Canyon Worship’s new album is now available on digital platforms.
Every September, the student-led worship team from Grand Canyon University shares the songs and voices of their students in a highly-anticipated album. This year’s album, Canyon Worship 2021, is an album that points listeners to Christ as the answer to every circumstance.
"This album is meant to encourage the Church with modern worship songs focused on the need for Christ. Only He satisfies," says Randall Downs, Worship Arts Coordinator for Grand Canyon University.
Songs on the project include Take up My Cross, Forevermore, You Choose Me, In the Waiting, All I Want, You My God, In Brokenness, Swept up in Your Wonder, Still Good, and By Grace Through Faith.
Produced by Geoff Hunker and Dave Wiley (Satellites & Sirens) and penned by a number of students including Madison Russell, Amanda Riffe, Nicole Raum, Elaina Marchegger, Chandler Blue, Emma Mondello, Austin Bratton, Nicole Jasperse, Nicole Schwartz, and Joseph Vaught, the collection of songs represents the best of the best from a talented pool of writers.
For Writer Madison Russell, All I Want is especially personal. Written during the height of 2020 in the midst of a challenging freshman year, Russell laid down her disappointment and picked up her pen after experiencing a pivotal moment with the Lord.
"When the pandemic started, in-person learning was canceled, students were sent home, and I had to finish my freshman year in an online format. Many things that I had personally been looking forward to were wiped off the table. Everything was so chaotic and I started to feel disheartened and defeated," Russell shares. "But there was a particular moment where I was sitting in my room back in Arkansas, 20 hours away from school, and I sensed the Lord saying, ‘Draw near to me, and I will restore your joy’. That day, I started to write a simple verse about fixing our eyes on the Lord and aligning our hearts with His. This became the first few lines of All I Want."
Moments like Russell’s, among others on the album, carry a message of hope and longing throughout, serving as a springboard for others to experience joy and restoration.
"I hope that anyone who listens is reminded of the great joy that comes from the presence of the Lord," says Russell. "When we lay aside the things of this world and direct our focus to Him, He satisfies every need and desire."
