Irish Worship Band, "Rend Collective" Discusses the Joy of the Lord, and the "Art of Celebration"

Tiffany Jothen : Apr 24, 2014
BillyGraham.org

"Celebrating the fact that (through Christ) we are free from sin, free from condemnation. God created and commanded celebration." - Gareth Gilkeson, Rend Collective

EDITOR'S NOTE: Below are excerpts from an article by Tiffany Jothen, interviewing Irish worship band, 'Rend Collective' posted on BillyGraham.org. Click Here to read the full report. 'Rend Collective' can also be heard on ElijahStreams.com Internet Radio. –Aimee Herd, BCN. (Photo via BillyGraham.org)

It started a few years ago with a misty Irish morning at sunrise. Gareth Gilkeson was watching the ball of light on the horizon when he was suddenly overcome with a feeling of freedom.

"This uncontrollable urge took over me," he said. "I jumped to my feet and started sprinting through the fields like a wild man, laughing and crying with pure joy. That was my first taste of the art of celebration."

Gilkeson is one of five core members of the increasingly popular worship band Rend Collective, which released its fourth album The Art of Celebration on Saint Patrick's Day. The band has performed at several BGEA events and will be at The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in August.

Gilkeson met with BGEA on April 1 just before a concert with Kari Jobe in Fort Mill, SC. Wearing a white T-shirt and his signature hat, he emerged from a tour bus with a big smile and spunky "hello," then waded through some duffle bags and equipment strewn across the pavement…

…Rend Collective, born out of Northern Ireland, has quickly gained international attention. The Art of Celebration was an immediate hit, spending time at No. 1 as the best-selling album of any genre at iTunes and Amazon.com worldwide.

So what makes them so likable? So successful?

"I have no idea," Gilkeson said, but tries to answer anyway.

"We've always tried to pursue a connection with God rather than following the traditional norm," he said. For Rend Collective, that means being vocal about their struggles, their "humanness," and not worrying whether their music is perfectly polished. "That's all I got. Plus the Irish accents." (Photo via BillyGraham.org)

Rend fans relish their refreshing, high-energy, folk-worship music at a time when some people are bored with church and confused about God. And it's not just about the music; it's about worshiping God together. The band is big on community worship.

Unlike past albums, Rend Collective started this one with a concept—celebration—and then wrote the songs. The latest album centers around joy and celebrating who God is. Gilkeson quotes Nehemiah 8:10:

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Joy isn't the same as happiness, he said; it's deeper than that. When you have joy in the Lord, "your circumstances don't have the same power and the same control over you."

Worship music tends to focus on God's holiness, Gilkeson said, but doesn't always take that next step into celebrating it.

"Celebrating the fact that (through Christ) we are free from sin, free from condemnation," he said. "God created and commanded celebration."

It was Jesus Christ who celebrated weddings, attended feasts and rejoices over His people.

"Our God is the ultimate Artist of celebration, the Inventor of the party and the Healer of the broken," Gilkeson said…