Peter's Journey

I began to worship God in a musical sense at the age of ten when I joined my local parish church choir as a treble. During that time, I received voice training at the Royal School of Church Music at Addington Palace and went on to become a Dean's Chorister and Assistant Head Chorister of my church's choir. I had the privilege of singing at Rochester Cathedral in the United Kingdom and on one occasion at the Royal Albert Hall on Remembrance Sunday. My first instrument, apart from my voice, was the clarinet and I am now learning to play the piano. I have also played since the age of thirteen the acoustic guitar and it is this instrument I primarily use to write songs and lead worship.

Although I prayed and genuinely believed that I was serving God as a chorister, it was not until the age of twelve that I was born again. My school had a Christian headteacher and a number of teachers who were very open about their Christian faith. The Religious Studies teacher had established a Christian Union for the boys and this would meet each morning before school for prayer, after school on Thursday evening to pray and worship and then at Friday lunchtime to worship and hear the word of God taught. I was invited to attend these meetings by a friend who was a Christian. One of the members of the Christian Union, a boy in the year above me, explained to me the Gospel and gave me a Gospel tract. That night, by torchlight under my bed covers, I prayed the prayer at the end of the tract and gave my life to Jesus.

I began to write Christian worship songs one rainy afternoon in April 1998 not long before I got married to Norohasina in the August of that year. I had four melodies I had composed, but no words, and Norohasina added the lyrics! My wife continues to be my main source of encouragement and wise criticism of my songs. She is particularly sensitive to lyrics and will quickly spot those phrases and lines that lack doctrinal integrity or are aesthetically weak. Invariably, she is right!

Attending the live worship recording of the ground-breaking Vineyard UK album Hungry in 1999 revolutionised my understanding of how worship could sound and what it could lyrically express. It was this experience that was the catalyst to start writing songs for God's glory on a regular basis. I began to write songs that in a sense reflected the Vineyard influence: using Vineyard's preferred chord shapes and seeking authentic intimacy with God through the lyrics. I now currently have over a hundred songs registered with CCLI and have used my songs when leading worship in local churches. 

I am not a great fan of competitions because I have never been fortunate enough to win one, but in 2007 I decided to try my luck at the UK Songwriting Competition. To my great surprise, I was placed as a semi-finalist in the Gospel/Inspirational category  with the song,  ‘I Need You More', which you can download and listen to on this web-site. The other entry, ‘Who is This?' was placed in the highly recommended class, and this too can be downloaded from this web-site.

At the moment I am primarily focused on raising my young son, Joel, and studying for a PhD in Christian philosophy and Apologetics. I am sure that in the midst of all this, I will find time to continue writing.

I respect and admire the work of a large number of worship leaders and songwriters. Anyone who regularly leads worship, pastors other musicians and writes songs solely for God's enjoyment has my respect. Of those who are well-known for this, a number of names spring to mind. First, there is David Ruis whose heart and passion for God is obvious from the way he pours out his worship to God. Much like his biblical namesake. Robin Mark writes songs that create a strong sense of Christian community. Godfrey Birtill's songs have an uncompromisingly prophetic edge.  Vicky Beeching has retained her humility in the midst of considerable and much deserved artistic success. Brian Doerksen is the most profound teacher on the topic of worship and worship leading I have ever encountered. I could mention many more, but the most important thing is that God knows their hearts and will reward them in the fullness of time.

I hope our songs are a blessing to you and useful in your own quest to serve and glorify God who is the Giver of all good things.