Over the past 25 years, I’ve written dozens and dozens of worship songs that have been sung at my home church, Oak Hills. Some of them were okay, some were good, and some were both meaningful and memorable to some degree. The thing is, I’ve never recorded any of them. Mostly because these songs weren’t written for any grandiose purpose; They were composed simply as an expression of love to God by a local body of believers. A church family.

But now I’m feeling the desire to record these songs. Perhaps it’s because that’s just one of the things I do to be creative. Or maybe I want to preserve these songs for posterity, whatever that might mean. But there’s a little more to it than that.

I’ve decided to use this project as an opportunity to bring together some of the musicians I’ve had the privilege of worshiping with over the last forty years. My hope is to share the recording process with these folks—from arranging in pre-production, to recording in the studio, to performing at a worship concert. I’m excited at the possibility of reuniting with friends—some spread across the country—to share this music one more time. I hope to do all the arrangements and pre-production this fall, with recording in early 2026, and perhaps a worship concert to release it.

I hope to run this project through GS STUDIO, a Sacramento-based recording studio affiliated with Good Shepherd Church Sacramento and managed by world-class producer Chris Long. As a side note, this studio is associated with The Immerse Collective, which I’m affiliated with (check it out!). The working title of this project is “Further Up, Further In,” which is one of the worship songs I’ve composed, borrowed from a phrase from C.S. Lewis’ “Last Battle.”

According to Chris, so much of the modern worship music performed in churches today isn’t primarily composed for congregational singing. It’s written for radio airplay. And I guess that makes sense, knowing that the current Christian worship industry operates with big budgets, sophisticated media presence, and international reach. And that’s fine. But I have always been a proponent of local churches creating original music that reflects the personality and subculture of the local church. And I think these songs really do that—they personify our quirky, unique congregation, are meaningful to us as a community, and reflect our mission statement: To experience the present reality of the Kingdom of God.

So I’m excited about this. Excited to re-imagine and record these songs. Excited to share the experience with my musician friends. And excited to share them with my church family as well. I hope that you can get excited as well.

Some of you know that I have a non-profit ministry called MANUEL LUZ MINISTRY. This non-profit allows me to do ministry outside of Oak Hills—from speaking/lecturing to missions trips to writing books to touring. This worship project will be financed through this non-profit, so all monies donated to the Worship Album are tax-deductible. If you’d like to donate, please hit the link and scroll to the bottom. Thanks!

Update: We’re about 61% of the way toward our fundraising goal! Thanks to all who have participated. We couldn’t do it without you!

[Banner photo by Caught In Joy on Unsplash. Inset photo 1 is a sketch of a song later recorded by the Immerse Collective. Insert photo 2 is a recent worship service at Oak Hills Church.]