Grace Covenant Worship – You Are God (EP)

Grace Covenant Worship
You Are God (EP)
www.gracecov.org

By Bob Marovich

Grace Covenant Worship in Chantilly, Virginia, is a self-described “multi-ethnic, multi-site, multi-racial church.” Its sacred music reflects the diversity of its membership.

Although its lyrical content is 100 percent praise and worship, the church’s new four-track EP, the live recording You Are God, shifts musically from the P&W-gospel hybrid “You First Loved Me” to straight-up CCM on “I’ll Worship” to the Latin infused bilingual “Te Alabamos.”

Singer-songwriter Tifani Fields, the church’s worship leader, renders the title track, an extended worship ballad she co-wrote with worship pastor Robert Ellis, with characteristic charm.  The song’s simple melody and lyrics cry out for a singalong and the congregation follows suit.  If “You are God” is the singalong, Jamie Carter’s “I’ll Worship,” a ballad written by Ellis, is more of a solo moment, although she receives ample support from the ensemble.

For my money, however, “You First Loved Me” is the standout selection, with its zesty, pulsing tempo and hand-clapped backbeat punctuating the choruses.  Robert Ellis’s lead vocal infuses gospel techniques that distinguish songs like this from pure P&W/CCM material (isn’t that a whopper of an acronym?).

Whether or not P&W is your thing, Grace Covenant Worship’s music ministry does it well and with grand flourishes.

Four of Five Stars

Pick: “You First Loved Me”