PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Ryan Loche: Welcome to the Church Collective Podcast. In this episode, myself and Chris had the opportunity to talk with John Saul and Tiffany from Elevation Worship. It’s always awesome to talk to the guys from Elevation on the podcast. I think you’re gonna love it. Here we go.
Jonsal Barrientes: One of the things right now that we’re doing as a ministry is we’re getting a, the chance to go.
We’re basically taking Elevation Church into different cities across the US right now, and we’ll, we’ll show up and meet at a, a venue or a theater and Actually one of my favorite times we’ve, we’ve gone to San Antonio, which is my hometown. That’s where I’m from. Go Texas. To all the Texas listeners we’re going down the street to go grab a coffee.
Of course, as worship leaders do. Absolutely. No judgment there. Bump into this this lady and she, pulls us aside. There’s a few of our team and she was like, Hey, I, I really want to just tell you. She’s like, thank you so much. She was talking about trusting God. She was saying like, I feel I was at a breaking point.
My family was falling apart. She’s, I had given up on church. She was, born and raised in I think the city is San Antonio, and she said, I really, I really wanted to give up and I felt like I, once I listened to one of these and, and worshiped in, in the context of Some of the music, she was like, it, it really helped me connect and, and I felt just like I needed that one moment and I needed that to, to just be reminded that God wasn’t done with me.
And so that it, it, I paused and I was blown away. For one, I felt like, Lord, what you’re doing in my hometown is, is huge to me, and I’m so thankful for that. But also it was such a beautiful reminder of the things that are unseen and. It’s so easy to you see a little promotional thing or you, you post a clip or you even get up on a weekend and, and you’re leading and, and you’re just like, I’m so focused on, let me get this right on the click.
Let me make sure this lyric is perfect. Let me make sure this arrangement. But if you don’t actually stop and look at lives and, and individuals in the room who God has called you to minister to, all that gets thrown out the window, right? It just becomes so about self. And that was a beautiful reminder because I needed that fuel.
Not only because is it about reaching people for the sake of, oh, I can say we reached, but the Lord was working and he on beat, thank you, Jesus, that he used these songs as a vehicle to tap into someone’s heart who was ready to give up. And so I feel like. Having that posture is important, but that, thank you for, to our friend who we bumped into for sharing that because yeah, just like, thank you Jesus for the opportunities of ministering.
And, and these songs, they mean. So much to so many people in our church. And so I’m thankful for that. We we have a worshiping church and yes, it’s so important. It, I think once you come in and, and experience that, there is no doubt, like we really do want to glorify. There’s a lot of excellence and we, we are proud and happy about that and there’s beautiful songs being written and arranged and produced, but I’m so thankful for the worshiping culture because there is.
Something that happens corporately in that atmosphere and the Lord can do something. So yeah, that’s, that’s been a recent thing that’s really blessed my heart. That’s killer. I’d love
Ryan Loche: to hear, you guys, there’s such a wealth of music for the church from you guys. Was there anything unique about this album to, all of the other ones before that?
Like what make, what was different for this one?
Jonsal Barrientes: Absolutely. Typically I feel like there’s a runway of. Pastor will write with, Chris and some of the team Tiff and we might get a chance to introduce a song early on before it’s ever recorded. And again, going back to just our church culture and our worship ministry, our church is they understand like, hey, they’re at any point we may sing a new song unto the Lord.
And so, what was interesting about, can you imagine, I. Leading into the week of, there were so many that we had not introduced. And so that’s always a little bit of a risk. But I think the, the beauty of the truths that we sang that night, We’re just very clear. It’s like, you can, you can jump on this and, and declare it over your life.
Yeah. So I think that was one of the biggest differences with this night. And it, it started as a worship night. Um mm-hmm. Back in January, we typically would have like a midnight pray service every year at midnight. And, and Pastor Steven, we didn’t do that this year as a church, and so he decided I wanted to invite everybody to a night of worship on January 10th.
And so that week leading up to it, I know we were shaping some songs to the very last moment around four 30. Yeah. Before Doors open. Wow. Just writing and, and arranging and making sure that everything was clear, melody wise. Yeah. And so, that, that’s a big difference with this project. But yeah,
Tiffany Hudson: I’d also add like, Our last Project Lion, was 15 songs and it was a blend of church songs and studio songs and sonically all over.
But what, what we feel like with Can You Imagine is it’s eight songs and they all really are amazing for church. Like, we’ve gotten to sing all of them in church and they’ve just connected so well with our people. And what’s so beautiful about doing this hand in hand with our pastor is he’s preaching messages every week that our church are really singing.
Kind of the same themes. Sure. The same scripture is like an anchor scripture for our church this year is Ephesians three 20. Like, unsa him, he was able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine like such a staple scripture. Yeah. Is now in a song that we’re singing and declaring over our church every week.
So we really feel in sync. Like as a church, our worship ministry is not just a separate thing over here doing our own thing, but it’s really in sync with the heart of our church, the heart of our pastor. So, yeah. Yeah.
Jonsal Barrientes: Were
Chris Bellamy: there any songs on, on this album that you had been doing for a while that had been Like that the church knew
Jonsal Barrientes: for a while.
So, trust in God in all the versions. We were actually singing a few different verses. That’s, I think there was probably one or two revisions, but and our
Tiffany Hudson: church has heard all three
Jonsal Barrientes: versions of it, so you could, I’m pretty sure maybe look back at the video and you can probably see maybe someone who’s like processing, wait a minute, this is not the same verse.
Mm-hmm. So we’ve been leading that song and also, More than able for a bit. Yeah. And again, as Tiff mentioned, like it was, it, it’s such a helpful it, it’s a corporate song in terms of it. We’re preaching this, we’re going through this as a study, as a church and for people to understand and attach a melody to these truths.
It was nice. And so those two were probably the, some of the more familiar ones.
Tiffany Hudson: And like John Sal said, like we pretty much circled a date on the calendar and said we’re gonna do a night of worship. And at that point we had two songs that were ready to be sung and recorded. Yeah. Other than that, the Lord truly did like, that week, like, help us figure out what songs are next and continue to write the songs.
And thankfully there ended up being eight songs. Yeah.
Jonsal Barrientes: That with were recorded. Nobody specifically, I know that week we’re just learning it and getting it in our spirit. But I love how that one, I, I really feel I, I wasn’t a part of writing it, but that one means so much to me. Just I’m, I’m.
In my spirit declaring like there is nobody in the gr I love the play on words there. It’s so, it’s so cool. There’s nobody in the grave, but there’s nobody like Jesus who can do this for your life. Mm-hmm. And that one I think is, is fun. Everything post, so we just released it May 19th, but the, the beauty of that is now it’s been, we’ve been singing these.
After that night of worship in January, introducing them and singing them in church. And so to see them now latch onto this and, and you can see the highlights of people just really expressing and, and really getting into it. So it, it’s like it’s a different wave and now we’ll see something after this release on May 19th.
So, yeah, that’s a, our process right now.
Chris Bellamy: I know in the past we had talked to you guys and you said you, you bounce off your congregation with like ideas and different parts of songs. How do you know when something’s not working? Like it’s, we gotta change this verse, or we just gotta
Jonsal Barrientes: scrap this song.
They’re, I feel like they’re really good. It doesn’t matter what you throw at the church. There, there’s something about it that I think the culture is, Hey, we know that their songs always being introduced, so that gets a little tricky. I feel like on tour it’s sometimes fun to see like, oh, the wheels are turning with the lyric that’s going on a little differently.
So we haven’t been able to, to like, Outside of our church context, introduce more than able, we did on, on Elevation Nights, this, this last this last go. And that was, that was fun. Yeah. But it, it, I think, I don’t know, you probably can speak to Yeah.
Tiffany Hudson: I think like we do have a culture of revising and revising.
Yeah. And I want it to be the best thing. So at some point you have to decide. The song is done and it’s, like, I think cuz there’s always more you could change and revise, but our pastor is such a creative and so, we’ll try out songs and then we’ll still sit with it and still revise it and then the next week come back with a new, new and improved version.
And I think there does come a point where the song feels solidified and our church is drawn to it. And yeah, then we decide like, this is, this feels right.
Jonsal Barrientes: Pastor. One Sunday we were leading we had. Introduced nobody, I think maybe a week or two before. But he called us over and he’s like, Hey, I want to change a lyric on the, on the bridge.
What, what is it? The course, I think the chorus. I’m sorry. And so we’re, it’s like right about service is about to start. And he’s like, Hey, I really feel like this is, Kind of the, the, this heart component is gonna be special. And so, we’ve had a lot of examples of people just singing what they’ve maybe heard a few times and we just change it on a weekend.
But that was a another example of maybe sometimes it, he, he just feels like, we might need to revise and, and dig in a little more for that. With that, so I can hear.
Ryan Loche: So. The worship leaders listening to this being like, what do you mean everybody at the church is just ready to sing whatever you throw at ’em.
How, maybe speak a little bit like how, what’s the special sauce? Like how do you foster that there and how might somebody else do that
Jonsal Barrientes: at their church? Yeah. One thing that Pastor Steven does really is it’s not, he makes this easy connection out of what he’s preaching, right? So, for one, if we have a ministry moment, Post, sermon and it’s we’re declaring through melody exactly what was driven through the word there.
Culturally, I think that’s where we are. So it’s very seamless, but for so many years to just take the time and say, Hey, we felt like God downloaded this. Right now for what our church is we wanna introduce this, through a singing chorus, or we might say, Hey, we have a brand new song.
And have that expectation knowing, all right, they may not do anything for a good five or six minutes, but over years, I think even with guests, because there’s constantly, we know that there’s. Someone who’s gonna step in and who has no idea what worship is. Mm-hmm. And I think just even preparing and knowing we have, we’re ministering to two of those people.
It’s someone who doesn’t get worship. So we have to drive this message very clearly with excellence. And then someone who’s been building their faith for years, coming to our church and making sure that we’re giving them handles through how we lead. And Giving them permission to respond. Mm-hmm.
Whether it’s, Hey, you just, all you need to do is clap your hands this morning, or we want you to shout because we feel like this bridge is worth shouting about. That’s, and,
Tiffany Hudson: and as some encouragement like. I would say that there are times we introduce songs and immediately get off stage and say, oh goodness, that’s a blessing.
Jonsal Barrientes: That’s a blessing for people here. I’m sure.
Tiffany Hudson: Yeah. Like it’s, it’s all of it. Like, yeah, there’s some songs our church will connect to because it’s the part of the, the messages that are, that our house is preaching. And then there’s some songs that we’re like we’ll never do that again. Yeah. Or We’ll come back and try better next time.
Yeah. And of course, we can’t always base it off of. The audience response. Like it’s, it’s good that we can not always be like, that’s true too impacted by people’s response. Cuz there’s always gonna be people that love it and always gonna be people that prefer something else. And that’s okay. But at the end of the day, it’s like, I don’t know, a culture of songwriting and teaching Yeah.
People things like it’s gonna be messy and, and we’ve just accepted it. It’s
Jonsal Barrientes: always fun. Introducing an elevation rhythm song to a 50. 50 to 65 year old who is not gonna dance like we’re asking and we do it. Those, those have been fun. Yeah.
Ryan Loche: That’s a killer. We just as this comes out, it’ll be, we had an episode with rhythm that’ll come out before this episode comes out, so it’ll be kinda like a one two punch.
Like, I, I’d love to hear too, like, what’s the, what’s the balance between elevation and rhythm? Like we, we’ve heard their side now we can hear your side and it’s like, see how
Jonsal Barrientes: that’s working. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a big part of Our heart to serve and minister to a younger generation, knowing they are for years, I think this church has been built on, Hey, if we’re gonna minister to our youth, they’re gonna bring their families and they’re not gonna come, by.
So there’s a, a big vision for that. And it’s special to see now elevation rhythm. Just writing. I think sometimes we can, I, I’ll speak for myself. I can get in my head about, Maybe how I’m relating or how I’m best connecting to a younger generation. And here comes these songs that just really help me feel like I’m tapping into their world and their insecurities, their fears.
Mm-hmm. So I think that language and those songs are really, really needed. And so even if it feels awkward to delete it and, and for some it might, Hey, this is needed for our church because this embodies everyone. Yeah. From the 15, 16 year old all the way to the 80 year old. And both were, were, were caring and.
Sharing the news to both of those people. Mm-hmm. So that’s, that’s our heart with it on weekends and elevation Nights has been fun to see them leading powerfully. Yes. Every night I just, I’m trying to get side stage to just like get into the atmosphere that they, they set their hearts are burning for the Lord through worship and that’s evident.
So. It’s contagious too. And yeah, I love, I love watching them and Josh is so great with leading that team. That’s killer. So yeah.
Chris Bellamy: For Elevation Nights, are you guys, do, do you stick to who’s singing or who’s leading each song each night? Or do you flip it around, like rotate?
Tiffany Hudson: We, we pretty much decide at, at.
Each, each run like this is who’s gonna carry each song and we’ll switch it up. Run to run. Yeah. But for the most
Jonsal Barrientes: part, depending on our vocal health, yeah.
Tiffany Hudson: That might be, there have been times Don sells said, I can’t sing the blessings tonight. Someone help
Jonsal Barrientes: me when, when our worship time is three hours.
There are those random times when your voice is no more. I got out. Literally. No. But yeah, we, we typically predetermine and we’ll, What kind of plan and prep for that? So do
Chris Bellamy: you, do you have like, okay, when I sing, when I read this song, I do it in this key?
Jonsal Barrientes: Yeah. We we try and lock in, in just keys for arrangements and then transitions or any opportunities to, to take a moment.
But every, everything is pretty much dialed in. Key wise as well.
Tiffany Hudson: Yeah. Unless we switch up who’s leading? Like if Zeke’s leading a song, he’ll probably take it a few steps higher. Jenna, his wife, she can sing real high, so she might take it a step higher. But for the most part we all have our flow of what we like.
Yeah.
Chris Bellamy: Has there ever been a, a time when you, you like had a song that maybe it was male led for a long time and then you switched to a female? Yes. Absolute female led and the congregation like responds to
Jonsal Barrientes: that. Okay. Funny story. So Graves into gardens. We’ve been doing it. Brandon has. Amazingly sung it for so many years.
In our church, I think this was a praise party. You remember the guy who, yeah. Davidon. The, the, there’s this one little video that kind of made its way around on the web. Are you about to do it? Yeah. I’m like, I wanna show it as an example. Oh. But he’s up exclusive. So we’re, we’re singing. I I think Jay was singing Graves and this guy is going, Crazy with this side hip thing.
And shout out to you guy if you’re listening our friend. And, and anyways, it’s just so fun to watch,
Tiffany Hudson: like say people responded very well to a female leading a male song.
Jonsal Barrientes: Thank you for that clarity. Either way. It’s so funny. No, but it it, like stuff like that it happens when you swap and change Yeah.
Some of the leads. And so we’ve seen some songs really I cannot wait to continue to try that. Gosh.
Ryan Loche: And we as we get close to wrapping up here, I’d love to always just hear what encouragement would you have for those worship leaders that are listening to this? It seems, seems like it’s getting more and more prevalent where.
A lot of worship leaders are just disinterested in doing full-time church ministry, maybe even part-time ministry. Like it’s, I, I know a number of friends both in worship departments and senior pastors, can’t find worship leaders. Can’t find sound people, technicians can’t find people that want to do church.
Yeah. Why should somebody want to get into church work from some people who clearly love doing this for the Lord?
Tiffany Hudson: Mm. What a beautiful question. It’s something, something we’ve given our lives to and so I just see the value in building God’s church, like when literally Jesus left, brought the Holy Spirit, said this.
This is my plan to save like humanity, like the local church is so important from the mouths of Jesus. Mm-hmm. And so that’s something that I would just say, like, thank you so much for pouring your life into, if you’re feeling like, is this worth it? I would say I. It’s so worth it to give your life to the local church.
The community aspect of it is so necessary for, for building our faith and getting together as one community to worship Jesus Like that is, that will never not be important. And so I would just say like, it’s such a valuable thing to give your life to, to give your early mornings to your late nights, to all the things like Jesus is so worthy of all of it.
And so I would just say like, Yeah.
Jonsal Barrientes: And to get practical with that. Cuz that’s sometimes how my brain thinks. Yeah. I love, and I’ve, I share this all the time. So, I love our pastor one time challenge our staff and our team. He said, think about society. Think about our world today. Everyone’s scrolling.
It’s, mm-hmm. What? I don’t know. Our attention span is probably six seconds or less or something. Now. Crazy. People are watching the new shows. People are, are watching sports. Every, just constant distractions. He says. When else would you find I. An adult or anyone giving up an hour, an hour and 20 minutes of their time dedicating their attention.
Very few moments, very few times. And so how crazy and how special though when you capitalize and you use an opportunity knowing and trusting that the spirit of God has ordained them to be in front of you. So I say that as a challenge and as an encouragement. Do not give up hope. It doesn’t, it may not, it may not feel like it’s the most evident or visible thing.
Yeah. If you’re discouraged, yeah. But trust that the Lord is using you and trust that when you prepare through that lens, knowing God, I’m gonna give you, Everything, and I’m gonna serve these people. It doesn’t matter what capacity behind a microphone, behind a camera, but behind the scenes, I’m gonna serve these people knowing that this matters.
They, I may not get another hour with this individual ever again. And it may be on their last straw, it may be their last chance in a, in a worship house. And when you do that and you trust that the spirit is gonna work beyond as he does. Beyond what we can see happening. In that moment, I think it’s worth it.
So I don’t know. It it, it’s hard to, it’s you can get discouraged and going on in 10 years. It is the highs and the lows of ministry. Yep. But thank you Jesus, because there is fruit. Yeah. And there is something that he can do through you as a vehicle. So, I feel like that’s a, a challenge. And I’ve been.
Marked and shaped by that trusting and hoping that God would use me that way. So I, I hope that’s an encouragement to you. Yeah. If you’re listening. Yeah.
Chris Bellamy: A lot of churches you talk to the worship leader or the worship pastor and their, if their pastor’s not around, they’re, they’re talking about how they have this tension between their worship pastor or their senior pastor, between the worship pastor and senior pastor. And like at our conferences, we have to help people walk through that.
You guys seem to have like the complete opposite where Pastor Steven is super involved with the worship to the point where he’s. Writing songs with y’all how can you describe that relationship? Like how, how healthy is it when, when he’s coming from a musical background and really like championing the, the worship team and the worship ministry?
Jonsal Barrientes: Yeah. Yeah. I think from the start, and here’s important context, if you’re maybe hearing it for the first time, the church, he, pastor Stephen set out, he said, I’m gonna build and plant a, a church in Charlotte and worship is gonna be a big component of how we build this ministry. So from the origin, What is it, 17 years ago?
Mm-hmm. Up until now, it’s been this progression of this will reach beyond maybe a, a message or a sermon mm-hmm. That it’ll get into spaces that we just may not ever see either. So I think with that vision, it’s been easy to say, oh, we trust what you’re saying and how you want to guide. The worship ministry when you have input.
And then there was just years of his writing and, and I think a lot of people maybe don’t understand that, but he writes a, a primarily for and with mm-hmm. All of our teams. So every song he is, crafting as he would a sermon. And that’s also important because it’s not, it, it isn’t two separate ministries, it’s the word.
And as, as he preps, and these songs are an overflow sometimes. Mm-hmm. And so we sing. Can you imagine? Because it was preached and we’re, we’re focusing on Ephesians in that way as a church. So I think as an encouragement, trusting that your pastor and, and almost maybe rallying around how you can support what he’s doing mm-hmm.
And how he’s ministering and also taking off the pressure. Not every, not every church house has to be this like next new song. Mm-hmm. And I think there is a mandate and there is something to, when you’re anointed for it, sometimes God will use, out of the blue, a song will come up. And that, I don’t know that, that we’re called to do that.
It’s, we’re not called to put songs and make them this big, huge thing or be on these crazy big stages, but, I think it happens sometimes because it might be ordained. But I think when you, when you submit and trusting, Hey, I’m gonna, I’m gonna co-lead with my pastor for this weekend and get in sync, I think God honors that.
Yeah. I don’t wanna oversimplify it, but I think sometimes there’s this unneeded and added pressure of like, the worship needs to be this big corporate feeling thing that’s so visible and separate from Mm. How our pastors ministering and I, I don’t know. I don’t, yeah. I don’t feel like that’s always the case.
Yeah.
Tiffany Hudson: I know that that’s not every situation. Like I understand the tensions between senior pastor and worship leader if their visions are different. Like, I wanted to do this song and I want it to flow here, but the pastor’s like, no, my vision for this Sunday is different. And so I do think what you were saying about the honor and even just the ways to, to realize like we’re all working towards the same goal has been good for all of us to get on the same page of like, what are, what is your heart?
What are you preaching right now? And what songs do we have that. Just go in line with that. What themes are we feeling as a church that we can really sync up on has been a helpful thing for us.
Chris Bellamy: All right. Final question. You’re doing a tour campaign. You’re approaching the last week of the tour, you’re at like, You end with people like you, you don’t wanna see another person in the bus again.
You’re about to kill each other. What do you do to to finish out strong and to stay, stay grounded and stay humble and, stay connected with people and not, rip their heads off for taking your pillow.
Jonsal Barrientes: You give everyone space? No. It, it helps when you’re good friends with it.
It’s a, a crazy dream. I think even I’ll speak for myself, it still blows my mind that I get to travel and sing with my wife. And so I feel like sometimes I can get in the head space, though I’m sharing my wife with nine other people on this tour bus. But. I don’t know. I, I really do think it’s like we all maybe take a break and everyone’s like, all right, see you in an hour.
Yeah, let’s get coffee and hang then. But that’s, that. It’s been a dream to travel with our friends and I think such a special thing now as a church with Elevation Nights we’re taking a lot of the staff on the road and every pastor is preaching and our teams are ministering through our EFA and online ministry.
So there is a lot of people. So it feels like a community. But yeah, we’re we. Definitely towards the end it’s like, all right, I’m gonna power it through. I need to take a nap. How about that? Yeah, that’s a good way to, to recharge for sure.
Tiffany Hudson: Yeah, I think there’s so much to touring that people don’t see unless you’ve done it.
Like it takes a lot, a lot of yourself. You’re giving a lot of yourself pouring out every single night, and so for me, if I’m not filling up, I’m good for nobody. Like I just need to disappear for an hour. Get in my word and just kind of like reprioritize myself or or else I might not be the nicest version of myself always.
So, you’re low on speed. Never seen that. All the things. Yeah.
Jonsal Barrientes: I’m kidding. Yeah. Very rare.
Ryan Loche: Hopefully. That’s right. Stay close to the Lord. Get some
Jonsal Barrientes: space. That’s great’s, that’s why we get a coffee universally applied. And coffee. Absolutely.
Tiffany Hudson: A lot of And sleep. Sleep in if you need to, there you go.
Ryan Loche: That’s all for this week’s episode. As always. Head on over to Instagram, shoot us a dm. We would love to chat with you. God bless.