The blog home of speaker and writer Mindy von Atzigen

The blog home of speaker and writer Mindy von Atzigen I am a lover of words, Jesus, and His church. I am also a wife, a mom, and a friend. I hope you'll consider me yours...

A Worship Leader's List of Inspiring Worship Artists

As a worship leader, I'm often asked about where I find music, what I'm listening to at the moment, what my favorite CD is...and I don't mind.  It's great fun to me to point people in the direction of quality, life-giving music. 

To that end, here is an incomplete (sorry, there are just too many) list of some of my most reliable sources of personal inspiration... (click on artist titles to link to website).

For personal worship and "soaking" times:

  • Laura Woodley Osman - A beautiful "free worship" style that stirs my heart every time I listen.  My favorite is the "In Love" CD.
  • Barry and Michelle Patterson - A married couple who have tapped into something amazing.  I have worn out one of their earliest projects, titled "Birth," for the last 10 years...and it still captivates me.
  • All Sons and Daughters - Another married couple who burst on the scene recently with an amazing rock/folk/worship blend I've never heard before.  There's not a non-gorgeous song in their line-up, and they all have powerful messages.
  • Rich Mullins - Yes, I still love him, twenty years after he's gone to be with Jesus.  I think he's probably got Heaven's choir good and warmed up by now, he and his hammer dulcimer.
  • Enter the Worship Circle - A ground-breaking group that changed how I approached worship about 12 years ago, and they are still making great stuff. 
  • David Nevue - He's one man on a piano who lets the keys sing for him.  His music brings rest to my soul, and he plays hymns the way I do in my dreams.
  • Shane and Shane - If I was a man and could play the guitar, I would name myself Shane and join this group.  They are sincerely good, and their acoustic stuff is their best, which is rare and wonderful.
  • Anthony Skinner - Not your average artist.  He has amazing insight in to the heart of the Father.  I also use a couple of his songs for corporate worship.
  • King David - Thousands of years later, he's still got it.

For corporate worship:

  • Bethel Music - Our church doesn't go a week without singing at least one song (usually more) from the group of artists that have emerged from Bethel Church, in Redding, California.  They not only record great sounds, they are capturing the heart of God for a generation of people.  The worship leader within their group that I find myself relating to the most as far as worship leading goes is Jeremy Riddle.
  • Brian and Katie Torwalt - A married couple who minister deeply to my soul while making my toes tap happily along.  They are pretty new on the worship scene, but already have some well known songs that are touching people's hearts every time we sing them.
  • Matt Redmand - I've learned a lot from this man about what it means to lead worship by being a worshipper first.  His ability to put sound doctrine to music is amazing, also.
  • Hillsong Music - I don't usually do a lot of their music on a Sunday morning, but I love listening to it, and there is no denying that they have shaped a large part of the worship culture world-wide over the last decade and a half.  On top of that, their newest song, "Oceans," is just a grand slam.
  • Rita Springer - Another worship leader who has taught me a lot just by setting the bar high and staying faithful to her God.  When I listen to this woman, I feel freer to be me.  It also helps that her voice is in the perfect range for me as a woman worship leader who is more comfortable in the alto realm.
There you have it.  Go ahead.  Just worship today!

It Takes All Kinds


Our family came across a poster this last week that caused a good laugh in our house.  It read, "Introverts UNITE.....separately....in your own rooms."

Because we have a full house of six people that is also pretty evenly divided when it comes to introverts and extroverts, we could see the humor.  The extrovert bunch love to go and do, they love crowds, and they are energized by being around people.  The introvert bunch loves the moments of solitude (hard to come by in a house our size), intimate moments with close friends, and being energized by quiet reflection and creative endeavors.

Neither are wrong.  Just different from each other.

But, I also came across a passage by theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer this week that carries a warning to both.

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called.”

“But the reverse is also true. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.  Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you.”

“We recognize, then, that only as we are within the fellowship can we be alone, and only he that is alone can live in the fellowship. Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship."

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.”       (from Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

So, like everything else in life, balance is required. 

My introverted self needs community to be sharpened.  My extroverted friends need some quiet time to deal with their own hearts.

And we get to live life together...just sometimes in our own rooms.