The Path to "Sanctification"

It all started in the '70s with Mrs. Burress and Mrs. Wik.

And, because Lyle and Joyce were nice to my wife and me when we were newly married in the 90s.

And, because becoming more like God seemed like a pretty cool proposition to me then. (And still does!)

Hello, friend. Rather than most "artist bios" you'll encounter, usually written in the third person, I thought the personal nature of this account called for writing it more directly. So . . . hello!

I'm a songwriter and performer. I've been a church musician and "sacred" music writer really all my adult life. Also, since 2018, I've a had a career going as a secular (non-sacred) writer/performer of life-affirming original songs. Through it all I've had this slightly-odd hobby of taking the wonderful hymns (poems) of Charles Wesley, co-founder of Methodism; setting them to contemporary tunes and arrangements; and bringing them to congregations to enjoy and learn from.

If you'd like to know more about the journey from generic suburbanite to Wesley hymn-re-tuner, I invite you to return with me now to a different world: 1977. Jimmy Carter's the president. There are three tv networks. The USSR is going strong. Mark Fidrych just had an amazing year for the Tigers last year. I'm 11 and in sixth grade.

My family is living in a small-town suburb of Detroit, and our neighbor, Connie Burress, is my piano teacher. Sixth-grade Phil apparently needs some churchin', so Mrs. Burress graciously adds me in with her family in her cranberry-colored Suburban. She drives us to youth choir practice on Saturday mornings. We sing once a month as part of the tapestry of worship at First United Methodist Church in downtown Farmington. Mrs. Burress is the accompanist, and the kids' choir is directed by wonderful woman named Carolyn Wik.  They're nice and choir is fun. I like singing.

And lo, a lifelong Methodist is born.

(If I had a different piano teacher, who knows, maybe today I'm a  [gasp] . . . Presbyterian!)

Insert all sorts of life's twists and turns here, and fast forward to the '90s: I'm a college grad, newly married (to a Methodist, wouldn't you know), and a brand new teacher in Escanaba on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan. We try one church. Meh.

At the second, however, we can hardly get out the door after worship, with all the friendly conversation. We get the grand tour by a very nice retired couple named Lyle and Joyce. And so we become members at what happens to be a pretty "high church" Methodist church. No praise band or projectors for us! We have a very orthodox pastor. And he's really into the Wesley brothers who co-founded Methodism in the 1700s in England.

I like old things, myself. So I, too, begin to get into John and Charles, our denominational forebears, two of the most famous Protestant church figures in history. In fact Charles is considered by many to be the greatest hymn-writer ever.

I'm a songwriter and performer, so at some point in the mid-90s it seems natural to take one of Charles's hymns (poems) and put it to a different tune. Since people do like choruses (the same words repeated several times throughout a song), I begin the habit of taking one of the stanzas and treating that like a chorus. It seems to go over well, as I become a part-time pastor and resident musician at summer seminary in Chicago.

And lo, a lifelong hobby is born.

And . . . continues to this day. As musical styles have changed, several of these hymn texts have even seen different tunes/settings over the past 30 years or so.

After my first two albums, I felt it was time to "finally do something" with these Wesley arrangements. Thus the new album and this companion website. But more than just a clearing of the decks, so to speak, I believe this music and big idea have the potential to speak to people now in a way that focusing on blood and sacrifice simply do not. As folks in Western culture become less and less aligned to such thinking, this other side of salvation can really resonate: that there is salvation not just after death, but in the here and now. There is salvation in being moved away from self and sin and disconnection, to being more in tune with Love Divine. In fact, Love, the very joy of  heaven, has come down to earth, and is ready and willing not just to live among us, but in us and through us.

It's an idea that merely transformed an island nation once, then swept like a holy wildfire across America in the 1800s. It's time to speak it again, for the good of our fellow human beings, maybe even all of Creation. That's my aim both humble, and yes, a bit grandiose: to present this idea of sanctification anew with the hopes that it transform people's minds, hearts, and lives. I'm very glad you're here, and part of this endeavor! Peace and joy (and love divine!) to you and yours, friend.