Ben Fielding is a worship leader, songwriter and pastor based at Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. He’s studying law, is a part of Hillsong’s creative team, and has a passion to see people fit in their right place in the kingdom of God. He’s penned and cowritten songs like “Mighty to Save,” “God is Able,” “Lost Are Found,” “Anchor” and many more. He and his wife Karalee live in Sydney with their son.
Christine Jung recently spoke with Fielding about Hillsong’s new album, Glorious Ruins, how he writes lyrics and what his personal favorite song is on the album.
The album title is really beautiful (and the cover art, as usual); how do you think Glorious Ruins relates to the spiritual season in your lives right now? Are there any specific things that God is really pressing on your hearts?
The story of God is a story of restoration. We find ourselves somewhere in the middle of that story. God, having made all things beautiful, now works in and through us, restoring all things back to that place. What is often declared hopeless, ruined and of no value, is fertile ground for God’s grace and love. From that place, the ruins speak no longer of destitution, rather becoming testimony to the glory of God. That is the story of every Christian; it is the story of the people of God, the church; and it is the hope that awaits all who are yet to encounter Jesus.
The songs of this album speak to that reality; of the sufficiency of Christ (“Christ Is Enough”); the hope we have in God’s promise as an anchor for the soul (“Anchor”); showed most clearly through the death and resurrection of Jesus (“Man Of Sorrows”); and tied together in the title track “Glorious Ruins.”
Did you experience any difficulties while recording this album? How did you see Christ working in those mistakes or frustrations (which don’t have to necessarily be related to the musical/recording process)?
I think it is always challenging to know which songs best exist together on an album. This is no exception. We sing songs in church that never make it on to our albums. Our greatest challenge is to keep writing songs that are authentic and relevant to what is happening in our lives and in our world at large. Songs are always more powerful when they carry personal meaning. The task of every songwriter is to give expression to something real and authentic. Church songwriters have the additional task of ensuring that this personal expression connects with a vast collection of people. We are placing words in the mouths of the church, so we must write words that are both true and are the very sort of words that our churches have always wanted to sing. We become poets, enabling our churches to say the things they have always wanted to say about and to God, in a way that resonates as if they were singing their own words. There must be an authenticity about our worship. Worship songs exist for the glory of God. It follows that a worship album must exist for the same purpose. We must be careful that in our attempt to be creative we do not neglect the Creator. Songs for our churches must glorify Jesus and should seek to serve the people of our churches. Before setting out to record any album, we need to once again ask what the purpose of doing so is; and then ensure that this never detracts from the primary task of empowering our church to worship.
