Luke’s Story
I grew up in a musical home, in Norwich, with both parents as professional musicians - so music has always been in my life. I began learning violin at the age of 5 and remember enjoying the ability to create sound and doing something creative with others (mainly my Dad) at that point. Although I enjoyed the violin, at the age of 12 my imagination was caught by the guitar and there was no turning back! I began lessons with a brilliant teacher and from then on the guitar was really my main passion.
Around this time my parents made the bold decision to move churches in order to help me engage in a thriving youth ministry - something for which I’m so grateful. I remember having a great youth leader who would take me out to McDonald’s for chats and read the Bible with me. Looking back, this was a foundational time for me in my faith and led to me getting baptised at 15. After this, I began to get involved in the worship team at church. I loved seeing people engage in worship whilst also slightly feeling like my jazz guitar lessons weren’t fully useful!! I’ve heard it said that in jazz you play 100 chords to 4 people and in worship you play 4 chords to 100 people!
This continued and when I switched schools for sixth form I met a brilliant music teacher, David Fitzgerald, who knew I was preparing to study music further in London. He was also a Christian. He told me to go to Holy Trinity Brompton when I arrived in London and that he’d connect me with one of the worship pastors there, Dave Clifton, who he knew.
As soon as I stepped into HTB I knew I was in the right place at the right time. The place was alive in the Spirit, something was happening, you could sense the presence of Jesus. I got involved in the worship team and just loved everything it all. One week at the Students group the worship leader had dropped out and someone mentioned to the leader that I played the guitar - so despite my best efforts to politely decline, I got roped in. The rest is history!
The thing is, I’d never sung much before and this was the most daunting thing to me, leading a whole room with my voice. I quickly signed up for some vocal coaching from an amazing singer and coach who attended HTB too, Marion King, who helped me unlock some kind of volume and tone! Enough to get going, anyway and from there, I put in the work to enable how I felt the Lord was calling me to lead others. From then on, I was just leading worship so much, perhaps 2 or 3 times a week in various settings; Students, Prayer meetings, Alpha, Sunday church. This was my training ground.
For me the big shift was from using music, through jazz, to express myself to then using music to help others express themselves and their worship to God. This blew my mind. That I could use the music I played to help people encounter Jesus!! I loved the responsibility and honour to be able to set the table like this, finally, I felt like my musical gifting had a greater purpose than for just a select few. At this point, I also began writing songs - I just couldn’t help myself! Pouring out my worship in my bedroom.
Through HTB, Alpha and later on Worship Central, I had the immense privilege of travelling all over the world leading worship at various churches and conferences. I loved it. Seeing people meet with God through the gift of worship and music was so special. It’s all I wanted to do and quite quickly I knew this was what I was made for.
Throughout this time I was receiving some incredible coaching from my student pastor Jamie Haith who was a worship leader himself, Al Gordon who was leading the new wave of worship in the younger generation and then Tim Hughes as he joined HTB as Director of Worship. Al and Tim really took me under their wing and taught me so much as I co-led with them and basically followed them everywhere and anywhere!
I remember having a few meetings with the Head of Faculty at Music College where he suggested I was spending too much time at church or on church trips and not enough time practising. Tricky as those conversations were, I knew the desire to pursue jazz was just not there anymore and that this was what I was made for. But my Mum (and Tim!) wisely said I needed to see my degree through. As soon as I had completed my Bachelor of Arts (Hons) music degree I joined the staff at HTB in September 2008 as a worship pastor, helping to lead the worship team as we grew as a church. I saw a real shift in worship during my time there. It was a joy to be a part of all the life that God was releasing through worship.
Rewinding a little, it was during this period at HTB that I met Anna. We were both students and on fire in our faith. Anna and I got married in November 2008. She was still in the throes of her musical theatre career but towards that coming to an end, she got more involved with leading worship and we began to co-lead together which was fun!
2008 to 2013 was a huge adventure, particularly seeing the launch of Worship Central - the vision to see every local church set on fire with the worship of Jesus. I got to travel loads and experience worship in different contexts and cultures, starting an Academy to equip the next generation of worship leaders, learning how to write songs better, releasing ‘Spirit Break Out’ into the world, helping to lead and grow the worship team of an expanding large city centre church. It was an incredible time.
In 2014 Anna & I took a step of faith, knowing that our time at HTB was coming to an end, and joined the planting team to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We were asked to set the course and vision for worship and although we were excited and fully bought in, we also knew this wasn’t a long-term calling for us, so we invited a Worship Central Academy graduate, Stew McIlrath, and his wife Abi to join us and lead it into the future. This was such a fun experience and we learnt a lot of different skills and ways of leading that were new. Throughout our 7 months there, we met and trained lots of worship leaders across South-East Asia. And of course… ate loads of amazing food!
During this time we were journeying with Tim & Rachel Hughes about the long-term plan and through some prayer and discernment knew that Gas Street Church in Birmingham was next! We’ve been based here since 2015 and have loved it! In the start-up phase, Anna was leading the charge, building the team from scratch and setting the foundations for all that has been. I then took on the baton from her in 2019, helping to not screw up what she’d set in motion! Since then, we have grown to 3 locations and planted a few churches too. We’ve always felt the desire to help resource the broader church with our music and in 2020 we launched Gas Street Music which I get to steer.
The truth is I wouldn’t be doing what I am today without leaders ahead of me having invested in me, creating space for me to make mistakes, ask questions, stretch and learn. I feel this innate responsibility to carry on this lineage, to help in the raising up and growth of worship pastors. Never has there been a more important time for worship to be released on the earth and for that we need good leaders.