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Cultivating community and unity within the Canadian church through worship with songs written by Canadians is the goal of Royal Anthems.
The group is comprised of 22 worship leaders from across Canada including Winnipeg's, Alex Grant.
Royal Anthems Director, Matt Grieve got some insight when choosing someone from Manitoba. "He messaged some guys from The Color and said 'Do you guys know of any worship people in Manitoba?' I believe my name and another name came up and Bread We Break came up as a whole and so that's kind of where the connection started. Matthew got my number and sent me a sent me a message and we just. started chatting and then also learning about Bread We Break and what we do here in Manitoba and bringing all these churches together to worship and the worship music that we've been trying to create the last couple of years too," Grant says.
Grants music journey started when he was releasing music as a solo artist, which proved to be lonely. "I was really hungry for mentorship and for community and just guidance on how to do it. It's very lonely and in Winnipeg, there's not a lot of people, or at least when I was doing this, it wasn't a lot of musicians that had gone before, that were willing to help."
After going to the Gospel Music Awards around the time accepting the role with Bread We Break, he got a picture from God. "I moved from sitting down at the work show and I went to stand in the back and God just showed me an amazing picture of Bread We Break and what God wants to do with that ministry and that it is bigger than music and not in a sense of big as like grandeur or successful, but that God's will was upon it in a way that was significant. And I just felt like, OK, I need a steward that well."
While Bread We Break is a bi-monthly worship and prayer night for young adults in Winnipeg, it has prepared Grant for being a part of Royal Anthems. "What's really comforting is that the vision that Bread We Break has for unity within the body is the same vision that Royal Anthems has for unity in the body of Canada. I knew right away that this was from the Lord because of the unity that was in there already. But also the unity that's been within all the artists and direct leaders, and worship leaders that are involved."
After a songwriting camp, Royal Anthems is releasing four songs. 'Thank You' and 'Good Good Day' has come out already and 'Be Enthroned/Yahweh', which Grant is featured in, is releasing August 30.
"I don't remember who brought up heaven, but somehow we got into the idea of what is Heaven like and we just started discussing that and talking about that," Grant says. "We have glimpses of Heaven in the Word of God. There are very clear pictures of what that will be like. But we can't fully comprehend what Heaven will truly be like. The fullness of it until we are finally there, right and we are finally in His fullness. And only God actually knows the true fullness of that."
As Grant thinks back to what he thought while writing he says, "I just remember asking Holy Spirit like reveal this to me and all of a sudden it just felt like the ceiling opened up and a massive throne fell from the sky into the writing room. And I began to just tremble. And I said His throne would be in this place. So that's, honestly, the point of the song. I truly believe that it's bringing the realities of Heaven, the reality of Him coming back again."
While 'Be Enthroned/Yahweh' was being written, Grant says the presence of the Holy Spirit was not only filling the room but flowing out. "What God was doing was overflowing out of our room and into the foyer. And the people wanted to come in and join. They wanted to be a part of what God was doing in the room and I just think that is such a testament to what God wants to do with not only this song, but with all the music that is coming out of Royal Anthems and the music that will come out of it in the near future."
As far as what's to come in the future, there will be another new song coming next month. Grieve doesn't want it to end there. "We want to continue to write songs for the Canadian Church. Our plan is to release six more of the songs that had come from the camp that were written. And I think truthfully, God willing, the biggest dream would be to take Royal Anthems on the road. And the great part is that it can sort of change the group of people as we go across the country to these different locations to worship together with the songs we've been given."