#406: John Van Deusen Is Breaking All the Rules of Worship Music…And It’s Awesome

David Santistevan talks with John Van Deusen, a former indie-rock musician and current worship director in Anacortes, Washington, about bringing experimental sounds and artistic risk into worship music. Van Deusen traces how the Pacific Northwest’s DIY scene and his own journey of faith shaped his records, then offers practical ways worship teams can reimagine familiar songs while keeping congregational participation central.

Chapters

• 00:00 Planning Center: 20 years of helping make Sundays count
• 00:42 How worship music moved from experimentation toward a shared sound
• 03:50 Meet John Van Dusen and his experimental worship records
• 06:07 Anacortes, DIY music, and learning to take artistic risks
• 10:33 The performances that expanded Van Dusen’s sense of music
• 15:02 Church, alternative music, and discovering faith could make room for both
• 20:34 From The Lonely Forest to writing songs about Jesus
• 25:19 Making sacred art without chasing the worship-music formula
• 28:26 Balancing creative records with singable Sunday worship
• 35:49 Why Van Dusen leaves live click tracks and backing tracks behind
• 40:20 The noisy, welcoming message of “A Call to Worship”
• 46:18 Recording in a closet and building the album with collaborators
• 53:49 A rehearsal exercise for finding your church’s own arrangements
• 59:28 Build a worship team through honesty, prayer, and community

Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: CB5MM4V08CBFBHBX

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