New Elevation Worship Album Becomes an Instant Chart-Topper
Elevation Worship released a new album on Tuesday, and it shot straight to the top of both the Christian and overall music charts on iTunes.
The deluxe edition of the album, titled Nothing Is Wasted, debuted in the top spot on the iTunes Christian & Gospel Top Albums chart, according to Provident Label Group, and the standard edition debuted in the third spot among Christian albums.
The deluxe edition has also made it as high as fifth on the overall chart on iTunes, and is in the top 10 alongside mainstream artists such as Justin Timberlake, Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Wade Joye, worship pastor at Elevation Church, told The Christian Post on Thursday that members of the worship team and the church were surprised by how well the album has been received thus far.
They are most excited, however, that people are being exposed to what God is doing through their Charlotte, N.C., church, he said. On the day of the album's release, the church held a 12 hour-long celebration, which was streamed live via the Internet on the Elevation Network.
"We do an album a year, and each album we just try to reflect on what God's done in our church over the year," said Joye. "So anytime we release an album it's really a celebration of what God has done in the life of our church."
The album shares a theme with Greater: Dream Bigger. Start Smaller. Ignite God's Vision for Your Life, the best-selling book written by Elevation Church lead pastor Steven Furtick, which draws principles from the story of the biblical prophet Elisha to show readers that God can do greater things through them.
Each song on the album corresponds to a chapter in the book, though reading the book first isn't necessarily required for listeners to understand and enjoy the songs.
Joye said the writing process was difficult at first, trying to create songs based on the book's chapters, until Furtick instructed the worship team to treat each chapter like a single sermon. They then wrote their songs as a response to how each "sermon" impacted them.
"I think when we had that framework it was really freeing, really inspiring and it actually was my favorite writing process that we've had so far," said Joye.
Each song on the record was recorded twice – once during a live worship experience at the church and another in a studio – so listeners can enjoy each song but in different arrangements. Both versions of each song are available on the deluxe edition of the album, while just the live renditions are available on the standard edition.
Previous albums recorded by the worship band include Kingdom Come, For the Honor and Live Worship.
Furtick, leading a group of just eight families at the time, founded Elevation Church in 2006. The church has since grown to more than 12,000 people in weekly attendance and is one of the fastest growing congregations in the country.
