MASS OF UNITY

One Hope Project have combined their experience in leading music for liturgy with their creativity to produce something brand new and original: a project entitled Mass Of Unity. One Hope Project’s Joe Wells told Andy Drozdziak all about it. 

Over the last 12 years, One Hope Project have seen again and again how powerful music and worship is in helping people to engage with God. This taps into their mission to help people worship Jesus, as they believe that every person was created to worship.  This new album and creative project from One Hope Project, Mass Of Unity, shares music and information about the Catholic Mass which intends to help people worship God more deeply every time they attend. They have produced something that is both liturgically appropriate and contemporary, while also being playable and singable for worshippers and congregations.

One Hope Project are a young and vibrant worship collective that have emerged out of CCR in the UK. They desire to help build God's Kingdom on earth through impactful music, fresh creativity and building community with each other and across the Church. 

A NEW MASS SETTING

With young people often commenting that church music is from a time long gone, Joe Wells believes that schools, in particular, will benefit from the updated Mass settings.

“We at One Hope Project have been leading the music for liturgy at various events, parishes and schools around the country for the last 12 years. During that time, schools often asked us if we had any new music that would work particularly well for school Masses - so we decided to develop a brand new Mass resource with schools and parishes in mind,” Joe said.

“We know how powerful music and worship can be in helping us engage with the liturgy so we wanted to create something that would help people in parishes and schools do just that. The vision for the project is to share a new musical Mass setting, alongside original hymns that are liturgically appropriate, contemporary in sound, playable and singable.”

‘PERFECT’ FOR SCHOOLS

The entire Mass has been filmed, which will be released on YouTube on 5 April, along with the full Mass Of Unity album. To compliment the film, a commentary has been recorded by Fr Paul Keane, Chaplain to Cambridge University, who talks through various elements of the Mass. Joe Wells believes this would be ‘perfect’ to share with pupils in schools to help them appreciate the deeper meaning of Mass and encourage more prayerful engagement in liturgies.  

Teresa Cripps, lay chaplain / assistant head at Bishop Challoner School in Basingstoke, has used the setting already, and emphasised the ‘accessible’ nature of the music and songs.

“Our school music and chaplaincy team played through this Mass setting when One Hope Project came to our school in December,” Teresa said.

“It was great to see how easily the student musicians and singers were able to pick up the songs and play them through together. The setting is lovely; prayerful and accessible for all to sing along with. We're really excited about using these in our school Masses, as we think they are going to help the students engage with Masses more prayerfully and encourage them to sing along.”

Bishop of Northampton David Oakley said: “Their recent album of music for the celebration of Holy Mass enables young people in a variety of settings such as parishes, schools, retreat groups, and every other youth liturgical celebration, to experience the riches and depths of Eucharistic liturgy. I cannot recommend these resources enough. You don’t need to be young to appreciate this inspired liturgical music. The rest of the liturgical community will also find this music prayerful and a wonderful aid to worship.”

‘HE IS THE ONLY ONE WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE’

The Mass of Unity album will be released this Easter on 5th April, alongside the feature film of the entire Mass, which includes all the music performed by One Hope Project. In the lead up to the launch, they are releasing 3 singles. On 19th January, they led with their brand new, original contemporary hymn entitled Saviour King, available to stream on all streaming platforms. Saviour King is a powerful anthem featuring lead vocals from One Hope Project’s Joe Wells, in a song of praise to Jesus, about the saving power and love of God.

The style of this song draws on the singable melodies and themes from traditional hymns, while being contemporary in sound, combining old and new styles from across the spheres of church music.

Joe Wells spoke of the song's meaning and how Jesus is 'the only one worthy of our praise.'

"The song 'Saviour King' draws on the epic biblical story of saving love between God and humanity," Joe said.

"It serves as a reminder that, after God created this beautiful world and all of us beautiful people, He is too good to leave us in the brokenness of our own wrongdoings. Jesus, the word of God, became flesh, came to show us how to love. He loved us so much by laying down his life and rising from the grave, defeating death. This saving work of Jesus, who is now in the glory of heaven, means He is the only one worthy of our praise."

Alongside the music, One Hope Project have also developed other resources that are designed to help people engage with the Mass more fully.

“All the music for this Mass of Unity is written to accompany the liturgy of the Catholic Mass,” Joe said.

“Whether you're a Catholic who is looking for new music and Mass resources for your church, or a member of another church family interested in liturgy and worship, we know you will find this project uplifting, prayerful and insightful.”

• To pre-order the sheet music for Saviour King and all other songs from the Mass Of Unity, visit the One Hope Project website: onehopeproject.co.uk