Recently, Curtis sat down with Isaac Wardell and several contributing members of The Porters Gate, the songwriters behind the Songs for the After Party.

Songs for the After Party is a musical project designed to address and reflect on the challenges faced by American churches today. The Porter’s Gate aims to create a space for meaningful dialogue and worship amidst political and cultural polarization. This podcast episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind some of the newly released tracks, including “The Kingdom of Jesus” and “The Lord Will Have His Way.”

Each guest in this episode brings a unique perspective to the conversation. Matt Maher, known for his soul-stirring worship anthems, has long been a voice of spiritual encouragement in the realm of Contemporary Christian Music. Sandra McCracken’s reflective songwriting often weaves deep theological insights with real experiences and stories. Jon Guerra’s music blends introspective lyrics with a rich, emotive sound. Kate Bluett, a poet with a gift for eloquent expression, and Dee Wilson, whose Grammy-winning songwriting has touched countless lives, all contribute to this diverse musical tapestry.

These musicians’ insights remind us that, amidst division and uncertainty, worship can serve as a beacon of hope, drawing us back to the central tenets of our faith and encouraging us to navigate our differences with grace and understanding. For those seeking inspiration and a sense of unity, Songs for the After Party offers both a musical and spiritual retreat—a reminder of the power of worship to transcend political and social barriers and to foster a deeper connection with God and one another.

Isaac Wardell: From all my different experiences of leading worship and also working in some different denominations, one of the things that I began to encounter over the years were these amazing opportunities to collaborate with people. And as I began to do some collaborations with people coming from different kinds of backgrounds, different sorts of musical styles, one of the things I began to notice was that every one of us in our own theological tradition, have these unique gifts that we bring to worship.

And so a question began to form in my mind about what it might look like to actually write, record, and create new worship songs, new prayers, new liturgical resources – with a goal of saying, let’s do these creative projects by design, getting people together who are coming from all these different traditions together, very intentionally, to write and record original songs. And then sort of step two of that process was to say, well, what would these songs be?

We began to identify these areas of need in the church and said, where are the gaps? Where are we not singing? Where are we not talking? Where are we not praying about the things that are actually occupying these large spaces in our lives as a community? And so over the last seven years, we’ve been making these worship albums that are themed on these different areas that we feel like the church needs more resources for. Most recently, we’ve really enjoyed doing this collaboration with the After Party with songs that really address our civic, political lives and bring those parts of our lives to God and worship.