Veteran worship leader Darlene Zschech says she believes the Church is entering another season of spiritual revival, with a new generation of worship songs emerging alongside it.
The Australian singer-songwriter, formerly associated with Hillsong, discussed the connection between worship and revival during an interview with Michael Foust on his “Crosswalk Talk” podcast.
Reflecting on past revival movements and what she sees happening in the Church today, Zschech said Christians are living in “revival days again.”
“The new song has always coexisted with a fresh revival on the Earth, wherever it was,” she said. “It was always a new song that accompanied historical revivals, and we’re there again.”
Zschech said she is encouraged by younger Christian songwriters and worship leaders who are developing new expressions of worship while building on the work of previous generations.
“Seriously, I’m in awe of some of these songwriters now that are picking up these new frequencies, but their job is still the same,” she said.
“When we’re creating worship for the church, we’re not trying to be clever; we’re trying to release something out of people.”
She said she wants younger worship leaders and songwriters to “get on our shoulders and go as high and as wide as you can,” describing the current moment as “so exciting.”
Zschech made the comments while discussing “The House of Worship,” a new film featuring influential worship artists and reflecting on 25 years of songs that have helped shape contemporary Christian worship.
She also looked back on the early years of the modern worship movement in Australia, saying she now recognizes that period as a time of revival when worship services often moved directly into Gospel invitations.
“We were living in revival days,” she said. “We’d lead worship, and rather than, you know, polite clap and someone walks up and preaches, [we’d] lead worship and someone would do an altar call, and just heaps of people would come and get saved.”
Although she acknowledged there was “some messiness later,” Zschech said those years deeply shaped her faith and the worship community around her, adding that she “wouldn’t be sitting here today … without those days, where God really shaped us as a community of faith.”
“He shaped us as a community of worship, leaders of worship, musicians, production, writers. We were being formed and forged together.”
Looking to the future, Zschech said she believes worship will continue to play a central role in what she sees as a coming spiritual awakening. “I think we’re on the brink of something so magnificent,” she said.
The full version of this article is available at The Christian Post.
