As the Irish worship band Rend Collective performs concerts around the world, they entertain with a variety of musical instruments and engage audiences with high-energy praise songs celebrating God’s faithfulness.
While gaining acclaim and attention during their travels, their newest worship album, “As Family We Go,” garnered the No. 1 spot on the iTunes Christian albums chart in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The album also landed in the top 10 albums overall in seven countries including the U.S., U.K. and Canada.
‘Family on a mission’
“For us, music is very much secondary or even somewhat farther down the list of importance to us,” lead singer Chris Llewellyn said.
“Our relationship to God and each other is really important, that’s why we wanted to include the word ‘family’ in the (album) title. We aren’t really so much a band as we are a family. We’re a family on a mission and on a great adventure while giving thanks for what God has called us to do and being a light to the world.”
In addition to Llewellyn, Rend Collective is made up of Gareth Gilkeson, Ali Gilkeson, Patrick Thompson and Stephen Mitchell.
Since the release of their first album, “Organic Family Hymnal,” the group’s energetic style of worship has earned a strong following with career sales of more than 300,000 albums. In 2014 the group released “The Art of Celebration,” which earned the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Christian albums chart within the first week of its release.
Release from guilt and shame
“During The Art of Celebration Tour, we collected stories and created a celebration wall where people could post victories in their lives,” Llewellyn said.
“It was interesting to see how often people were celebrating the fact that they were released from guilt and shame. It was overwhelmingly the response we received that people felt free again from a sense of condemnation.
“It reminded us to emphasize a message about how grateful we are that guilt and shame don’t have the last word over us, that the cross does,” he said.
“It was overwhelming to see the impact of how the Holy Spirit can work through music.”
In spite of their rapid success, the group remains committed to shining the spotlight on Christ and pointing audiences to Him.
“When we’re leading worship at events, we realize that most people are coming from a place of brokenness, disappointment or some obstacle in their life where they need God’s help,” Llewellyn noted. “There is no one who is perfect or without any scars.
“We want to give the Church anthems to sing over those situations because we believe even when things seem impossible that our God is still on our side and fighting for us.
“Whenever God is with us, every giant will fall and every mountain will move in His name. We want to raise up anthems for the Church because the joy of the Lord is our strength.
“By the grace of God through the Holy Spirit working in us, believers can still find ways to worship and celebrate even in the midst of difficult situations because we have an eternal hope.
“It’s amazing how God provides the strength to continue during seasons of suffering.”
In 2014, Rend Collective played 150 shows with performances in Brazil, Hungary, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Canada. In Fall 2015 the group performed around the country on the “Love Ran Red Tour” with Chris Tomlin. This year the group will headline the As Family We Go Tour in the U.S. and U.K.
“What we’re hoping for is a strong sense of unity when we’re playing our shows and leading worship,” Llewellyn said. “We’re hoping it can be a time when people can gather together for strength so believers can go out and be scattered and be light in the world.”
One Church
“My favorite part is getting to sing with the Church across the world. It’s such a beautiful thing to get to see so many different colors, shapes and sizes of the body of Christ.
“By traveling around the world, we get to see the body of Christ in a way that most people don’t because they are at one church. We get to experience an aerial view of what God is doing around the world and it’s really special to be a part of something so beautiful.”
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