Phillips, Craig & Dean

Hope For All the World
Fair Trade Services LLC

Senior pastor. The very term conjures up visions of sharkskin suits, perfectly coifed hair and lots of Christian-speak. Then, there are Phillips, Craig & Dean. Senior pastors in their respective churches, certainly not to be mistaken as head-bangers, and yet, their new Christmas CD “Hope For All the World” brings an edginess, an energy and a contemporary sound that I certainly didn’t expect from a Christmas record. After more than 20 years of excellent music, it seems these guys still feel the pulse of their Christian audience.

They all mention the need to listen to the needs of their younger church members when planning worship and writing songs, and while there is good traditional Christmas music here, the meat of the record comes from the new songs — “For All the World,” “God Bless Us” and the rocking “Suddenly.” Maybe there’s not another “Revelation Song” in this bunch, but this is good, relevant music and Dove-award winning producer Nathan Nockels does an excellent job of extracting one of the better records of this season, Christmas record or not.

Phillips, Craig & Dean are one of the most loved Christian bands around, and “Hope For All the World” will only further their appeal. Forget that it’s a Christmas record. Buy it for the new songs. And enjoy.