Rita Springer is a gifted worship leader who started writing music for the church as part of the Vineyard Movement and is now currently serving as an Artist in Residence at Gateway Church in Southlake, TX. Her upcoming album, Battles, which releases on March 24 and is available to pre-order now on iTunes, is an exciting new live project that reminds us that God has never lost a battle. We appreciate Rita taking the time to share with us the heart behind Battles, about her role at Gateway Church, and her passion for worship in this special Q&A.
We know you as an incredible pioneer as a writer of songs for the Church that have influenced so many worship leaders over the years. For those of our readers who may not be familiar with your journey, can you give us a brief history of your experience with songwriting and worship leading?
I started attending a church in my 20’s called The Vineyard. The Vineyard’s biggest pull for me in my youth was the music and the style in which the preachers delivered their sermons. Up until the age of about 19, I had attended a Baptist church where my mother was the secretary. My worship experience there was limited to just singing from hymnals. When I walked into the Vineyard, I was blown away by the intimacy that was present in their worship. We weren’t just singing songs about God, we were singing songs to God! That was a life altering moment insong direction for me. My heart wanted connection in music and to sing straight to the Lord. Thanking Him, and telling Him how I wanted to serve Him and love Him was just so healing.
Who have been some of your biggest influences in worship music?
I didn’t have many in my youth outside of what Amy Grant was doing. Leslie Phillips’ record The Turning, was a pivotal release for me. She was raw and real and her voice was completely different. I loved what Vineyard put out, but there were never really any female worship leaders until Darlene Zschech sang on that first Hillsong record.
This new album, Battles, is becoming a favorite around the office here at MultiTracks.com. Can you tell us about the process of writing the songs that are on the album and is there any particular one that stands out to you?
When I write songs, I want the writing to surround what God is saying or what I am trying to convey to God. Records are birthed in seasons and Battles was such a long season of self redirection and renewal. I felt the Lord really asking me to believe when He said that more wascoming. I remember He said to me, “Greater are the things I will do in the latter part of your life than I have ever done in the former”. That was super hard for me to believe. I thought He was referring to books I’d write, adoptions and mentoring. I could do those things all day! However, another record took me to a place of really trusting God, because I had laid down the hopes that had come with recording. Recording had brought such disappointment and I didn’t realize how fearful I was to make another record.
You’ve got some great leaders singing on the album as well. Can you tell us about them?
The most important thing an artist can do is age into mentoring. I can remember being 24 years old and weeping one night. There was an older, established artist I had looked up to, and hoped would turn and tell me that my writing had something on it, and that my voice was usable. They never did. In fact, sometimes in a room with them, I felt judged and competed against. I made a vow to never in my life make the ones coming up after me feel that way. That meant that I had to notice others more than I noticed myself. That became a way of life. That Battles stage was filled with musicians 8-20 years younger than me because I had noticed them. I told them they were somebodies, and I sought out to champion them years before. There is no greater joy in music than being able to do that. The reality is that when you give your life away, you have spiritual kids all over the world that would follow you anywhere!
Can you discuss the unique makeup of the musicians, vocalists and songwriters that represent movements, churches and worship ministries from a wide swath of the global church?
I do not know how we function without community. Community is Jesus. It’s the model of a King, actually. Communication and community go hand in hand, and relationship is built best in hearts that understand the importance of community. I have long lasting relationships with others in the industry and it’s all based on beautiful community. I’ve been around longer so I have had years where I’ve done so much mentoring. It’s incredible kingdom community to have spent so many years holding others arms up, knowing if I needed it, they would do the same for me. I think it’s in those moments that I realized I had built up a strong loyalty. I become emotional, knowing that I can call friends like James Duke or Jason Halbert, who are usually on tour with big time secular artists, and they still get so excited to say yes and come play for me! That is just beautiful community!
Sonically the album has a really fresh, modern sound. How was it working with producer Chris Greely & Eric Lemiere?
I believe it’s just so essential for an artist who, like myself, has been around for a while, to keep their finger on the pulse of what is currently happening. I am driven by a creative streak and I am not one to be caught listening to my old favorite high school songs. I am always wanting to know what’s new, fresh and exciting. Finding a producer should be about pushing envelopes, staying in the loop, and keeping a current status so that you are relatable to a new generation and not writing the same stuff for years! Eric was a new relationship, one that came with Greely. I had asked Chris Greely and Bobbie Strand from Bethel Music to produce, but Bobby had so much going on and he declined. Chris and Eric built hide-outs out of cardboard boxes together as kids. So when he asked to have Eric partner on the project, I thought them being so in tune with each other would play off well creatively! They really were a great team! Chris told me that when he was little, his mother would put on my records. So he had grown up with my voice in his house. That was enough for me to call myself the “old broad” a lot during the recording and joke about him being a baby when I was releasing my first record!
We’ve been going to Gateway Conferences for years and we think the team at Gateway is incredible. How did your journey lead you to Gateway and how do you feel it's going?
Gateway came into my life when what I needed most was balance. I had been invited several times over the years by the worship pastor, Thomas Miller, and had a great relationship with him and his wife Mary Beth. I knew that I had come to a fork in the road where I was in Charlotte, North Carolina and needed change. I sent an email to Thomas, asking if an opportunity came up to be on staff, to keep me in mind. Knowing how busy Thomas was, I don’t think I ever expected him to email me back. To my surprise, within 24-hours, he wrote back and said he and his wife had been praying for that very thing for 13 years! Within the next 8 months, the shift happened. In July of 2012, my son and I drove away from our home in North Carolina and headed for the great state of Texas! I have spent years being misunderstood in contemporary settings because of my passion for the presence of God. What I love about Gateway is that they appreciate that about me and have never tried changing it. The relationships I’ve made and the excitement I feel driving to work speaks life to me. I wasn’t brought here to become them, but to take in pieces of them and give them pieces of myself. Gateway is the first place I have been where I feel like I am finally home.
Was there anything that you discovered at Gateway Church that has surprised you or has been somewhat unexpected?
Yes! The way they give. I have never in my life, ever, seen a church that houses a stewardship with life attached to it! I have heard so much about money and the lack of it in church my whole life. When I came to Gateway, it wasn’t about lack, it was all about people in need and giving to them. It has literally caused me to trust in God more and be so excited about just giving everything back. Literally breathtaking!
Could you share a bit about your worship school with our readers and what you believe is unique about DIVE?
DIVE stands for Deep Innovative Vertical Expression. There is so much to say about the school. I started it on my own in 2008. I wanted to embrace the cultural arts and find artists who wanted to unlock a relationship with God by accessing Him as the Creator. The first thing God ever does in scripture is paint a sky by separating light and dark. He doesn’t evangelize, make a man or make a record……He creates a world. A palette for man to walk in. My conversations with God always go back to Him being someone to access about ANYTHING! I have a huge heart to see the cultural arts breath in and out of the church. DIVE is a week intensive that really traces that heart in an artist, opens doors for them to hear what God is saying and then allows them to watch God the Creator start exploding ideas all over the room. We don’t really need more church songwriters, we need poems and melodies to be written with direct revelation and insight from the One who made it all! Sounds that will explode in and outside the church. The arts are the universal language we all understand. God will end up with credit for it all in the end, I just try pushing students to allow Him access.
You have already left such a legacy with your songs, music, and influence on worship leaders. When it’s all said and done, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned along the way that you’d want to impart to young worship leaders that are just getting started?
Jesus is it. Period. Everything. He is the exclamation mark after the question mark. He is the theory of every result and the dream to every idea. I have found Jesus to be the most amazing, entertaining, hilarious, creative guy I have ever met. I found Him in the storm and I found Him in the hiding. I stumbled over Him in the dark and realized He waited by the piano all night hoping I would sit and write Him a song. God wants to impart to us. He wants to speak and give us ideas and revelations. He knows how to free us from chains we cannot get out of ourselves. He wants relationship. Everything else will tank if there is no relationship. God wants to be sought after as much as He seeks us. Don’t wait for royalty checks when you could be raising the dead to life again. Write, sing, explode on the scene and if your dreams are from God…nothing will stop Him from bringing them about. Remember, God separated light and dark, so you are a walking, living, breathing piece of art that He placed in a scene He created!
Pre-order Battles today on iTunes!
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