My review of this album will look a little different from past reviews because I had the privilege of attending the recording of it.
I attended the Passion 2024 Conference in January in Atlanta, Georgia. Passion Conference has been held every year since 1995 in early January and targets 18-to-25-year-olds. It is connected to Passion City Church, founded by Louie and Shelly Giglio.
Passion Conferences’ website states, “For us, what matters most is the name and renown of Jesus. We believe in this generation and are watching God use them to change the climate of faith around the globe.” The conference features worship led by Passion’s worship team, other featured Christian artists and guest speakers including Louie Giglio. Every year, a new live Passion album is assembled after the conference featuring 10-15 of the songs led during the conference.
Instead of a typical review where I simply discuss my favorite tracks from the album, I will be able to reflect on my favorite moments from the conference.
One moment in the conference stands out above all else and is reflected in the cover art for the album: the whole team on the floor in worship during “Agnus Dei,” a spontaneous moment when the presence of God was palpable. The audience continued singing “Holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty / Worthy is the Lamb” for 20 full minutes, culminating in worship leader Kristian Stanfill reading a beautiful and powerful passage from the book of Revelation, describing the worshipful scene that awaits us in Heaven.
The opening song on the first night was “Praise” by Elevation Worship, led by Passion’s team and Brandon Lake. Hearing 55,000 young people singing the chorus, “Praise the Lord, oh my soul / I won’t be quiet, my God is alive / How can I keep it inside?” was very moving and brought me to tears.
“He Who Is To Come” is one of the new songs Passion introduced this year, and has quickly become one of my all-time favorite worship songs. Along with “Agnus Dei” and the title of the album, “Call on Heaven,” it fits with the conference’s emerging theme of Heavenly worship.
Another highlight was the way Phil Wickham led worship. I was disappointed to see one song that was not included on the album: “Living Hope.” While this song has been out for a number of years, Wickham’s performance of it at Passion was particularly powerful, and it led into “How Great Thou Art,” which worked really well.
I highly recommend attending Passion if you are able. Between the music and the speakers, it is a deeply transformative conference. If not, be sure to listen to this amazing worship album!
Tagline: “Praise Him with Song” reviews a variety of worship music albums, targeting both fans of the genre as well as those who want to explore it further.