Deluge

The latest musical downpour to emerge from Bethany World Prayer Center is called Deluge, a young alternative worship band that’s a testament to the revolution being led by the youth of this thriving congregation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Deluge is the sound of a generation—a movement of more than 7,000 students who meet weekly for more than just music, entertainment, or an experience. They come to immerse themselves in a life of commitment and discipleship.
“The youth group is not based on pizza and hamburger giveaways and arcade,” says Deluge frontman Jonathan Stockstill, also the church’s worship pastor and its chief songwriter. “It’s based upon Christ. It’s very spiritually active. The services reflect that. It’s more than just worship.”
Deluge, the group’s self-titled debut for Integrity Music, is a musical extension of 220, Bethany’s burgeoning youth department. Recorded live over six nights at the UpsideDown conferences, the 12-track album is simply a capstone to a ministry whose principal focus is grounding kids in a deeper understanding of their faith—via weekly services, cell meetings, college campus outreach, and clubs in junior highs and high schools.
“Our youth ministry really focuses on discipleship,” Stockstill says. “Our goal is not to just lead kids to salvation, but for them to become true believers in Christ. We have a really strong discipleship model where we train them every year. It’s a very passionate group.”
It shows. One needs not listen very far to realize the fervency of the youth Deluge leads in worship. Their passion is borne out of a foundational ministry approach centered exclusively on prayer, discipleship, and evangelism—a radical, three-pronged model to guarantee that kids are growing upwardly, inwardly, and outwardly.
“I didn’t feel like I was leading them in worship—I felt like they were leading me in worship,” Stockstill says of the crowd during the recording. “It was phenomenal. I didn’t tell anyone that we were recording. They found out later.”
Indeed, the Deluge crew didn’t let anyone in on the fact they were capturing the night on tape; they didn’t want to ruin the real purpose of the gathering: that they were there to worship, not to engage in a sing-along session or to put on a performance. Even from a post-production standpoint, the music was left mostly unretouched—all for the sake of authenticity.
“What you see is what you get,” Stockstill says. “The worship is very pure, very raw.”
Deluge is not Bethany’s first foray into worship music: the flourishing congregation was last heard on its first Integrity release, 2006’s Let the Church Rise, a corporate recording that reflected its cross-cultural demographic. But Deluge is different: It represents the direction the church’s lifeblood—its youth—is moving, the same youth that one day will complete the mission of carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
“We’re just trying to be obedient to the Holy Spirit,” Stockstill says of Deluge’s edgier, rock-inflected sound. “We’re just following his leading. He’s the spark of creativity inside of us. We’re going in the direction that he’s moving.”
Mindful of that leading, the band plays youth-oriented worship, but the sound is anything but youthful: Their musicianship is seasoned, with a synergy that only comes after years of maturation, friendship, and doing church as one. Admittedly, the core trio—rounded out by bassist Corey Bastin and drummer Andrae Harrison—wasn’t always at that level: Stockstill is quick to point out it was a process to get to where they are.
“We’ve done a whole lot of maturing together,” he says. “We’ve played some horrible sets in our past. But for the most part, we’re really tight together.”
Tight is an understatement. Together, Stockstill and his band mates create a sonic ambiance that’s unlike anything being created in modern worship circles. From Police strains (“I Believe”) to early Green Day nods (“Make It Loud”) and even Mute Math flourishes (“Crazy”), the vibe of Deluge can’t be easily pigeonholed.
“We try to be as authentic as possible throughout this whole thing,” Stockstill continues, “to be creative and try to create new sounds, but still maintain a relevance to everybody, making sure we don’t get too far out to the point that people can’t do our stuff in their own churches.”
Born and raised in local congregations, that’s ultimately where the heart of Deluge lies: in blessing and resourcing other churches with the songs they’ve been given to sing. Taking that away, Stockstill says, would be akin to no longer being useful for the kingdom.
“If I ever step out of bounds to where I’m not equipping churches with songs, then I feel like I’ve ceased to be effective,” Stockstill says.
That won’t be happening any time soon. As Deluge moves from its out-of-the-box moments of praise, it steps into a more reflective, worshipful mood, indicative of the band’s desire to impact the church-at-large. For proof, look no further than the pensive, Brit-pop-inspired “I Need You,” an unassuming prayer echoing humanity’s insufficiency in light of God’s all-sustaining power.
Dissatisfaction with the ordinary is the theme of the anthemic “Open Up the Sky,” a cry for God to fall like a torrent upon the worshippers. That songs gives way to “The Oceans” and “He Is the Holy One,” two pacesetters that work as segues into the explosive “Worshiping You,” a ballad with big corporate potential. Adding to the fray of possible congregational favorites are the one-two punch of “Lifting My Hands” and “Dear Jesus,” two piano-based numbers that funnel congregants seamlessly to a deeper place of intimacy with the Divine.
It all amounts to a well-rounded, accessible, and creatively rewarding album from Deluge, a breakthrough band that channels the pulse of the ever-evolving Bethany World Prayer Center.
“It’s still the same church, but it’s just reflective of a different groove,” Stockstill says.