{mosgoogle left}Evensong Rising's story began in 2002, when Rev. Chris Sorensen and a group from one of the nation's oldest and most historical churches,  the Greenwich, Connecticut-based Stanwich Congregational Church, got together to re-think what church and worship could be. A church that predates the American War of Independence and is now over 275 years old, Stanwich has become ground zero for a worship revolution where the ancient and future coalesce, ushered in by the music and ministry of Evensong Rising.

"What we found is that the answer for post-modern culture is pre-modern worship," says Sorensen. "The post-modern seeker wants a church that looks, acts and sounds like a church rather than an imitation of the world. Our church service and music place an emphasis on following the ancient liturgy as a method of bringing worshipers into the presence of God. This liturgy is something the church used for 1,800 years, and it was thrown out by many denominations with the rise of the Industrial Revolution. There is a hunger among post-modern seekers for something authentic, relevant and with ancient authority to help govern their lives, which is what we want to share with them."

With a deep and abiding respect for the heritage of the early church, Evensong Rising fuses the energy and passion of diverse contemporary influences with revered, time-honored hymns of the ancient church. The result is an atmosphere that invites worshipers to step outside the here-and-now and encounter the God who inhabits not only today, but yesterday and tomorrow.

Diversity is intrinsic to Evensong Rising. "The music is a melting pot of sounds from rock to bluegrass to reggae to jazz to soul and then back to rock again," Sorensen says. The diversity of the music reflects the members of the band as well. Sorensen explains, "When you have three Jamaicans, a Celtic violinist, a rock drummer, a pop guitarist and a lead singer from the South, together playing the music that they love, Evensong Rising is what you get."