Graham Kendrick (born 2 August 1950) is an English

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

singer, songwriter and

worship leader Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including many ...

. He is the son of

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

M. D. Kendrick and grew up in

Laindon Laindon is a commuter town in Essex, between Basildon and West Horndon. It was an ancient parish in Essex, England, that was abolished for civil purposes in 1937. It was based on the (probably smaller) manor of the same name and now lies mostly ...

, Essex, and

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

. He now lives in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

and is a member of Christ Church, Tunbridge Wells. He was a member of Ichthus Christian Fellowship. Together with Roger Forster,

Gerald Coates Gerald Coates (25 November 1944 – 3 April 2022) was an author, speaker, broadcaster and the founder of ''Pioneer'', a neocharismatic evangelical Christian network of churches and forums, established to "develop new churches across the UK and en ...

and Lynn Green, he was a founder of

March for Jesus March for Jesus is an annual interdenominational event in which Christians march through towns and cities. History The March for Jesus began as a ''City March'' in London, United Kingdom, in 1987. It emerged from the friendship of three chu ...

Career

Kendrick began his songwriting career in the late 1960s. His most successful accomplishment is his authorship of the lyrics and music for the song, " Shine, Jesus, Shine", which is among the most widely heard songs in contemporary Christian worship worldwide. His other songs have been primarily used by worshippers in Britain. Kendrick is a co-founder of the

. He received a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awar ...

in 1995 for his international work. In 2000, London School of Theology and

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In Jun ...

awarded Kendrick an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

('DD') in "recognition of his contribution to the worship life of the Church". He was awarded another DD in May 2008, from

Wycliffe College Wycliffe College () is an evangelical graduate school of theology at the University of Toronto. Founded in 1877 as an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition, Wycliffe College today attracts students from many Christian denominations from ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada. Although now best known as a worship leader and writer of worship songs, Kendrick began his career as a member of the Christian beat group Whispers of Truth (formerly the "Forerunners"). Later, he began working as a solo concert performer and recording artist in the singer/songwriter tradition. He was closely associated with the organisation Musical Gospel Outreach and recorded several albums for their record labels. On the first, ''Footsteps on the Sea'', released in 1972, he worked with the virtuoso guitarist

Gordon Giltrap Gordon Giltrap, MBE (born 6 April 1948) is an English guitarist and composer. His music crosses several genres. He has been described as "one of the most revered guitarists of his generation", and has drawn praise from fellow musicians including ...

. Kendrick worked for a time as a member of "In the Name of Jesus", a mission team led by Clive Calver. He was based at St Michael le Belfrey, York in the late 1970s and was involved in student and university ministry with British

Youth for Christ Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenagers ...

. At this time he recorded the albums ''Triumph in the Air'' and ''Cresta Run''. Calver went on to run British Youth for Christ and the

Evangelical Alliance The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a national evangelical alliance, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the activities of the Evangelical Alliance aim to promote evangelical Christian beliefs in government, media and socie ...

, and then left the United Kingdom for the

Evangelical Church Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

in the United States. Kendrick, however, remained firmly fixed in the UK church as probably the most influential Christian songwriter of his generation. Kendrick also released "Let the Flame Burn Brighter" as a single in 1989, which reached 55 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. He is a member of Compassionart, a

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

founded by Martin Smith from

Delirious? Delirious? (formerly known as The Cutting Edge Band) were an English contemporary Christian band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stu G (full name Stuart Garrard) on guitar and backing v ...

. In more recent years Kendrick has developed the concept of "Psalm Surfing". In May 2020 he took part in The UK Blessing, a worship song video collaboration of 65 churches released during the national coronavirus lockdown.

Popularity

"Shine, Jesus, Shine" is regularly highly placed in hymn popularity polls. Fellow songwriter and former Kendrick bandmember Stuart Townend has said, "I have no doubt that in 100 years time the name of Kendrick will be alongside

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People * Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' * Watts family, six cha ...

and Wesley in the list of the UK's greatest hymnwriters". Kendrick also has his critics, among them the journalist

Quentin Letts Quentin Richard Stephen Letts (born 6 February 1963) is an English journalist and theatre critic. He has written for ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Mail on Sunday'', and '' The Oldie''. On 26 February 2019, it was announced that Let ...

, who has described him as "king of the happy-clappy banalities".

Discography

Albums

* ''Footsteps on the Sea'' (Key Records) 1972 * ''Bright Side Up'' (Key Records) 1973 * ''Paid on the Nail'' (with Peter Roe) (Key Records) 1974 * ''Breaking of the Dawn'' (Dovetail) 1976 * ''Fighter'' (Dovetail) 1978 * ''Jesus Stand Among Us'' (Dovetail) 1979 * ''Triumph in the Air'' (Glenmore Music) 1980 * ''18 Classics'' (Kingsway) 1981 * ''Cresta Run'' (Kingsway) 1981 * ''The King Is Among Us'' (Kingsway) 1981 * ''Nightwatch'' (Kingsway) 1983 - cassette only release * ''The Blame'' (Kingsway) 1983 * ''Let God Arise'' (Kingsway) 1984 * ''Magnificent Warrior'' (Kingsway) 1985 * ''Make Way for the King of Kings: A Carnival of Praise'' (Kingsway) 1986 * ''Lamb of God'' (Integrity's

Hosanna! Music Integrity Music is part of the David C Cook nonprofit group. Founded as a direct-to-consumer music club in 1987 as ''Integrity Music'', Integrity was at the forefront of contemporary worship music's widespread popularity of praise and worship m ...

) 1988 (British version of a 1987 album by Jim Gilbert) * ''Make Way for Jesus: Shine Jesus Shine'' (Make Way Music) 1988 * ''Make Way for Christmas: The Gift'' (Make Way Music) 1988 * ''Make Way for the Cross: Let the Flame Burn Brighter'' (Make Way Music) 1989 * ''We Believe'' (Star Song) 1989 * '' Amazing Love'' (Integrity's

) 1990 * '' Crown Him'' (Integrity's

) 1991 * ''King of the Nations'' (Word UK) 1992 * ''Crown Him: The Worship Musical'' (Word UK) 1992 * ''Spark to a Flame'' (Megaphone/Word UK) 1993 * ''Rumours of Angels'' (Megaphone/Alliance) 1994 * ''Is Anyone Thirsty?'' (Megaphone/Alliance) 1995 * ''Illuminations'' (Megaphone/Alliance) 1996 * ''No More Walls'' (Make Way Music/Alliance) 1997 * ''The Millennium Chorus'' (Millennium Chorus Ltd) 2000 * ''What Grace'' (Make Way Music/Furious!) 2001 * ''Do Something Beautiful'' (Make Way Music/Furious!) 2003 * ''Sacred Journey'' (Make Way Music/Furious!) 2004 * ''USA Live Worship'' (Make Way Music) 2005 * ''Out of the Ordinary'' (Make Way Music/Furious!) 2006 * ''Dreaming of a Holy Night'' (Make Way Music/Furious!) 2007 * ''The Acoustic Gospels'' (Make Way Music) 2010 * ''Banquet'' (Make Way Music) 2011 * ''Worship Duets'' (Make Way Music) 2013 * ''Keep the Banner Flying High'' (Make Way Music) 2018

Singles

* "Let the Flame Burn Brighter" (single)'' (Make Way Music) 1989

EP

* ''No Scenes of Stately Majesty'' (E.P; Megaphone/Alliance) 1998 * ''Where It Began'' (Make Way Music) 2022

Collections

* ''The Easter Collection'' (Make Way Music/World Wide Worship) 2001 * ''Rumours of Angels'' / ''The Gift'' Double CD (Make Way Music/Furious!) 2001 * ''The Prayer Song Collection'' (Make Way Music/World Wide Worship) 2002 * ''The Psalm Collection'' (Make Way Music/World Wide Worship) 2002

Bibliography

* Graham Kendrick ''Worship'' (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1984) * Graham Kendrick (Ed) ''Ten Worshipping Churches'' (London: Marc Europe, 1987) * Graham Kendrick, Gerald Coates, Roger Forster and Lynn Green with Catherine Butcher, ''March for Jesus'' (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1992) * Graham Kendrick ''Public Praise'' (Altamonte Springs: Creation House, 1992) * Graham Kendrick, Clive Price ''Behind the Songs'' (Stowmarket: Kevin Mayhew Ltd, 2001)

References

External links

*
Discography 1

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kendrick, Graham 1950 births Living people British performers of Christian music People from West Northamptonshire District Christian hymnwriters English hymnwriters Evangelical Anglicans Alumni of the University of Greenwich English evangelicals British New Church Movement Musicians from Royal Tunbridge Wells People from Royal Tunbridge Wells Musicians from Kent