While rock stars raising money for charity is surprisingly trendy at the moment, a slew of Christian musicians are reinventing the way art and compassion collide.

Martin Smith, lead vocalist for rock/worship act Delirious (which recently announced its retirement from recording) and his wife, Anna, were inspired after they started visiting Rwanda, Mumbai and Cambodia, beautiful places ransacked by disease, poverty and little in the way of hope for the future. The Smiths call their inspiration Compassionart.

Logistically Speaking

For the better part of 18 months, the Smiths worked on setting up the infrastructure of their global charity. Their idea was to persuade some of the Christian music industry’s biggest artists to gather in one place and write songs together during a week’s time. One hundred percent of the royalties generated would go to the charities of their collective choosing.

Of course, there were endless details and red tape to work through to get Compassionart up and running, but Martin was more than up for the challenge.

“It was a truly pinch-myself moment when everyone from Michael W. Smith to Steven Curtis Chapman to Israel Houghton agreed to be a part of the effort,” Martin said. “I think what’s exciting is that when you’ve got something where no one can personally benefit from it financially, there’s such a free spirit; and it does change everything. I think, ‘How good is that for our industry?’ Really, it’s just great.”

In addition to these artists, Darlene Zschech, Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Graham Kendrick, Paul Baloche, Andy Park and Martin’s Delirious bandmate Stu G committed to participate in the first Compassionart retreat held at the House of Cantle in Perthshire, Scotland, last January.

Behind the Scenes

After getting reacquainted and settling in, the artists were paired off and went to work on a slew of new worship songs. While they weren’t sure how it would all work, the ideas ended up flowing fast and furious.

“I think we probably all came in feeling a little insecure, wondering if we each were bringing enough ideas really to contribute,” Chapman said. “The idea was to come with ideas so we really could hit the ground running. Immediately there was a sense of community and purpose that ultimately took over. This lack of agenda, except for what was on the heart of God, really changed everything.”

Also keeping everyone’s humility in check were daily critique sessions, which included feedback that was surprisingly candid and constructive. As lyrics were tweaked and keys were changed (sometimes several times), one creative expression of worship after the next began to emerge. Before long, there were 22 possible tracks, which surpassed even these artists’ wildest expectations.

Common Ground

A bountiful songwriting harvest wasn’t the retreat’s only significant function. For artists who typically only cross paths at summer musical festivals or the occasional industry function, the retreat also provided an outlet for true community.