Thy Strange Design is an ever evolving Congregational Worship Collective of musicians and songwriters begun in Washington Heights NYC. Bringing together worship musicians from various community churches in the neighborhood, their first record simply titled Thy Strange Design was released in 2017.
Through the Pandemic and realizing significant areas of cultural neglect with our churches, we prayerfully observed the need for the music of the church to minister to all its people in their own context - for it to be born out of and in some way reflect our actual community. During this time songs of lament, praise and worship emerged that infused more of the diversity of the city. In particular these songs organically possessed something of the cadence, melodies and rhythms found in the Latin communities and other cultures living and worshiping here.
The Lord has given the church at large so many gifted songwriters by which we continue to be deeply blessed by and ministered to. However, as many other like-minded worshipers, we see the value in ensuring all of the culturally instituted aspects of Sunday worship reflect its immediate context and people. Having said this, we have found depth and value in experiencing and corporately singing songs that are born out of the unique and culturally diverse expressions of gospel orthodoxy found in NYC, in our time and place.
We are thankful to be engaging in ways that are, though new to us, no doubt commonplace for many and fully understand that much of our material may seem indistinguishable from familiar worship styles. For us the goal and experience is not imitation or pastiche but celebration, inclusion and a desire that all worshipers made in God’s image, would be seen in our community as they bring their offerings of praise to God.
Through the songs being released in Thy Strange Design Vol 2, we hope to support those looking to broaden the cultures reflected in the church's corporate worship experience. As we have begun, we pray that we will continue to see beauty in the diversity of creation as we incline our hearts toward Jesus Christ and worship God together, embracing all music that glorifies God and blesses all the brothers and sisters we worship alongside.