Two songs that worship leader Dale Sechrest penned more than a decade ago and recorded in 2015 have been given new life in perhaps one of the more unlikely places.
The longtime Protestant Christian known for his musical worship at such interfaith gatherings as the local celebration of the National Day of Prayer, the Community Good Friday service and others now is seeing his song “It’s All About Love (Your Song)” receive airplay on the televised Catholic Faith Network. The broadcasting entity serves primarily New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The Columbus resident can’t rationally explain how the spirited, upbeat pop song focusing on unselfishly putting others first made it onto the network last month to highlight a fundraising campaign.
All he knows is that a Catholic Faith Network staffer in Charlotte, North Carolina, somehow recently heard another older Sechrest tune, “All My Heart,” that is now being used there on that segment of the network. Through that person, New York director/producer Lisa Tangredi then heard “All My Heart” and wanted to use it — until she heard a snippet of “It’s All About Love (Your Song).” By the time she contacted Sechrest, it truly was all about love — love of much of his work.
“God is so amazing,” Sechrest said. “When he wants something done, he’ll get it done — and in his time.”
Over the past 20 years, Sechrest’s music, both mainstream and Christian, has been pretty successful locally through four recorded discs and a mix of concerts and worship sessions. Through that work, he has earned the accolades of singers such as former Arista Records artist and ex-nationally touring performer Jim Ryser, formerly of Columbus.
“Sounds like James Taylor, if James Taylor rocked,” Ryser once said of Sechrest’s releases.
Late last month, Sechrest appeared virtually on the Catholic Faith Network for a brief interview and to show himself performing the song in a professional video clip shot at The Ridge church in Columbus. A Nashville, Tennessee, production crew, funded by a ministry friend, coordinated the clip with the help of Ridge worship leader James Young and others.
Sechrest, a humble fellow who never has been a big self-promoter, had just recorded a homemade video clip of the song at Hope Moravian Church, where he leads worship at its contemporary Sunday service. He planned on the Catholic Faith Network using that piece shot simply with two cellphone cameras.
Sechrest said he never quite dreamed that, immediately after that effort, supporters would get involved for a newly recorded clip of a finished product done with professional, state-of-the-art stage lighting, cutting-edge sound, decor, you name it, at The Ridge church in Columbus. He was touched beyond words.
He was touched especially because the taping began on the afternoon of the recent 7-inch February snowstorm. Yet, he felt God’s unmistakable warmth that day.
“Here these people (at The Ridge) didn’t know me from anyone,” Sechrest said. “Plus, we reached out to them about using their building on a very short time frame. And they very understandably and easily could have said, ‘Sorry, we’re not interested.’ Instead, it was amazing how kind and open they were. And this was while snow was piling up outside by the second.”
Still, they not only shot Sechrest singing “It’s All About Love (Your Song).” They and the Nashville team also encouraged him to do a quick, six-song, 30-minute, coffeehouse-style concert to be taped and shown later on Facebook.
“That was definitely a God thing,” Sechrest said.
The singer and musician could talk about such “God things,” as he calls them, all day and more. He knows the opposite, too.
He knows the pain of divorce, and the grief of losing his wife in 2000 after less than two years of marriage and having a baby to raise. He understands how those who have embraced the faith can then wander as he did for nearly 15 years, leading him to what he describes as “a very dark place.”
When he spoke of such, and of being at the breaking point at struggling segments of his life while crying out to God, his voice cracked with emotion. He said he had erroneously believed at one point that wayward believers could not return to the faith and find a grace that never had left.
“But I discovered that God’s arms are always open,” Sechrest said.
Plus, the man who laid down his guitar for a time years ago to clearly define the difference between performance and worship without ego longs for God to use any element of his past or present for the sake of others.
“It is amazing how God can take the difficult times we go through and bring something good out of them,” he said. “It is my desire, that, as I play and sing, God draws people closer to him, and that he would use the songs — even the songs that are not overtly Christian — and use my voice and the music to draw people into his presence, or, closer to himself.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About Dale Sechrest” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Born and lives: in Columbus.
Family: wife Juli, sons Andrew and Jason.
Age: 62
Current role: Worship leader at the contemporary service at Hope Moravian Church and the contemporary service at Sandy Hook United Methodist Church.
Past ministry: Includes leading worship at such interfaith gatherings as the local celebration of the National Day of Prayer and the Community Good Friday service.
Early musical influences: Bob Dylan to Neil Young to Simon and Garfunkel.
His albums (that include musicians from such notable artists’ ensembles as John Mellencamp and Sandi Patty): "Journey"; "Judah — Worship From the Ages"; "Worship"; and "Speed of Light."
Information: dalesechrest.com
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