Music is a calling and worship is a lifestyle. At that intersection of talent and passion, you’ll find Montell Jordan. Most of the world knows Jordan as the smooth-voiced singer responsible for such mainstream R&B
hits as, “This is How We Do It” and “Let’s Ride,”but to fellow believers at Victory World Church in Norcross, GA, Jordan is a man who uses music as a vehicle to transport people into the presence of God.
As Victory World Church introduces their powerful worship team to the world with the debut album on Victory World Music, Jordan is at the forefront of the church’s ministry efforts. The title track and new single, Shake Heaven is an ear-grabbing wall of sound punctuated by Jordan’s soulful vocals that capture the latest chapter in his musical and spiritual evolution.
Jordan is the first to admit the transition from mainstream music star to music minister wasn’t necessarily an easy one. He and his wife, Kristin, had been attending Victory World Church and Jordan was working on a new R&B album. Kristin was the first to know change was coming. “God revealed to her that I was going to retire from the music business,” recalls Jordan. “In her infinite wisdom, she decided not to tell me that because if she would have told me I probably would not have received that type of message. I had been working on a new R&B album and was preparing to rejuvenate my career. I was doing this while I was serving in church and we were doing children’s ministry because I was an R&B recording artist.”
Within a few months, God’s will became evident to Jordan during a time of fasting and prayer. “During that 21-day fast, God spoke to me and confirmed that I was going to retire from the music business. That was extremely traumatic and a very difficult time for me,” Jordan admits candidly. “There was a lot of uncertainty because the only thing I’d known had been music production, writing, and recording. That defined Montell Jordan. Who was Montell outside of the music world?”
As Jordan wrestled with that question and the uncertainty, God honored his obedience by opening a new door for him to use his gifts. “When I retired I didn’t even have a job,” he says. “I literally left the business not knowing what I was going to do or where this was going to lead, and then the opportunity arose for a position at Victory World Church. It literally was the transition of me moving from R&B recording artist into full-time licensed minister, because of God requiring me to lay down my life to move forward.”
As he moved forward into his calling, it became obvious God had been ordering his steps all along preparing him for the new role he was assuming. “God was very patient with me,” Jordan says. “He just kept revealing Himself to me over and over again saying, ‘I’ve got you. I’ve got you.’ That’s how we were able to make that move completely and there was no looking back.”
For Jordan, the journey began at Carver Missionary Baptist Church in California. “I grew up in South Central Los Angeles in the hood,” Jordan says. “Gang violence was very high in South Central LA and I wasn’t expected to live. Young black men in South Central weren’t expected to live past 16-years-old, but this little church is where I was groomed. That was my schooling and my foundation for music with an old Mississippi preacher named Richard Stubbs. He took a bunch of us kids and locked us in the church and started training us. We had to learn how to accompany him on piano, the organ, drums and on the guitars. We learned how to play music by ear. I served as a musician in the church from the time I was about nine-years-old until until twenty-one. I’ve been in church all my life, so I’ve known God all my life.”
That relationship with the Father provided a strong foundation as Jordan moved forward. He graduated summa cum laude from Pepperdine University and was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. Though he considered law school his love of music prevailed. He signed a deal with Def Jam Records and soon became one of the industry’s hottest young R&B singers. His vast experience in the mainstream music world now enables him to serve God more effectively in his music ministry at Victory World Church.
“Part of my testimony of being from the secular world of music is I feel like I’ve been behind enemy lines,” he says with a sly smile. “I’ve been a spy going to survey the land and see what it’s like out there. I know what people are listening to, what draws crowds, and what makes the different sounds. There are certain rhythms and chords that just strike within people.”
Jordan’s music experience fused with the passion of the congregation makes worship at Victory World Church an exciting experience. “There are 105 different nations of people represented,” Jordan says of Victory, one of the fastest growing churches in the country. “We do world worship music that crosses all different lines. That’s part of the DNA in Victory World Church as we reconcile the races, reconcile the cultures, and reconcile ourselves to God. I think we’re going to change the way people hear, praise, and worship. This isn’t church as usual. There is no template for what is happening here at Victory World Church right now. There’s no book that’s written to say this is how you do multi-cultural worship in the 2000’s. I think we are definitely at the forefront of something new.”
Jordan is excited about the people he’s working with on Victory’s Worship team. “I get to work with some really talented musicians who are also growing and learning like I am, and that have a heart for God,” Jordan says. “We are trying to sing what we think God would like to hear, to worship Him the way that we think He would like to be worshipped, and not just create a new sound and different ways to say ‘we love you God.’ We also want to be catalysts to inspire the congregation, get the people to press forward, and get into the presence of God.”
The new album, Shake Heaven features original music penned by Jordan and other members of the Victory World Church worship team. The songs are lyrically substantive and musically vibrant, reflecting the diversity of the congregation. “There will be gospel songs, rock songs, and folk songs,” says Jordan. “When you have so many different nationalities represented on the team the music is eclectic, and it’s my job to make sure that somehow it fits together.”
The title track and first single, “Shake Heaven,” features Jordan’s friend, Beckah Shae. “She’s a ball of fire,” he says. “She’s an incredible vocalist and she’s a worshiper. There’s no question about it. She inspires me.” The album will also feature songs written by other members of the worship team and a couple of songs written by teenagers of the church. “We have some incredible artists at the church including some young writers and performers who will surprise the world. There are three 15 and16 year-old young ladies featured on the album as writers and performers who are amazingly gifted.” Jordan says.
“The album will also feature Todd McVicker, who is a worship leader and he brings more of a hip-hop rock worship feel that is best described as, ‘Green Day meets Jesus,’” explains Jordan. “Then we also have a worship leader by the name of Greggory Gitaitis, who is a great songwriter. Greg has a song called, Open Up The Heavens that we’ve been singing at Victory World Church. It will be on the new album and it’s just a beautiful worship song.”
Another highlight on the project is “These Hands.” “We did that song on Easter. It’s from the perspective of God’s hands talking about the things He has done for us,” Jordan says of the powerful track.
Jordan is excited about the worship at Victory World Church reaching beyond the walls of the church and he couldn’t be more passionate about the new music he’s creating with his team. “It’s a gift to God. I’m giving him back the gift of music that he gave me that I used in the world. I’m giving it to him now,” he says. “Victory World Music is something that will belong to Him and doesn’t edify me as an artist. I want to take the light off of me and focus that light onto Him.”
