Lins Honeyman investigates the Scottish worship collective SATELLITE following the release of their album 'One Church, One Voice'

Paul recognised that there is a need to promote unity amongst Scotland's churches and to make Jesus more important than the musical and denominational differences that so often hamper the efforts of those in worship ministry. "There's a long way to go. I'm really passionate about trying to take the best of the traditional styles of worship we have in Scotland and linking them with the best elements of the newer worship expressions. Too often, those in each camp stick rigidly to what they know and reject what they don't - and that's a real shame.

"Scotland has a great tradition of music that has never quite spilled over into its worship music," admitted Paul. "I enjoy a lot of the imported music we use in churches - Worship Central and Hillsong, for instance - but it's not the same as having something that speaks into your own church's situation and taps into local cultural traditions. With the Satellite project, I think we have a well written album that represents our musical heritage across a good range of churches."

Peter Semple

Peter Semple's contribution "King Of Compassion" was chosen from a shortlist of four of the Midlothian-based singer/songwriter's songs and it's clear that hearing the finished article was a highlight. "All credit goes to David, Graeme and Sandy," he humbly confessed. "The arrangement and recording quality are top notch and they totally transformed the track from the rough demo I handed in."

It seems that the opportunity for local writers to have their work enhanced and placed on a bigger platform is one of Satellite's main goals, as Peter confirmed: "We were very clear from the outset that the aim was to give Scottish writers an opportunity to have their songs heard and used by a wider audience. It's probably too early to say if we've achieved this but that was definitely the aim.

"Projects such as Satellite exist to resource the local church," he added. "It's always seemed strange to me that a country with such a strong musical heritage has, with the exception of Ian White and John Bell, made little or no impact in the field of contemporary worship songwriting. Maybe we're not writing the right songs or we're too far removed from the industry infrastructure to have our songs heard on a wider scale. Through Satellite, it was well worth having a go at changing that imbalance."

David And Yvonne Lyon

Having released three praise projects as a solo artist, renowned Scottish talent David Lyon is no stranger to ploughing an innovative worship furrow. Coupled with the fact that he has played for, produced and written for countless other artists, it is hardly surprising that the Glasgow musician was completely the right man to bring a project as diverse as Satellite together.

"Wearing so many different hats in this project, I felt it essential to involve others - like Lesley Penny who got behind the project so amazingly - who could not only be enthusiastic about the vision but also be objective about the songs and be part of a selection panel to help form a shortlist of writers and songs," explained David. "We were aiming for songs which ticked a number of boxes - theologically sound, lyrically fresh and melodically accessible. From the outset, several songs were unanimous in their approval which gave us a sense of direction."

Having written a number of songs on 'One Church, One Voice', David's "We Rejoice" stands out not only as a great worship song but boasts an appearance by longstanding praise troubadour Ian White. I asked David what it was like having Ian sing one of his songs. "Ian has been writing and performing for a number of years and many of us grew up singing his songs in our churches. We felt it was important to honour our roots so we invited him to be part of the recording. He was very positive about the project and that in itself was encouraging. I love his vocal on 'We Rejoice'."

Yvonne Lyon

David's wife, Yvonne Lyon, is a successful artist in her own right and recent months have seen her career blossom with appearances on Bob Harris' Radio 2 show, airplay for her single "The Coffee Song" as well as a busy touring schedule. Having added her writing and vocal skills to the project, Yvonne sees one of Satellite's main aims is encouraging a songwriting community rather than artificially creating a worship scene. "I don't think it's about creating a scene as such," she expanded. "More a community that encourages the writing of good songs that can be used by churches in Scotland. I think Satellite has been extremely important in starting something organic and grassroots for songwriters. There seems to be a lot of support for worship leaders with conferences run by the 'stars of the scene' but not much for unknown writers who are trying to say something new."

David agreed, "I think it's more important to be part of and help shape a community of followers who seek to honour God in every aspect of their lives. Days that are often filled with the very ordinary and mundane still offer an opportunity to hear the Father's whisper. My hope is that, through what we've done together as Satellite, we can offer an authentic and precious gift back to our creator."