Since 2003, each year at Belhaven University has been guided by a “Verse of the Year”—a Scripture chosen by President Roger Parrott to encourage and shape the life of the faculty, staff, and students. For more than two decades, I have had the privilege of writing a song each year based on that verse.
As Belhaven’s artist-in-residence, I lead worship and artistic expression in chapel, and these songs have become part of the University’s shared spiritual memory—sung in worship, remembered by alumni, and carried forward by students into their own lives and ministries.
We have gathered a selection of these songs—about a dozen in all—and are now finishing the final stages of recording them for the first time. The collection reflects the range of how they have been used over the years: some are more reflective, “listening” songs; some have a choral character; and others are fully singable by congregations in worship.
In August 2003, our family moved from the East Bay (San Francisco) to Jackson, MS, after Cynthia accepted the position of Chair of Dance at Belhaven College (now Belhaven University). As a small add-on, I was asked to help with worship arts in the weekly chapel service.
A few days before the semester began, I listened to President Roger Parrott’s message at the faculty/staff kick-off banquet. He was teaching from 2003’s verse-of-the-year, Job 28:23: “God alone knows the way—knows the place where wisdom is found.”
Using the image of sailing, he asked us:
- Would we rather set out to achieve sharply defined goals—revving up the engines to create the best programs, the best educational concepts, and the best future our well-trained minds can imagine?
OR
- Would we rather go wherever the wind of God might take us?
I chose the second. Before the message was over, I’d written this simple song in my notes. A few days later, I shared it during our first chapel service. It became a song we returned to throughout the year—and it marked the beginning of a tradition we’ve continued ever since: a new “Verse of the Year” song each year for the Belhaven community.
– Doug