In a recent episode of the London School of Theology Podcast, I had the chance to talk about music and faith—two things that have shaped not just my work but my whole life.
As a lecturer at LST, I spend most of my time teaching undergraduate students in creative musicianship, aural skills, improvisation, and worship practice. These are essential musical skills for any Christian musician preparing to lead or serve in today’s churches. I also draw on my own practical experience from years of local church ministry, including time at Methodist Central Hall and in Cambridgeshire, where I worked as a worship pastor.
But my journey into music and faith started well before that. My dad was a semi-professional musician who played bass guitar and church organ. He introduced me to music from a young age—so young that my mum jokes I started responding to the organ in the womb. By the time I was a teenager, I could transpose music by ear and was regularly playing in church bands. But like many people, I stepped away from church in my late teens as gigs and late nights took over. Playing in a Blues Brothers tribute band until 3am wasn’t exactly compatible with Sunday mornings.
That phase didn’t last. I came back to my faith and began to see music differently—not just as performance, but as worship, and even as theology.
In the podcast, I talk about how jazz—often misunderstood in Christian circles—can actually enrich worship. It gives us a richer musical language to express what we believe. The complexity, the dissonance, the tension and release—it mirrors the spiritual journey. And it opens the door to broader expressions of worship beyond the binary of “hymns or choruses”.
Studying jazz in New York challenged me musically and spiritually. My teacher Greg Tardy, who still performs with Bill Frisell, showed me something I’ve never forgotten. At the end of a solo, when the crowd applauds, he points upward. He doesn’t accept the glory—it goes straight to God. That’s the heart of it.
Music, when it’s done right, reflects glory back to God. It teaches discipline. It teaches theology. And it connects us—not just to each other, but to something higher.
🎧 Listen to the full podcast here:
London School of Theology Podcast: Jazz Vibes with Dan Forshaw