The church also runs a training programme for worship leaders and musicians called the Worship School.īut it is as a songwriter that Stuart has had the greatest impact on the worldwide church, and it is this that is closest to his heart.
The church is also home to a number of well-known figures in the area of worship, including Paul Oakley, Lou Fellingham, Phatfish, Simon Brading and Dave Fellingham, who has played a significant role in mentoring Stuart.
Stuart attends and regularly leads worship at CCK in Brighton, England - one of the New Frontiers network of churches headed up by Terry Virgo. It is here he met Caroline, whom he married in 1988, and they now have three children Joseph, Emma, and Eden. Then at 18 he moved to Brighton to study literature at the University of Sussex. It was while living in West Yorkshire that at the age of 13 he made his Christian commitment. From an early age Stuart played music with his brothers (one brother, Ian, went on to become a member of the group Heartbeat), beginning to play the piano at the age of 7, and teaching himself the guitar as a teenager. Stuart was born in 1963, and grew up as the youngest of four children in a Christian family in West Yorkshire where his father was a Church of England vicar. The depth of lyrical and theological content in songs such as 'In Christ Alone', 'How Deep The Father's Love', 'The Power Of The Cross' and 'Beautiful Saviour' have caused some to draw comparisons with the greats of previous generations such as Watts and Wesley while the marriage of great lyrics with wonderfully accessible melodies (largely through his successful writing partnership with Keith Getty) means his songs bridge different musical and cultural genres, and reach into every corner of the globe. Stuart is known and respected around the world as one of the leading worship songwriters of his generation.