Maranatha! Music
Maranatha! emerged from the heart of the "Jesus Movement" in the early 1970's as a voice of hope to a turbulent generation. A grand scale conversion took place in the Christian church as thousands of these "hippies" found truth and meaning in Jesus Christ as a worldwide spiritual explosion transformed nearly every aspect of the church. People responded with new music out of a heart of worship. This religious cultural revolution, often referred to as the "Jesus Movement" brought forth a response in song called "Jesus Music."
Many of these hippie converts, often referred to as "Jesus People," congregated at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, pastored by Chuck Smith, Sr. Young Christian musicians who had formed approximately ten bands, began playing their worship music in Pastor Chuck's church at weekly services and at special concerts purposed on sharing God's love and praising Him.
In 1971, with a small loan from Chuck Smith, the first album was recorded, distributed by band members and sold at church concerts. From there each band involved in this musical phenomenon went into the studio to record, one at a time. The profits from each recording were used to send the next band in to record. The first two albums, which had no official distribution or marketing, sold more than 25,000 copies combined. It was during this time of revival that Maranatha! Music was born.
History After experimenting with artist-driven and concept albums in its early years, Maranatha! changed its vision and slowly started to gear its entire product line toward producing worship albums that would facilitate the needs of churches across the world.
Along with many event and ministry related recordings, we developed several genre-specific series that have stood the test of time and improved with their progression. The Colours series is a simple, yet powerful instrumental series, which includes original versions of traditional hymns and Maranatha! classics. The Praise Series, containing all the Maranatha! choruses, is another classic in our repertoire. The first recording of the now 20-volume Praise Series was released in 1974. Perhaps most renowned for its innovation and energy, is Maranatha's own brand of guitar-driven worship, The Praise Band Series.
The purpose behind each Maranatha! recording has remain unchanged - to praise and worship God through music and to minister to hearts. Above all, each song must be Biblically, doctrinally, and theologically accurate and solid. Because of the large platform Maranatha! has, we feel a responsibility to take into account the number of people who may be influenced by its lyrics.
Maranatha! continues to work alongside the church as a ministry and evangelical outreach. Our training teams are also committed to a philosophy of service and dedication to excellence. Each year since 1991, our Worship Leader Workshops have served churches in the United States and Canada by helping worship leaders better facilitate the worship part of Sunday and weekly services.
In addition to recorded music and printed resources, Maranatha! sends teams around the world to serve and enhance other ministries with live worship. Since 1991, we have partnered with national outreaches such as Promise Keepers, Billy Graham Evangelical Association, Campus Crusades for Christ, National Day of Prayer, and Harvest Crusades. As we add relevant music to these ministries, our music becomes the worship aspect of the events, adding a dynamic that words alone cannot fill.
Maranatha's leadership and contributions to Christian music have not gone unnoticed by the industry. In 1990, the company was honored with the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) President's Award. The award is presented to "the individual, agency, or organization that has demonstrated exceptional leadership and integrity in their particular ministry and for their contributions to religious broadcasting." NRB's President's Award had only been awarded twice before in its forty-eight year history, once to Charles Colson and once to Billy Graham.
In 1991, at our 20-year anniversary, Maranatha! was recognized with the Gospel Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. We attribute these and numerous other awards and gold and platinum recordings to our stewardship of God-given talents. We believe that our originality and innovation can reach only as far as we seek the Creator for new vision and follow His direction. We continuously discover that God is the multiplier of our gifts and talents.
Today Presently, the Maranatha! catalog includes classics such as the Praise Series, the Colours Label, the Praise Band series, the Promise Keepers series, Kid's Praise, the Top 25 Series, and the Praise Chorus Book. Corresponding church resources, including print music and MIDI, are available for many of our products.
Maranatha! Book Publishing was launched in 1999 as we partnered with Zondervan to create The NIV Worship Bible. This unique Bible is intended to be another catalyst for worship. Filled with study notes, prayers, songs of worship, and devotional letters from God, it is a dynamic and intimate worship resource.
Leadership at Maranatha! has changed from its early days when sales, marketing, and planning was headed by the artists who also fueled the company's creative center. In 1990, Thomas Vegh joined The Corinthian Group to help the management team with distribution and financial issues. Vegh was named President in 1991 and CEO in 1993. He is actively involved in shaping the vision, mission, and culture of The Corinthian Group as well as focusing on visible growth.
Maranatha's recorded product is distributed nationally, through Provident Music Distribution, and Nashville-based Word, Inc. distributes Maranatha's printed product. Maranatha! manages its own foreign distribution to over 70 countries worldwide with additional territories added monthly.
Future In order to put the current segment of our journey into context, we must look at the past decade, which has been a pivotal season for worship in the Church. With the introduction of Praise Band in 1990 at stadium-sized events with Harvest Crusades and BGEA, churches from all backgrounds and denominations quickly adapted a new model of praise and worship. This new style of worship created a revolution that allowed a more relevant expression of praise from people across the nation.
These large gatherings, which later included Promise Keepers conferences, were a catalyst to open people's eyes and hearts to a much deeper and meaningful relationship with God. Concurrently, this season also saw the explosion of worship around the globe, including countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom. There are no borders for the Kingdom of God, and as He is drawing near, we continue to see the manifestation of His presence in the response of His people.
The year 2000 proved to be a true milestone in our journey. Maranatha! has reached a place of new beginnings. Maranatha! Publishing released The NIV Worship Bible, a foundation for the future of the company. We also joined our friends at Integrity and Vineyard Music for the first time ever on a very successful worship project called WOW Worship. Our Worship Leader Workshop alumni count reached the 100,000 mark that year.
Additionally, we moved into a new facility that was specifically designed to help accomplish the mission God has given to its leadership as a place of service. This is the year Maranatha! has seen God answer prayers for healing throughout its community. This is the year of growth in our vision, as well as a fresh perspective of worship for a new generation.
The vision and goal of Maranatha! continues to be fueled by a commitment to remain close to what God is doing in the Christian church today, while bringing the uncompromised message of God's Word to the world in a format that is relevant to the times and culture.
At the core of who we are is worship with all its expressions. Our heart is to serve, equip and train the church. Worship is our thanksgiving, our submission, and our connection to a loving God. Maranatha is a Aramaic word meaning 'the Lord is coming'. We believe that any place the Lord is welcomed with praise and worship, He is and will remain.
Maranatha! continues to produce and harvest pure contemporary worship music for and from the church, always keeping in mind the great traditions of the past, while looking ahead to the fresh, new sounds emerging from the next generation of worshippers.
