No worship band in recent history has created the kind of reaction The City Harmonic did with their EP Introducing The City Harmonic, which features the standout anthem "Manifesto." They have followed that up with each album being their new best: I Have a Dream (It Feels Like Home), which features "Mountaintop" and "Holy (Wedding Day)," and Heart, which features "A City on a Hill" and "Praise the Lord." The band is made of frontman Elias Dummer, bassist Eric Fusilier, guitarist Aaron Powell and drummer Josh Vanderlaan, a group of musicians who doesn't have much interest in gathering fans, but rather aims to come alongside other members of the Body of Christ. 

From a group of small churches of various denominations in Hamilton, Ontario, calling themselves TrueCity, the heart and line-up of the band The City Harmonic was fused. WE ARE, which released September 4, displays a renewed sense of dedication to the band's original impetus. With 11 authentic expressions of worship and unity, the album captures what gets them up in the morning and keeps them grounded, come what may. I had the chance to speak with lead singer Elias Dummer about "We Are One."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

The whole album was something we took a long run at, which is probably the first time we were able to do that. Knowing that what we were shooting for was an album that speaks to unity, and speaks from the unity from which our band was born, was a big thing for us. This album, more than anything we've ever done, is all about unity in the Church. 

This song is meant partly to talk about how our unity is born not only out of good ideas or even agreement necessarily, but the reality that even what we think about unity in the negative is actually of no consequence, because we are united by the work of Jesus, not by our own opinions. That's the tragedy of churches that aren't working together. They are saying to the Godhead that birthed us, "sorry, but we know better." 

Other than being heartbroken by it, I don't know that our inability or lack of desire to work together is of any consequence to the ultimate reality at all. "We Are One" is actually an odd song about unity in that it doesn't talk about unity all that much directly, but rather about the human condition and the work of Christ as laid out in 1st Corinthians 15.

We are told that Christ, that God, is to be an ultimate reality, all in all. He is in all things, in all places and He is all things to all people. Not that He is whatever we want Him to be, but He is by His very nature in His resurrection our very sustenance. So the song is based on a play on words from the famous "all for one, and one for all." We turned it into "we are one, we are all for one, Jesus once for all, to the Glory of the one true God." In those four short lines we hoped to lay out the concentric circles of what it means to believe in one God, one Church.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (VOICE): For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God's covenant story.

John 15:4-5 (VOICE): Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. A branch cannot bear fruit if it is disconnected from the vine, and neither will you if you are not connected to Me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear great fruit. Without Me, you will accomplish nothing.

John 17:21 (VOICE): Father, may they all be one as You are in Me and I am in You; may they be in Us, for by this unity the world will believe that You sent Me.

Romans 15:6 (VOICE): In this unity, you will share one voice as you glorify the one True God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King.

Ephesians 4:3 (VOICE): Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.

Hebrews 10:10 (NKJV): "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

What is the takeaway message of the song and album?

We are essentially as humans one in our personhood. We are united by Jesus. Period. It doesn't matter your church preference. It is the saving work of Jesus, who lived and worked and died and resurrected from the dead, once for all of us. John 17:21 is the basis of the closing track, "One." The shift of churches in TrueCity in Hamilton, Ontario was to not look down on other churches or unsaved people, but to put first our desire of how we could bless our town by serving others. Evangelism is great, but it so often turns into a consumer mentality about getting more people into churches.

Our band was born out of a movement of churches that said "what can we do as churches for the benefit of others?" Even if it comes at great cost to us with no benefit to us. That's the birthplace of unity. We've seen first-hand how powerful it is when the Church works in unity. Christ changes us every day, and Christ is changing our hometown. If we can somehow inspire the Church around the world to do the same, that's more than we could ever have hoped or imagined. 

The reality is that unity shouldn't be born out of conflict, but instead be born out of the brotherhood of peace and being born of the Spirit. Regardless of denominations, we are all part of one family.
 
Lyrics:
Ash to ash, dust to dust
we live and die.
But in the Son, in the Son
We are alive.
All for one, all for one
From every tongue and tribe
In Jesus crucified
'Cause Jesus is alive
Now, once and for all time.

We are one
We are all for one.
All for Jesus
Jesus, once for all.
To the glory of the one true God

King of kings, Lord of lords
Till kingdom come.
And in the end, in the end
God all in all.
He will be everything,
Everything to everyone,
When death is finally done
And victory is won,
Once and for all of us.

We are one
We are all for one.
All for Jesus.
Jesus, once for all.
To the glory of the one true God

We won't be moved, we're standing tall.
Once of the dust, now of the Son.
All life and death and what's to come
Belong to Christ, and Christ to God.
So here we stand, hands lifted high.
The very hands and feet of Christ.
No holding back, no wasting time.
We live for love

For we are one.
We are all for one.
All for Jesus.
Jesus, once for all.
To the glory of the one true God.
We are one.
We are all for one.
All for Jesus.
Jesus once for all.
To the glory of the one true God.

Every song released by The City Harmonic completely focuses me as a listener on joining in praise, worship and adoration of Jesus. These songs were written from a place of reflecting on what it means to be one body of Christ as Christ is One with the Father and Holy Spirit. The project is intended to lead listeners to that place also. I'm both challenged and entertained, and I love hearing Scripture proclaimed in fresh and exciting ways. Every song is emotionally stirring and rooted in the Truth of God's Word.

This has been a band I've been telling others about since I first heard their song "Manifesto." As I've gotten to know their heart for the Church, I love them even more. This worship anthem is just the type of infusion that the church needs with its honesty and bold lyrics. This song is all about the celebration of God's mercy in forgiving us and as Christians, we need to pay it forward. 

If the spirit of mercy is a basic element in Christian faith, then the expression of mercy is an integral part of faith. This expression of mercy constitutes faith in action. Once we acknowledge the words of this song and say yes, and Amen, we shouldn't think highly of ourselves because we are saved by the blood of Jesus, but instead we should lower ourselves to serve others and help be the hands and feet of our Savior in our words and actions.

What if we lived as though we believe the sincere words of this song? Jesus loves us so much that He came down and took our punishment so that we can be with Him forever. We can rest on Hebrews 10:10 (NKJV): "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." This song encapsulates my testimony of how biblical messages in Christian music led me to Christ. A great outcome of memorizing the words of this song is that you are ultimately singing God's Word.

The opening track "We Are One" and closing track "One" bookend the theme of the album that weaves through every track: "Make us one as You are One." Once you let the song "We Are One" sink in to your soul, you won't be able to get the uplifting lyrics out of your head. I find myself frequently singing the unifying chorus: "We are one, we are all for One, all for Jesus, Once for all, to the glory of the One true God." Amen to that!

(Watch the music video here.)