With a view of “the table” as a holiday gathering place, Australian worship leader Darlene Zschech and her New South Wales church, HopeUC, welcome listeners with a warm collection of Christmas classics and original songs. Available wherever Christian music is sold, The Table: A Christmas Worship Gathering adopts a posture of praise while encouraging listeners to “build longer tables and lower walls,” welcoming all to Jesus.

Known for penning “Shout To The Lord,” “Victor’s Crown” and “Worthy Is The Lamb” among other favorites, Darlene has a deep conviction about the role of community in the lives of Christ-followers and as a beacon to the lost. This ethos is echoed throughout the HopeUC family, pastored by Darlene and her husband, Mark.

“The concept of the table is very alive in me and I think it's alive in others across the earth because people are so hungry to belong,” says Darlene. “Throughout the Gospels, Jesus was always stopping for ‘the one,’ scooping people up along the way and saying, ‘there’s a place for you here’.”

“So let’s fling wide the doors of our churches and homes,” she adds. “Whether that means inviting people who don’t have family, students who are away from home, the stranger, the refugee… we have to get used to the harvest looking different and being different from what we might have imagined because as the song ‘The Table,’ says, ‘Jesus eats with everyone’.”

For Darlene, The Table is an invitation to join in worship of the Savior and a call to welcome others, as well as a celebration of the home she and Mark have found at HopeUC, which now includes church campuses spread across Australia, India and the U.S. Darlene not only co-pastors HopeUC with Mark, she also mentors young leaders around the globe, including HopeUC worship team members who appear on the album. All of this adds up to a full plate for this mother and grandmother who, three years after being diagnosed cancer-free, has also penned a book, “The Golden Thread”, about the goodness of God in every season of life.

For more information and updates from Darlene, visit DarleneZschech.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @darlenezschech. For Darlene’s song/worship resources, including those for The Table, visit WeAreWorship.com.