From the distorted guitar riff that kicks off "Say So," the Dove Award-winning lead track from Ancient Skies, the debut full-length from The Michael Gungor Band, it's not hard to imagine a packed stadium of ardent fans, cheering the band's arrival. In fact, it's easy to lose track for a moment that these songs were written specifically for a church community. But that was all Gungor had in mind. At least, originally.

"I wrote the songs not so I could get a record deal, or even for 'the church at large,'" the Denverbased songwriter and worship leader says. "I wrote them originally for my church." In fact, having a community in mind was so important that as Michael and his wife Lisa were working to establish a new church after moving from Michigan, the songwriting temporarily slowed. Then, as Bloom, the couple's house-based, community-oriented church attained momentum, new songs began taking shape. "In doing church, we were trying to figure out how to live our lives together," Michael Gungor notes. "And ever since we started that, songs have been coming more frequently again."

The sounds on Ancient Skies, The Michael Gungor Band's Brash Music debut (which follows a headturning EP of the same name), range from the wideangle atmospherics of a U2, Coldplay or--at it's most ethereal--Sigur Ros, to the bluesy intimacy of a John Mayer. The contributions of all of the players loom large, in addition to the band leading, songwriting couple. (The band currently includes Brad Waller on bass and Brad Nyght on drums.) And while created for the church, the lyrics range from openhearted, full-throated adoration to stinging reminders of the ways humanity tries to limit God.

That Michael Gungor grew up to become a worship leader is hardly surprising, considering that he grew up as a pastor's son in Wisconsin and demonstrated an aptitude for music from an early age. And while still a student at Western Michigan University--following a stopover at the University of North Texas--he found himself leading worship at a sizable Michigan congregation. Music degree in hand, he continued to perform that role for another six years, eventually touring arenas as a worship leader before looking for a fresh start in Denver. "Leading worship was getting to the point where it kind of felt like a job," Gungor admits. "And I never want my music and my ministry to be a job, primarily. I want it to be my life."

So in Colorado, while continuing to work on their music, Michael and Lisa threw their energies into establishing a grassroots church modeled on the 1st Century, with a small group meeting in their own home and, simultaneously, other homes as the movement grew. Eventually a worship gathering-- dubbed "Bloom"--encompassing all of the home groups began. More music naturally followed suit. "If we were talking about something, but didn't have something to sing about it, then I'd write something," he recalls. This is how all the songs on Ancient Skies were born, with "White Man" and "Song For My Family" the most recent additions.

Prior to the new chapter, Michael Gungor had already experienced songwriting success, with several of his compositions becoming worship standards in churches from coast to coast. One cowritten song even landed in CCLI's (an organization that tracks which songs are sung most frequently in churches) Top 20.