I love to sing, I love music, but I love to see people grow and become greater at what they’re called to do. That is one of my greatest assignments, and it’s one of the joys of my life.

CCM: How has mentoring others in the context of iLead Escape influenced you in your own worship leadership?
TCL: That’s a great question. One of my students is also my goddaughter. I started to mentor her when she was 13 years old. I noticed she had a great calling on her life and I took her under my wings. Now she’s 22 years old and is one of the worship leaders at her church. I watch her [lead] every Sunday on stream—you watch these things come full circle. There are a few [leaders I have mentored] around the world that I have watched for many, many years—that I had a part in helping them become what God has called them to become. Sometimes we love the awards, but the reward in watching someone be great at what God has called them to do is much more fulfilling spiritually. That I’ve helped the Kingdom in some way—that feeling is priceless.

CCM: On the new record you have collected different worship leaders from different racial, cultural and church backgrounds. Their various leadership styles texture this one record. Is it important to you that there be racial and denominational diversity in our musical worship of God?
TCL: Ten years ago, my pastor, Bishop William Murphy started calling me a “worship bridge to the nations.” I thought, What is he talking about? But after the release of “Break Every Chain,” people would write on my pages and send me e-mails from all different cultures and different nationalities, so I started to be invited to these different platforms and I was exposed to the diversity of worship. I believe my pastor was prophetically speaking that over my life, that I am called to bring a fellowship between diverse cultures to create a universal sound that heaven cannot deny—that sickness will be healed from these sounds.

Tasha Cobbs Leonard, CCM Magazine - image

Tasha with husband Kenneth Leonard in the studio

There is something about unity. We are stronger together. The Bible talks about how one can chase a thousand but two can put ten thousand to flight. Well, imagine 30 worship leaders in a studio, all different nationalities and cultures—how many would we put to flight then? That’s exactly what we experienced in that studio the week that we recorded Heart. Passion. Pursuit. … that universal sound.

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