Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have long taught about the power of wholesome, uplifting music. Strive to Be artists put those principles into action by creating Christ-centered worship music.
Strive to Be is the youth channel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dedicated to strengthening youth around the world through Christ-centered music and messages.
This music can be found through streaming platforms by Strive to Be and the youth albums produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This year, through regional concerts and the upcoming “Festival 2025: A Youth Concert,” young people can worship Jesus Christ and find community with their peers through music.
Three Strive to Be artists — Pearce Morris, Ashley Hess and Sister Ellie Barry, who is currently a service missionary — recently joined the Church News podcast to talk about what worship music is and how it can strengthen individual relationships with Jesus Christ.
Worshipping with intent
Morris, from southern Utah, said worship music helps people focus on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This goes beyond the hymns sung in sacrament meetings — many styles of music can be worship music, so long as the core message leads a person closer to God and the Savior, Morris said.
He also said that “worship” is an important and powerful word. Someone can attend Church or the temple without actually worshipping, he said, because worship is about the heart’s intent.
“The music that Strive to Be produces is [intentionally] made to point people towards Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, and I think that’s a really important aspect,” he said. “And so that’s why I think worship music is so powerful, because it’s so [intentional].”
Hess, a Strive to Be artist from Fremont, California, said that worship music has “taken worship out of a box for me.”
Music breaks through barriers, she continued. “I think it’s really amazing individually for me to worship through music on my own, but then also collectively, with a group of people, to be worshipping through music is so powerful.”
Sister Barry, a service missionary from Pleasant Grove, Utah, added that when people sing along together to worship music, they’re singing about their relationships with God.
“It’s scripture that they’re singing, it’s doctrine that they’re singing, it’s eternal truths that they’re singing,” Sister Barry said. “And so that’s just such a beautiful part about worship music, is it helps God reach their hearts in such a special way.”
A message for the world
Hess said that, as performers, it’s sometimes easy to approach concerts with a mindset of entertaining an audience. But Strive to Be concerts are unique, she said, because those performances are about worshipping the Lord. The goal is for audiences to have an experience with Christ, not an experience with the singers.
“It really shifts from a performance to an offering and to … also being willing to just bear my testimony and to offer what I do have, even if it’s not much,” Hess said.
When people watch “Festival 2025: A Youth Concert,” she continued, she hopes listeners will experience a deeper understanding of God’s love. Hess said people sometimes have spiritual experiences with worship music that they can then remember every time they hear a particular song.
“I hope that this just imprints that spiritual experience of God’s love on the youth’s hearts so that the second they hear this song, it immediately takes them back to a moment where they felt the power and the love of God,” Hess said.
She added that performing as a Strive to Be artist has taught her that the Lord will use anyone who’s willing to do His work.
“The power of music is so universal, and God is so universal,” she said. “And so that combined, for me, my spirit gets so fired up and so excited about what’s happening.”
Sister Barry feels that excitement, too. As a full-time service missionary, her purpose is to help others come unto Christ, she said, and for her, that means singing about Him. But there are so many ways to serve Him, “and so many different gifts that we’ve all been given to help this work go forward,” Sister Barry said.
All three artists were adamant that Strive to Be music is for everyone, not just for youth.
“Is the message of Jesus Christ just for youth, or do you think that’s for the world?” Morris asked, adding that the music “points people to Jesus Christ. That message is for everyone.”
More information about ‘Festival: A Youth Concert’
Festival 2025 is designed to be held any time on or after Aug. 7, at a day and time that best fits local needs and schedules. Youth ages 14 to 18 are encouraged to participate.
An event notice on ChurchofJesusChrist.org lists three ways to experience Festival 2025:
1. Watch and sing along
Participate in one of the prerecorded concerts. These concerts will be published in English, Spanish and Portuguese on Thursday, Aug. 7.
2. Reimagine
Put on a local concert using local singers to perform the same songs featured in the prerecorded concert.
3. Create
Create a music event that provides youth an opportunity to gather together and celebrate their faith in Jesus Christ.
Planning resources, suggestions and tools are available in the Youth section of the Gospel Library and at youth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
