The Gospel Coalition celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. As part of marking this milestone, we decided to host a song and video contest in which we challenged Christian creatives to put the gospel to song or capture it in a compelling video. A big part of TGC’s mission over the last two decades has been—and continues to be—to renew the contemporary church in the ancient gospel. We want to rally believers around the central importance of the gospel, reasserting its grandeur and preeminence rather than assuming it. This contest flows out of that mission.
We received nearly 200 entries from creatives representing 10-plus nations, each responding (in song or video format) to the prompt “What is the gospel?” We loved reviewing all the submissions, each with its own flavor, genre, and storytelling approach. Contest entries came from both professional and amateur artists, both young and old, including many church-based worship groups. It was inspiring to see this creative outpouring in celebration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The contest entries were narrowed down to finalists and then reviewed by judges. Today, we’re excited to share the winners of the two contests.
Video Contest Winners
The winning video is called “What Is the Gospel?” and was made by Cole and Kayla Mizel. The black-and-white, stop-motion video seeks to answer this ancient question through four words: God, Sin, Jesus, Belief.
Watch the video below:
Song Contest Winners (and Album Release)
We selected six winning songs, which we packaged as an album, The Gospel Is, and released today on streaming sites (Spotify | Apple Music). These are the winning tracks:
“The Invitation,” Tenielle Neda and Jon Guerra
“Under the Sun (Ecclesiastes 3),” Shay Carlucci
“It’s Always Been There,” Poor Bishop Hooper
“My Need (A Great Savior),” Ginny Owens
“In Three Days Time,” Nick Smith
Runner-Up Songs
To honor excellent songs that didn’t win but we loved, TGC also selected several runner-up songs, which we’ve included on our TGC25 playlist (Spotify | Apple Music). They include tracks of various styles from songwriters in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
“All Who Would Believe,” Tenielle Neda and Eliza King
“Come Lord Jesus,” Church Street Music
“Come Now See,” Aaron and Emma Falconer
“Come You Brokenhearted,” Gatlin Elms
“The Cover and the Title Page,” Rachel Stevener
“Cross of Christ,” Josh Travis
“Good News,” Poor Bishop Hooper
“He Did Not Spare His Only Son,” BVC Worship
“Help and Deliverer,” Ezra Worship Initiative
“Holy Is the Lord,” Gospel and Sound Collective
“How Great You Are,” Thy Strange Design
“I Know You,” Alexandra Cimino
“Jesus Came to Save,” Mount Carmell Worship Collective
“Life, Life, Eternal Life,” Morgan Byrd
“Mark 5 (You Have Made Me Clean),” Emma Corsi
“May They Be Redeemed,” Folk Hymnal
“O Barren Tree,” Mill City Music
“Sinners to Saints,” Captivate Music
“When I Fall Down,” Graham Jones
“Where Would I Be (Without the Cross),” Hope Alive Music
The Gospel Coalition