Lara Martin is a musician and songwriter, most widely known as the former worship pastor of

Abundant Life Church LIFE Church UK, formerly the Abundant Life Church, is a Christian megachurch established and based in Bradford, England. The church has additional facilities in Warsaw and describes itself as "one church, three locations" (Bradford, Warsaw and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, England. Lara moved away from the church, for personal reasons, in 2008 to Romania to help with disadvantaged street children. She is now based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire and works as a funeral director. Her songs are featured on some of the church's albums, DVDs, music books and television programmes. The albums and DVDs are distributed in the UK by the Christian label

Kingsway Music David C. Cook is an American nonprofit Christian publisher based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded as a provider of Sunday school curriculum and remains a major publisher of such materials. It also publishes fiction and nonfiction bo ...

. The albums ''Higher'', ''Divine Exchange'', '' God Is Here'', ''

Sing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

'', ''How Loved'' and ''Send Me'' all feature tracks written by her. She also led worship and sang on ''Let the World See Jesus''. Some of Martin's more popular songs have been included on

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

compilation albums such as Virgin's ''The Best Worship Songs... Ever!'' and are frequently covered live by other artists. Martin is a mezzo-soprano singer and guitarist. She is also a member of the

Nashville Songwriters Association International The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is a 501(c) not-for-profit trade organization that works to help songwriters in three ways: through legislative advocacy, through education and advice about the actual craft of songwrit ...

Personal life

Born Lara Hughes in Belfast, she relocated to Bradford with her parents in the 1970s. She was raised in a house church, of which her father was one of the leaders, but she left the church as teenager. She came to faith again aged 21, having spent time working in a jewellers' by day and a heavy metal bar in the evening. She was initially appointed as a receptionist at Abundant Life Church. The leaders became aware of her music skills as she would often sing around the office. When the previous worship leader left the church in 1999, Paul Scanlon, the senior pastor, offered her the job of Worship Pastor. She is married with two sons.

Albums

* ''Higher'' (2000) * ''Divine Exchange'' (2002) * '' God Is Here'' (2003) * ''How Loved'' (2004) * ''

'' (2004) * ''Let the World See Jesus'' (2005) * ''Send Me'' (2007)

Songs

* "Always" * "As for Me/I Have Decided", co-written with Mark Stevens * "Best Thing", co-written with Jock James * "Blessed to Be a Blessing" * "Forever Faithful", co-written with Dan Brummitt * "God is Here" * "He's Real", co-written with Dan Brummitt * "How Amazing" * "How Loved Am I" * "Incredible" * "I Trust in You" * "Joined by Angels" * "Miracle of Life" * "More of You" * "My Inspiration" * "On Earth As in Heaven" * "Peace", co-written with Mark Stevens * "The Voice of Hope" * "We Crown You Now", co-written with Mark Stevens * "You Are My God" * "You Are There" * "You Never Fail Me" * "You Take Up All of Me" * "Your Grace Covers Me"

References

Musicians from Bradford Living people British performers of Christian music Year of birth missing (living people) {{Christian-music-stub