Inspiring Friendships Across Generations Through Music

'The Friendship Project' unites songwriters of all ages to create worship songs 

Just blocks away from Belmont’s campus, a diverse group of songwriters gathered at historic 34 Music Square East last week to carry out an inspiring mission — to craft contemporary worship songs that spark connection and foster friendships across generational lines within the Church.

The two-day songwriting camp called “The Friendship Project” brought together diverse talent, from Belmont students pursuing careers in songwriting to seasoned industry veterans with decades of experience. The project is part of the larger “In Every Generation” initiative at Belmont and is made possible by a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

“A few years back, the Fuller Youth Institute concluded an amazing research project called Sticky Faith that found one key for lasting spiritual growth in children is intergenerational friendship — kids do best when they have at least five adults on their team,” said Dr. Christina Carnes Ananias, postdoctoral associate on the project. “We obviously do music very well in Nashville, so we are trying to stimulate those relationships through the writing and performance of contemporary worship.”

The Friendship Project was comprised of two songwriting camps, the first of which was held in August 2024. Around 30 songs were written between both camps, 12-16 of which will be recorded across two EPs. The recordings will feature the songwriters as performers as well as local musicians and church members of all ages. 

Writing to Inspire Relationships 

“Our goal with this camp is not just to think about writing songs that are good for kids or older people to sing in church, but how can the community and process of songwriting enrich church life and enrich relationships across generations that are the backbone of the Church,” said Dr. Adam Perez, assistant professor of worship studies and project associate. 

Following initial introductions, participants were divided into small groups to compose their pieces. A balance between career musicians and those with less professional experience existed within the groups, ensuring mutual inspiration for both. 

After a few hours, the groups reassembled to perform their songs before reshuffling, penning their next songs with different groups and performing again. The second day followed the same structure, allowing each participant to collaborate on four different songs with various co-writers by the end of the camp. 

“The songwriting process is meant to enrich your relationships, so enjoy yourselves,” said Perez. “We hope you spend quality time with your fellow songwriters, and even if a great song doesn’t come out of your session, I hope greater relationships do. That will be the primary good of our time together here.” 

Thinking of God as a Friend  

Dr. Adam Neder, associate dean of Belmont’s College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, kicked off the camp by leading a group discussion where he challenged participants to think of God not only as their savior, but as their friend — the inspiration of the camp’s title. Writers were encouraged to tie their songs back to this idea of friendship throughout the camp. 

“At the simplest level, if you want to think God — think friendship,” began Neder. “We read in scripture that God is love, and love is a good word, but to say that God is friendship is to say something about the kind of love that God is.” 

The room sparked with discussions about past and current friendships, what it means to be friends with those from different generations and how friendship looks between parents and children.

Crossing Generational Lines 

One of the younger Friendship Project participants was Layne Boyce, a senior commercial voice major at Belmont who leads worship on campus. She also founded the Belmont organization “Octave” as a sophomore to bring music majors together to network and collaborate.

“The most inspiring part about the camp was seeing the variety of songs everyone came up with based on the topics we were given,” said Boyce. “My favorite parts were the song shares where we performed the songs we co-wrote in our groups.” 

Co-writing alongside Boyce was Jeff Taylor, a long-time member of the Grammy-award winning Western swing band The Time Jumpers and member of the Nashville Accordion Society. Taylor’s resume includes recording with George Strait, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello and Vince Gill. 

“I am 67, on social security, Medicare and a union pension, but I am finding more joy creatively than ever in my entire career, and much of that is because I find myself in musical situations with folks much younger than I,” said Taylor. “Young folks are looking at the world through a different camera lens, and folks of my age, especially Christ followers, have a wealth of life, small and large miracles, joy and sadness in our rear-view mirrors. Both groups have a lot to glean from the other.”

Through the power of music and shared creation, The Friendship Project broke down generational barriers that often divide church communities. As these songwriters — spanning five decades in age — collaborated to write worship music, they also created an inspirational blueprint for how faith communities can bridge the generational gap.