For Kat Newland, praise and worship is more than music; it is what she does in response to God’s presence in her life. Her desire is that when she leads worship it will call others to worship and to experience the awesome work of God through His Holy Spirit. Driven by a deep love for the Lord, she inspires
individuals to move into that deep place of worship where hearts and lives can be renewed, restored and changed by the Holy presence of God.
A native of Southern California, Kat had her first experience getting up in front of people in Kindergarten at the age of 5 for the school Christmas play. She joined the school choir in junior high through her mother’s urging and picking up the guitar at the age of 14, she found a new way to tell stories from her heart.
She accepted the Lord Jesus as her Savior when she was 20 but fell away from her faith 2 years later through the tragic death of her mother who died of cancer at a young age and through a violent crime against herself. “It was easier to turn my back on God, blame Him for all of the sadness I experienced and walk away from my faith than it was to lean on Him for the healing and support I have since come to know in my maturity that only He could provide”. Kat re-dedicated her life to Jesus along with her husband and three daughters in 1996.
Kat recognized her calling to be a worship leader through the gentle push and guidance of friend and mentor Darren Butler, worship leader/youth pastor of Calvary Chapel in Oxnard California. She started leading worship for women’s retreats, which evolved into leading worship for mid-week study and then into Sunday morning worship for two services. She has been asked by Pastors of other churches to come and lead worship and to teach contemporary style worship to a more traditional church service.
Kat has served as a worship leader for different churches and denominations throughout her 12 years of ministry. She has ministered in song to the homeless, has done weddings for friends and family and has sung at coffeehouses. She leads worship for retreats and special events and has been in several Christian bands throughout the years. She is the worship leader at her home church “Vineyard Christian Fellowship” in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
Throughout the years she has been urged to record a CD and in 2006 started recording her debut CD titled "Praise Him" with 12 original songs. Band members are, Les Worsham on Drums, David Scheer on Bass, Scott Currie on Congas and Percussion and Eric Prescott on Drums.
Kat knows how God can take a broken and hardened heart and soften it, mold it and use it for His glory. It is only through His Grace and Mercy that we can find our one true purpose in life; to worship and glorify His Son Jesus Christ and to proclaim that He is the only way to eternal life. It is only by accepting Him as our Savior that we can know the lasting joy and peace that passes all understanding.
"Psalm 92:1-4 says: It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp, for you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord; I sing for joy at the works of your hands".