BY RALINDA B. GREGOR, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Eric Sohlgren isn't your typical attorney. As lead counsel defending his home parish, St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach, Calif., against lawsuits brought by their former diocese and The Episcopal Church, he is intensely committed to a successful outcome of his client's case. A partner at Payne and Fears LLP specializing in employment law and church property issues, he is also counsel to many other Anglican parishes and local churches in different denominations.

The Christian attorney has another calling, however, that is not widely known among his peers or even among his fellow parishioners at St. James who are well acquainted with his legal work on their behalf. In his spare time on weekends, early in the morning and late at night, Sohlgren writes and composes worship music. In November he is releasing a CD of his work featuring performances by several well-known Christian artists.

The CD, "Submitted," includes songs about submission to the cross and faithfulness in the midst of the trials of life. "What I've tried to do is write music that is accessible for corporate worship," Sohlgren said. "The songs speak about who God is and about our relationship with God both during the good times and the times we struggle," he added.

Above and top right: Mr. Eric Sohlgren (courtesy photos)

One of the many artists who sings on the CD is Fernando Ortega who was featured in the December 2009 issue of Encompass. "I didn't even know Fernando was Anglican until I read the Encompass article," Sohlgren said, "but I always sensed a deep connection to his work."

Sohlgren began recording the music in March, but his path to the recording studio stretches back decades. Although he was very involved in music throughout his childhood and into college-playing in a symphonic orchestra, jazz band and even a rock band-he put that aside after college. Then in the late 90s he was approached by the parish sound engineer who asked him to play the sax solo on "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" during a special Pentecost service. "I hadn't played in many years and it was difficult to get back into it," he said. Afterwards, he was invited to join the worship team and since then has been playing saxophone, clarinet and pennywhistles during the 11 a.m. Sunday worship service.

"God has been growing me spiritually and musically," Sohlgren said. "It's a great privilege to help lead people into God's presence in worship."

Because most contemporary praise and worship music is written for guitars, Sohlgren had to compose and arrange his woodwind parts with the help of the worship team. That got him thinking about composing a worship song, which he did in 2003. "No one has heard that song," he said, laughing.

Then in 2004, St. James Church realigned with the Anglican Church of Uganda, and Sohlgren was asked to take on the task of defending the church against the lawsuits filed by their former diocese.

Christian recording artist Bryan Duncan (left)also collaborated with Sohlgren on “Submitted.”

Fernando Ortega recording for Submitted.

"I saw so many Christians standing up for the word of God, and I saw God strengthening their resolve. It really blessed me to see the African church coming alongside the American church and to see how God was weaving Christians together from around the world," Sohlgren said.

That experience inspired the first track on the CD, "The Earth Is the Lord's," which is sung by the award-winning Christian recording artist Bryan Duncan. The song blends American jazz and African rhythms which symbolizes the blending of the American and African churches.

Over the next few years, Sohlgren continued to write music and shared some of his compositions with the worship team. They started playing some of the songs during worship services which over time gained more acceptance.

Then in 2008 Sohlgren began to face some difficult personal challenges on top of the demands of heading up his parish's legal defense. "My dad was diagnosed with a terminal heart condition and was given six months to three years to live," Sohlgren said. His father passed away on Ash Wednesday in 2009, and in the midst of grieving and taking care of his family, Sohlgren became very ill for six weeks with no diagnosis or discernable cause. "Now they think I may have had swine flu," he said.

On the heels of his illness and grief, Sohlgren sensed the Lord saying, "It's now time to record this music." "Here I was broken and grieving, but the Lord said, ‘You need to record these songs and I will provide.' Then the rest of my year got worse!" Sohlgren said. "I was also dealing with the serious illnesses of other family members and by the end of 2009 I was really burned out."

Sohlgren met a pastor who ministered to him during that time. During one of his many talks with Pastor Ed Salas, Sohlgren told him about the music he had written, which by now had grown to 16 worship songs that blended contemporary and traditional styles. Salas gave him a CD entitled "Communion," a Maranatha project which had a similar style of music. He suggested that Sohlgren call the producer, John Andrew Schreiner, for help.  

Sohlgren resisted. Schreiner was a big producer who had worked with Fernando Ortega, Bryan Duncan and Crystal Lewis, as well as secular artists such as Aretha Franklin and Donna Summer. But for a month, whenever Salas talked to Sohlgren he asked about Schreiner. A turning point came when Sohlgren saw St. James Church acknowledged in the credits of "Communion." "I felt the Lord was really speaking to me." Sohlgren finally called Schreiner who agreed to meet with him at his San Clemente, Calif. studio. Sohlgren took his sheet music and a demo CD that he had recorded in his home studio with synthesizers and keyboards. The CD had no vocals, so Sohlgren played each instrumental track and nervously sang each one of his songs for Schreiner and discussed them. "He was very gracious the whole time and said he would pray about it after I finished," Sohlgren said.

Since then, God has opened many doors and drawn many gifted Christian artists to the project, according to Sohlgren. "My plans for this music ministry were so small," he said. "I had the idea that I would record it myself in my home studio, but the Lord had bigger plans. I am so grateful to the Lord for leading me on this incredible journey and teaching me more about submission and obedience. I hope ‘Submitted' blesses many Christians and that the Lord will use it to draw people to Him who might be hurting or questioning God."

In order to reach those seekers, Sohlgren has been very intentional about using artwork that isn't overtly religious. The 16-page CD booklet includes photos taken by his daughter of antique-looking iron crosses that have been recast from scrap metal and are arranged in creative ways. Sohlgren says the crosses are symbolic of the way the Lord has melted him down and recast him.

Producer John Andrew Schreiner at work on recording “Submitted."

At first glance it may seem surprising that an attorney, rather than a professional musician, wrote the music for "Submitted," but Sohlgren doesn't see it that way. "When you look back at some of the great hymns of the church, they were not written by famous people. God touched ordinary people at a particular time in history for His purposes. While I can't say what will happen with ‘Submitted,' I have to believe the same thing is happening today."

Sohlgren believes that God is at work inspiring new music for the new Anglican Church in North America. He points to the resurgence of interest in traditional hymns set to contemporary music and contemporary Christian artists like Fernando Ortega, Keith and Kristyn Getty, and Stuart Townend ("In Christ Alone") who are writing and recording contemporary hymns. "I have to believe other people like me that we don't even know about are doing this as we speak."

For more information, go to www.Submittedmusic.com.†