A vicar from Tetbury is using his love for music to share God’s love through DJing at festivals and events. The Revd Steve Bullock shares how he developed his ‘musical ministry’ and the reactions he gets from listeners.
The Revd Steve Bullock was ordained priest in June 2023 and is serving his curacy in the benefice of Tetbury, Long Newnton, Beverston and Shipton Moyne. Steve is also a trained DJ, who goes by the name ‘Rev Steve’.
Steve says, “I have a musical background, classically trained as a clarinet and piano player from an early age and a member of a high-performing church choir, I appreciate all this genre has to offer. However, over the years I have found that other genres of music have helped me connect with God also, especially different styles of dance music.
“This eventually drew me into exploring how I could get hold of such music and play around with it, to help me and others connect with God, through the spirituality which is often found in such music. This led me to get hold of my first DJ decks and I have been steadily developing my skillset, undertaking courses and being mentored by Mark Spence from DJ Gym, Birmingham, to get to the standard I’m at today.
“Essentially, what I do is engage with an online streaming music service and listen to lots of different songs and when I find one which I connect with, I save it and quite quickly end up with a good stack of songs. The next step is weaving them seamlessly together and putting them in an order which makes sense, that tells a story. I then put the mix online and/or play it live. As such, I have created mixes that can be used in worship or that share a story of hope in Christ, or mixes that just sound good when the sun is shining, with a hint of my faith coming through.
Steve has two main hopes by sharing faith in this way:
“Firstly, I hope that my mixes enable others to enhance their connection with God, like they do for me. I hope, in the future, to be involved in dance music worship sessions. Secondly, I realise that this skill opens doors to be able to help others outside the Church to connect with spirituality and Christ through music. If my mixes help others in their journey of faith, that is great. Last year I played at various venues, getting used to playing in front of an audience including Birmingham Roller Rink, Reva night club in Cirencester, the Christian summer festival Creation Fest as well as the local youth club.
Steve is mindful of the types of songs he plays at events and aims to ensure his music brings joy.
“My preference is not to play at parties and weddings, as the music at such venues is usually dictated by the audience rather than the DJ. Therefore, it is harder to keep a watch on the content of the songs and the message which is being communicated. This is important as I want my mixes to be positive and pointing towards joy and hope. In fact at one of my gigs last year, I was playing in a back room, with another DJ playing in the other space. It was noted there was a difference between what we played. Someone noticed that there was a contrast between light and dark, which I thought proved what I try to do with the music.
“So far, I’ve had some great feedback to my mixes and mini gigs. People are usually surprised to see me wearing my clerical collar, which immediately gets people’s attention. I’m one for trying to debunk stereotypes and if I can use it to make people think more about Christ, wherever they are, that is great.
“There is lots still for me to learn, but I’m enjoying the ride, do check out one of my mixes here: mixcloud.com/RevSteve/worship-set-1.”
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