Bethel Music CEO steps down, embarks on ‘deep pursuit of God’

Bethel Music CEO Joel Taylor announced Friday that he is stepping down from the ministry of popular worship.

The worship music ministry, which is an extension of the charismatic Bethel Church in Redding, California, has exploded in popularity in recent years. And Taylor and his team have created songs that are sung in churches around the world.

Although Bethel Music did not immediately respond to the Christian Post’s request for comment, Taylor shared details of her decision in a social media post.

“After 13 wonderful and inspiring years, I have resigned as CEO of Bethel Music,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “When we founded the label, we knew God was going to use us to build something special, but God’s plan was even bigger than our dreams – and we had big dreams,” he added.

The father-of-two shared the news of his departure alongside a photo of his family. Taylor’s post went on to describe how Bethel Music defied the odds.

“We had no investment capital and minimal support, so with the little income we had, I hired a part-time accountant and had an intern. At that time, the industry music was on a downward spiral and labels were doing mass layoffs,” he said.

Taylor continued, “As we tried to start our own label, we were told we could never do it alone. They weren’t doing worship on the radio then and they told us we would never be on the radio. When we wanted to bring worship to the world on tour, we were told that people would not welcome us. We had to listen to God and believe in our hearts that the “impossible” could happen, and it did.

The musician said he really enjoys “stepping into the unknown and trusting God”. In doing so, they saw God making the impossible possible.

Taylor said he was grateful for his time at Bethel in Redding, and now he and his family are embarking on another trip to Tennessee.

As for what’s next for Taylor, he ended by saying he was in a “deep pursuit of God, his truth, his presence, and his guidance as I enter the second half of my life.”

“There’s so much noise and distractions that it’s easy to get lost. I have many plans and opportunities ahead of me, but Jesus showed us that the greatest call is to love God, to love yourself and to love people, and that’s what I will do next,” he concluded. .

Taylor added that he was excited about the start of the “next chapter”.

In 2018, the songwriter and his wife needed a miracle as their two young children battled a dangerous E. coli infection.

Thousands of believers around the world prayed for the children’s recovery, and through medical treatment and prayer, the Taylors’ prayers were answered.