Kieran Metcalfe

It is with deep sadness we share the news that Kieran Metcalfe, our beloved friend and colleague, died on Tuesday 29 July after a two year battle with cancer, leaving behind his wife Susie and sons Ben & Toby.

Kieran joined the fledgling Resound Worship group as a songwriter in the late 2000s, publishing several songs with us. He often cited his experience in those early years of a creative ministry shaped around serving and supporting the mission of the church as the inspiration for setting up Ascent Creative as a freelance graphic and web designer.

One of his first commissions was to create new websites for Resound Worship and Jubilate, which we still use to this day, bringing his passion for worship and song together with his programming and design skills. That almost unique combination of talents led to Kieran working with many well known names in the UK Christian music scene, including Engage Worship, Integrity Music, Essential Christian, HymnQuest and more.

In 2023, having supported Resound and Jubilate on a freelance basis for more than a decade, Kieran became a permanent member of staff at the Song & Hymn Writers Foundation, keen to dedicate more of his time to a ministry he passionately believed in. Two of his most significant contributions during his time on staff were the development of ChurchSongs, the rights management system for our agency Jubilate Hymns Ltd which opened up publishing opportunities to a new wave of grass-roots writers, and Songclub, a collaborative song-writing platform designed to house our work with the 12 Song Challenge community.  

Outside of his day-job as a web developer, Kieran was a gifted landscape photographer, his work featuring online and in print, and winning numerous awards. He had more recently developed a reputation as a warm and inspiring speaker at camera clubs throughout the land.

But first and foremost he was a devoted husband and father for whom his family were his greatest source of pride.

At his thanksgiving service, as a series of tributes were given, the same themes emerged again and again of deeply kind, generous and patient man who always preferred others to himself and enriched the life of every person with whom he came into contact. That was the man we knew and loved.  

Whether as a writer, a contractor or a colleague, Kieran was at the heart of everything we achieved at Resound Worship for nearly 20 years and we truly couldn't have got this far without his skills, passion, and generous spirit. There was so much more we planned to do together - and work he began which we still hope to complete - but we remain profoundly grateful that we were able to walk this part of the journey together.

As his colleagues, our grief is compounded by the loss of someone so integral to our work and it will take us some time to regroup and plan a way forward. If something doesn't seem quite as it should for a little while, please do bear with us.

Finally: our hearts are broken and our souls, for now, are downcast, but we do not grieve as those without hope. In Kieran's own words:

Death holds no power,
O where is its sting?
For I have a greater Saviour.

We love you, Kieran, our beautiful friend.
 

You can listen to Kieran's songs here.