“There are 2 guarantees in life: death and your worship pastor will sing Good, Good Father on Sunday.”
Jon Crist, Comedian
I really make no apologies for my tension with Christian music. It is a love-hate relationship that has existed since I first heard Carmen sing “The Champion”.
I am firm believer that the Church should be an epicenter of art – musically, visually, audible and in life. As believers we need to be constantly creating our generations Sistene Chapels in the world. So I get slightly frustrated when great art from the body of believers gets overplayed.
I am HUGE fan of Chris Tomlin. Chris’ influence on worship music in the Church as indelibly left a mark and reshaped music in the Sunday service. The Passion movement brought life to my weary chorus singing soul in the critical years of college and Chris Tomlin was a huge part of that.
But if you have heard it once, you’ve heard Chris Tomlin’s version of “Good, Good Father” a zillion times played on Christian Radio. So in the spirit of “art” here are Four More Fathers — or at least versions of the hit song.
Housefires 
Sometimes to find something great you have to get to the source. Housefires is a worship band out of Grace Midtown Church in Atlanta, GA. Members Pat Barrett and Tony Brown are the craftsmen of the chords and lyrics of the anthem Good, Good Father.
The original cut of the song is found on Housefires ii (2014)album. It is a raw, gutsy acoustic driven live version. It has a vibe that Pat and Tony invited you into their living room to share a chunk of their heart with you. The passion from which the lyrics ring out from the vocals tell you that this is more than words penned and paired with chords, but heartfelt letter ripped from the journal of the artists.
The opening verse “I have heard a thousand stories” cuts to the chase of this passion filled cut of the song.
Voices of Lee
Not going to lie – I am an alum of Lee University, so my opinion is slightly biased. Voices is an all A Cappella choir that has been featured on everything from Good Morning America to the White House to the first season of the NBC show “The Sing Off”. Voices takes on the worship song on the A Cappella Worship (2016).
Oh sweet goodness! Voices of Lee typically classic style is modernized in this all vocal version of the song. The vocal melodies melt like butter on a hot Tennessee biscuit. The blended melody, harmony and beatbox are near perfection on this smooth rendition of the song. A ridiculously warm male lead vocal is followed by the soul punch of female voice just crushing the tag “perfect in all of your ways.” And wraps with a full choir bolstering the goodness of the father. Ya’ll this is good!
Even if choir a cappella is not your cup of coffee. You have got to give it a listen.
WorshipMob
Buckle your seatbelts. WorshipMob is a collective of 70-80 worship leaders from 30 different churches joining forces to create some incredible mashups of worship songs. Their 9 minute YouTube version is a just a snippet of the 37 minute free flowing worship session dropped on digital video and into the interwebs.
I actually found WorshipMob by accident and so glad I did. This multi-voice melody mix with moments of free worship is heart melting and soul filling. I recommend you spin this version with some time to engage the “Good, Good Father”. If you dare, take on the entire WorshipMob mix of this song blended with about 4 others.
Anthem Lights
If covers are your thing, the boys of Anthem Lights have you covered. Quite literally. The boys released their rendition on the album “We God You Covered, Vol 1” (2016). Anthem Lights is a faith based foursome who has made a name for themselves covering mashups on YouTube. They have re-imagined everyone from Taylor Swift to your favorite Boy Band. The band is most widely known for their yearly mashups of the “best of…”
The quartet brings heartfelt harmonies to the song as to be expected from the group. Primarily backed by just piano, the song has a raw harmonic soulful vibe that carries through.
I would say they covered pretty well.
Simpy said, he is a good, good father no matter how it is covered. And this song is great artwork for the Church.
