Housefires Review: Songs, Theology and a Catholic Verdict

Who Are Housefires?

Housefires is a worship collective, a rotating community of singers, writers and players who record live in a relaxed, living-room style. It grew out of Grace Midtown Church in Atlanta, which had already released two worship albums under its own name with Pat Barrett among its leaders.

The band formed in 2014 when Kirby Kaple arrived as a worship pastor at Grace, and the church's music shifted toward a stripped-down acoustic sound in the spirit of groups like All Sons & Daughters and United Pursuit. Barrett and Kaple were joined by Atlanta worship leader Tony Brown and by Nate Moore, then worship pastor at Grace Athens. Violinist Vicki Schmidt, keyboard player Jonathan Jay, percussionist Zac Brooks and drummer Harold Brown filled out the sound, and the band hosted regular worship nights at Grace Midtown.

The people

• Pat Barrett co-wrote Good Good Father and Build My Life. In March 2018 he became the first artist signed to Bowyer & Bow, Chris Tomlin's imprint with Capitol Christian Music Group, and launched a solo career. He is listed as a former member, and he later co-wrote Praise with Elevation Worship.
• Kirby Kaple is a worship pastor and co-writer of Build My Life, and she sings on I'll Give Thanks.
• Tony Brown co-wrote Good Good Father. With Jonathan Jay he went on to found Maverick City Music in 2018, and the two produced Housefires' 2023 album.
• Nate Moore co-wrote Yes and Amen and remains one of the band's core voices.
• Ryan Ellis and Davy Flowers are among the newer core members featured from 2023.

Housefires Timeline: 2014 to 2026

• 2014: Housefires forms at Grace Midtown Church. The debut album Housefires is released on 19 March, and Housefires II, with Good Good Father, on 9 September.
• 2015: Chris Tomlin releases his recording of Good Good Father on 2 October as the lead single of Never Lose Sight. It spends seven weeks at number one on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart.
• 2016: Good Good Father wins the GMA Dove Award for Song of the Year. Housefires III, with Build My Life and Yes and Amen, is released on 12 August and reaches number three on Billboard's Christian Albums chart. The band joins the Outcry Tour.
• 2017: We Say Yes is released on 2 June.
• 2018: Pat Barrett signs as a solo artist and releases his own Build My Life, which reaches number four on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart and number one on Christian Airplay.
• 2019: Housefires V is released on 12 July, with I'll Give Thanks.
• 2020 and 2021: The Housefires + Friends EP (2020) and Housefires VII (2021) follow.
• 2023: After a hiatus, How To Start A Housefire is released on 27 January on Capitol CMG and Tribl Records, followed by Parts II and III that year.
• 2024: Chapel Sessions, Vol. 1 is released in October.

What Does Housefires Sound Like, and What Are Its Biggest Songs?

Housefires sounds like friends singing in a living room: acoustic guitars, a violin, simple melodies, laughter left on the recording, and spontaneous moments the band chose not to edit out. Its songs are short, plain and easy for any congregation to learn.

Here are its best-known songs, with titles and facts only, and the Scripture to read beside each.

• Good Good Father (2014). Written by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown and first recorded on Housefires II. Chris Tomlin's 2015 cover made it a worldwide hit and won Song of the Year at the 2016 Dove Awards. Its theme is God's fatherhood and our adoption as his children (Romans 8:15; 1 John 3:1).
• Build My Life (2016). Written by Pat Barrett, Brett Younker, Karl Martin, Kirby Kaple and Matt Redman, first released on Housefires III. Barrett has explained it through Jesus's parable of the house built on rock (Luke 6:47-49), saying the invitation of Jesus is to build our lives "on things that last." Passion, Chris Tomlin and Bethel Music have all recorded it, and Religion News Service reported it as number one on CCLI's chart of the most used worship songs.
• Yes and Amen (2016). Credited to Nate Moore, Chris McClarney and Tony Brown. It rests on 2 Corinthians 1:20: all God's promises find their Yes in Christ.
• I'll Give Thanks (2019). Sung by Kirby Kaple, a song of gratitude in every season (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
• Keep My Eyes Up (2023). The focus track of How To Start A Housefire, sung by Ryan Ellis, a song of hope that fits Hebrews 12:2, "looking to Jesus."

Our profile of Chris Tomlin tells how Good Good Father reached churches through his recording.

What Does the Housefires Movement Teach?

Housefires is a band and a worship community, and it teaches mainly through its songs and gatherings. We could not find a separate published statement of faith for the band. Its roots are evangelical, and its message is consistent: God is a good Father, believers are his beloved children, his promises are fulfilled in Christ, and worship belongs in ordinary homes and friendships as much as on stages.

• Worship as community. Nate Moore described the 2023 album as a picture of a "house on fire" kind of worship community where anyone can come, meet Jesus and feel at home. The band's own name comes from that image.
• Simplicity on purpose. Housefires chose a stripped-down sound so that songs could be sung by any small group with a guitar.
• Identity in God's love. Good Good Father centres on being loved by God as his child. Build My Life centres on making Jesus the foundation of life.
• Gratitude and trust. I'll Give Thanks and Yes and Amen teach thanks in every season and trust in God's promises.

That is mainstream evangelical teaching, and it overlaps heavily with Catholic faith. For background on the wider tradition, see our guide to nondenominational Christianity.

A Catholic Review of Housefires' Lyrics and Theology

Housefires' songs are among the easiest modern worship songs for a Catholic to pray, because they are short, addressed to God and close to Scripture. A Catholic reading adds depth to each and notes what the genre leaves out.

What is true

• God as Father. Jesus taught us to say "Our Father", and the Spirit makes us cry "Abba" (Romans 8:15). The Catechism notes that we must purify our hearts of false images of fatherhood drawn from our own experience before we can pray this well (CCC 2779). Good Good Father does exactly that work for many people who had hard fathers.
• Beloved children. The Church teaches that baptism makes us adopted children of God (CCC 1265). The identity Housefires sings about is a Catholic gift, received at the font.
• Built on rock. Build My Life comes from Luke 6. Catholics also hear Christ's words to Peter, "on this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18; CCC 881). A life built on Jesus is built inside the house he founded.
• Amen and thanks. The Catechism calls Jesus himself the "Amen" of God (CCC 1065, citing Revelation 3:14), and the word Eucharist means thanksgiving (CCC 1328). Yes and Amen and I'll Give Thanks lead straight to the altar.

What is missing

• The sacraments. The songs speak of God's love in general terms, rarely of baptism, confession or the Eucharist, where Catholics believe that love is given with certainty.
• The name of Jesus in some songs. Some critics have called Good Good Father vague and self-focused, arguing that nothing in it is distinctly Christian. A Catholic can answer that the Our Father itself never names Jesus, yet Jesus gave it to us, so the song is safe when it is prayed through him and with his Church.
• Mary, the saints and lament. These are absent, as in most evangelical worship.

Where Catholic teaching differs

• Where God's people meet him. Housefires prizes the living room. The Church honours the home as a "domestic church" (CCC 1656) and teaches that the summit of Christian worship is the Eucharist (CCC 1324).
• Authority. Evangelical worship communities read Scripture without a teaching office. The Church reads it within Tradition (CCC 95).
• Reverence. Casual style suits a home prayer night. The liturgy asks for a different register, as the rules below show.

Can Catholics Sing Housefires Songs?

Yes. Catholics may sing Housefires songs in private prayer, family prayer, youth groups and parish events, and most of them pass the doctrinal test with ease. At Mass the Church's rules apply.

Arguments for

• The songs are short prayers to God built on Scripture, and the Church recognises "elements of sanctification and of truth" outside her visible structure (CCC 819).
• Their simplicity suits families and small groups, and they help people who struggle with the idea of God as Father.
• The band carries no documented scandal, so there is no question of supporting misconduct by streaming the music.

Arguments for caution

• Lex orandi, lex credendi. What we pray shapes what we believe (CCC 1124). A diet of songs about God's love in general can crowd out songs about the sacraments where that love is given.
• Register. A living-room song may sound too casual for the liturgy, whatever its words.
• The treasury. The Council called the Church's musical tradition "a treasure of inestimable value" (Sacrosanctum Concilium 112).

The Mass rules

• Sacrosanctum Concilium 116 and GIRM 41: Gregorian chant holds pride of place, other things being equal, and other sacred music is not excluded.
• Sacrosanctum Concilium 121: sung texts must conform to Catholic doctrine and draw chiefly on Scripture and the liturgy.
• GIRM 366: no song may replace the chants of the Order of Mass, such as the Agnus Dei.

Build My Life is already sung in many parishes, often at communion or as a closing song, where pastors judge it fitting. Others prefer to keep this style for youth nights and home prayer. Both are held in good faith.

Has Housefires Faced Any Scandals or Controversies?

No. We searched news coverage and found no documented scandal involving Housefires or its members: no abuse case, no financial case and no public controversy about conduct. Housefires deserves credit for a decade of quiet, faithful work, and we say so plainly.

The criticism on record is about the songs. Some critics have called Good Good Father vague, repetitive and self-focused. Its defenders, and most congregations, hear a simple prayer of trust in the Father that Jesus taught us to call Abba. We weigh that debate in the Catholic review above.

Members have moved on over the years. Pat Barrett launched a solo career in 2018, and Tony Brown and Jonathan Jay founded Maverick City Music, which has its own review in this series. No reason beyond those new callings has been reported for any change in the line-up, and we will not speculate.

Our Verdict: Is Housefires Good for a Catholic?

Housefires is one of the most helpful evangelical worship catalogues a Catholic can use, with simple biblical songs and a clean record. Our rating: excellent for personal and family prayer, often suitable for parish events, and fitting at some moments of Mass where a pastor judges it so.

• Where Housefires helps. Good Good Father heals images of God as a harsh father. Build My Life teaches a whole life founded on Jesus. Yes and Amen and I'll Give Thanks train trust and gratitude. All of them are short enough to pray with children.
• Where to be careful. The catalogue says little about the sacraments, Mary or the saints, and the casual style needs adjusting for the liturgy. Pair it with the Church's own songs.
• Integrity. No scandal on the record. Thank God for that, and pray for them.

Which Catholic Music Should You Pair With Housefires?

If you love Housefires' simple acoustic sound, Catholic music offers songs just as singable, with the sacraments and saints included.

• Matt Maher. A Catholic songwriter whose Lord, I Need You and Your Grace Is Enough sit comfortably beside Build My Life.
• Sarah Kroger and Ike Ndolo. Catholic worship leaders who write simple, prayerful songs for Catholic gatherings.
• Sarah Hart. A Catholic songwriter whose music is sung in parishes.
• Ubi Caritas and the Salve Regina. Short chants any family can learn in a week.
• Be Thou My Vision. A hymn from an ancient Irish prayer, the Build My Life of the Celtic saints.

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What Can You Learn From Housefires, and What Habit Should You Start Today?

Housefires teaches that worship begins with ordinary people in ordinary rooms, and that the simplest songs can carry the deepest truths. The Church calls the Christian home a domestic church (CCC 1656). Start a weekly household worship night this week.

Three lessons

• Start small and start now. Housefires began as friends in a church in Atlanta. Do not wait for a perfect setting.
• Know the Father. If your own father was distant or harsh, bring that to God in prayer and confession, and let him show you his face (CCC 2779).
• Give the gift away. Housefires' members wrote songs that other artists made famous. Serve without needing credit (Matthew 6:3-4).

A household worship night in six steps

Thirty minutes, once a week. Begin this week. No one knows the day or the hour (Mark 13:32).

1. Gather. Light a candle beside a crucifix or an icon. Make the Sign of the Cross together.
2. Sing one song. Good Good Father or Build My Life, then a short chant such as Ubi Caritas.
3. Read the Gospel. Read next Sunday's Gospel aloud and let each person name one word that struck them.
4. Give thanks. Each person names three gifts from the week, in the spirit of I'll Give Thanks.
5. Pray the Our Father slowly. Hold hands, and pray it as the Father's beloved children.
6. Bless one another. Parents trace a cross on each child's forehead. Then plan who is going to confession this month.

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