HotPraise: About Us

You might be wondering who's behind this amazing website. (Well, at least I hope you find it amazing.) My name is Tony Llewellyn and I am the pastor of a church in the small city of Ararat in rural Victoria, Australia.

I've been pastoring since 1989, been in church leadership for most of the past forty years since coming to Christ, and written about a dozen books. But you're probably going to want to know what specifically qualifies me to talk on the subject of praise and worship and related subjects like music and songwriting.

So, here goes. I play guitar, keys, bass and drums. I have a passable voice (just trying to be honest). And I've been writing songs since I was a pagan in my teens. You probably don't want to hear those songs! Since then I've been Music Director of several churches, played in the church band almost every Sunday since 1976, and taught songwriting and music. Several of my books are on musical topics.

But probably more importantly, I love to worship. I believe that Jesus is an awesome God and deserves to be on the receiving end of our best. He did precisely that for us, so why should we shortchange Him? When we, the church, gather together, Christ is in our midst and is worthy of wholehearted praise and worship.

On a different note, I have been married to my beautiful wife, Alli, for over thirty-five years, have always been faithful to her and have two adult children who love and respect me.