Ray Watson

With a passion to see hearts turned back to the Father, Ray has a strong calling in the area of worship and the prophetic. As a recording artist and travelling musician, Ray ministers from the keyboard to help bring a strong worship anointing. His ministry style, like his latest albums, has a fresh touch of passion that reflects his unique focus on intimacy in worship. Musically creative and sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit, he often brings the word of the Lord through song in a new and refreshing way.

Ray Watson has an Honours Degree in Music. He is a songwriter and recording artist, and has produced a number of albums that capture a new prophetic sound in worship. He travels as an itinerant helping to bring congregations into The Secret Place of God’s presence.

Pam Watson

Pam is a gifted teacher. With her gentle spirit she brings a challenging word and a depth to the Scriptures. She combines a love for His presence with a desire to see people grow, change and come to maturity.

Ministry Family

Together, Ray and Pam bring a rich blend of different anointings. Three daughters (who provide backing vocals on Ray’s albums) complete the family ministry team. The family often travel together as a unit when ministering in other churches, helping to bring people into the presence of God through worship and soaking meetings.

Background

Ray and his wife Pam pastor Pursuit church in Auckland, New Zealand. They have been in ministry together for twenty years. Initially helping to pioneer a church in Hawaii, they later moved to California before returning to New Zealand in 1990 to start their own church. In 2004 the church was rebirthed as Pursuit, after they felt God leading them in a new direction with a passion for pursuing His presence.

Raymond Alan Watson - Born 1953, Wellington, New Zealand, the eldest of seven ( six boys and one girl!) Raised in a musical family, my earliest recollections are filled with happy memories of good ol' sing songs in the family car, my dad thumping the old upright piano, and a small boy lying awake every night hoping to hear "God save the Queen" on his parents' radio. We were all blessed with gifted voices and a passion for music that was excelled only by our mother's insistence that we sing at any old folks home or benevolence society that would host our budding family talent. Life was filled with piano, singing and cello lessons, and endless rehearsals for school musicals and operatic societies.

Our dear mother saw to it that we went to the Methodist Sunday School every week, and family discipline was rigid. I was saved at a Billy Graham crusade in Auckland when I was 14, and have remained committed to the call of God on my life ever since that time. "Raise up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Looking back over my life, I am grateful for this time of preparation and training.

Upon failing entry into medical school, ( thank God! ) I pursued a more logical course of study and completed a MusB from Otago University in 1976. After 12 years of teaching music in New Zealand secondary schools, including a 3 year appointment as "Composer-in-schools", I left the teaching profession to answer a definite call to full time ministry. The Lord spoke to me through Acts 15:16 about rebuilding the "Tabernacle of David". Although my understanding of what this meant was incomplete, I began to give myself to worshiping the Lord for hours at a time, and devoting much of my time to songwriting and music. The band ASAPH ( Asaph was king David's chief musician ) was formed in 1984 and the first album "Highways to Zion" was recorded. Three albums in total - all with an emphasis on contemporary praise and worship - were produced over the years 1984 - 1987.

My foray into the world of music ministry was about to take a major shift. In 1987 my wife Pam and I left New Zealand to help pioneer a church in Hawaii with an American evangelist Joe Robinson. We spent 3 years in the States before returning to Auckland, New Zealand, to plant a new church - Joy Christian Fellowship. In March 2004 the church was renamed Pursuit Church - a passionate people in pursuit of His Presence. The vision for our church includes a strong emphasis on worship. Praise is the love call of the saints, and we believe this call will intensify the closer we get to the Lord's return.

In recent years, the Lord has been redirecting me back to the call of songwriting and recording. The Lord clearly spoke to me in 1997 that He wanted to use me to turn people's hearts back to Himself, and that the songs He gave me were for this purpose. The Secret Place is my response to this call.

It is my prayer that you will find Him in these songs, and that we will all be captivated by His passion for us. May we lay down our brief lives in pursuit of the greatest privilege ever offered to man - to be lovers of God.