Lara Martin is a musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and former worship pastor of the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 Abundant Life Church

Abundant Life Church

The Abundant Life Church is a large Christian neocharismatic church based in Bradford,in the north of England, which is part of the British New Church Movement. It is led by senior Pastors Paul and Glenda Scanlon....

 in Bradford

Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Lara moved away from the church, for personal reasons, in 2008 to Romania to help with disadvantaged street children. She is now based in Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

 at Elim Christian Centre.

Her songs are featured on some of the church's albums, DVDs, music books and television programmes. The albums and DVDs are distributed in the UK by the Christian label Kingsway Music. The albums Higher, Divine Exchange

Divine Exchange

Divine Exchange is the second live praise and worship album of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford.-Track listing:# Intro# "I Am Changed"# "I Will Bless the Lord at All Times"# "You Are My God"# "Divine Exchange"# "Hallelujah to the King"...

, God Is Here

God Is Here

God Is Here is the third live album of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford, England.-Track listing:# God Is Not Going To Be Pleased About This Prelude – 2:45# "God Is Not Going To Be Pleased About This" – 5:33...

, Sing

Sing (ALM album)

Sing is the fifth album and first studio album of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford.-Track listing:# "Incredible" – 4:30# "He's Real" – 4:24...

, How Loved and Send Me all feature tracks written by her. She also led worship and sang on Let the World See Jesus.

Some of Martin's more popular songs have been included on Christian compilation albums such as Virgin's

Virgin Group

Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...

 The Best Worship Songs... Ever! and are frequently covered live by other artists.

Lara Martin was born as Lara Hughes in Belfast but relocated to Bradford with her parents in the 1970s. Prior to becoming worship pastor, she worked in a jewellers and then became a receptionist at the church. The leaders became aware of her music skills as she would often sing around the office. When the previous worship leader left the church in 1999, Paul Scanlon, the senior pastor, offered her the job of Worship Pastor.

Martin is a mezzo-soprano singer and guitarist. She is also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International

Nashville Songwriters Association International

The Nashville Songwriters Association International is a 501 not-for-profit trade organization that works to help songwriters in three ways: through legislative advocacy, through education and advice about the actual craft of songwriting, and through teaching about the music industry, and how to...

.

She is married with two sons.

Albums

• Higher (2000)
• Divine Exchange
  Divine Exchange
  Divine Exchange is the second live praise and worship album of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford.-Track listing:# Intro# "I Am Changed"# "I Will Bless the Lord at All Times"# "You Are My God"# "Divine Exchange"# "Hallelujah to the King"...
  
  (2002)
• God Is Here
  God Is Here
  God Is Here is the third live album of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford, England.-Track listing:# God Is Not Going To Be Pleased About This Prelude – 2:45# "God Is Not Going To Be Pleased About This" – 5:33...
  
  (2003)
• How Loved (2004)
• Sing
  Sing (ALM album)
  Sing is the fifth album and first studio album of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford.-Track listing:# "Incredible" – 4:30# "He's Real" – 4:24...
  
  (2004)
• Let the World See Jesus (2005)
• Send Me (2007)

Songs

• Always
• As for Me/I Have Decided, co-written with Mark Stevens
• Best Thing, co-written with Jock James
• Blessed to Be a Blessing
• Forever Faithful, co-written with Dan Brummitt
• God is Here
• He's Real, co-written with Dan Brummitt
• How Amazing
• How Loved Am I
• Incredible
• I Trust in You
• Joined by Angels
• Miracle of Life
• More of You
• My Inspiration
• On Earth As in Heaven
• Peace, co-written with Mark Stevens
• The Voice of Hope
• We Crown You Now, co-written with Mark Stevens
  Mark Stevens
  Mark or Marc Stevens or Mark Stephens may refer to:*Mark Stevens , American author of marketing books*Mark Stevens , American actor*Mark Stevens , Australian-rules footballer...
  
  
• You Are My God
• You Are There
• You Never Fail Me
• You Take Up All of Me
• Your Grace Covers Me