This year’s finale for American Idol had a distinctly Christian flavor with two of the three finalists singing worship songs as part of the performance.

It included, this year’s winner, Hannah Harper, who once again openly displayed her Christian Faith by singing Chris Tomlin’s ‘At The Cross (Love Ran Red)’ as her closing song.

Hannah, 25, is a mother of three. She lives in Willow Springs, Missouri and attends First Baptist Church in Birch Tree, MO, a small town of 541 people.

She started the competition by singing ‘String Cheese’, an original song that she wrote after a challenging time with her son. The song went viral.

During that struggle, Hannah realized that being a mother was her biggest God-given ministry.

Hannah was open about her faith and her passion for worship music, throughout the competition. This included singing Bethel’s ‘Ain’t no Grave’ during Hawaii week.

She added that several of the singers regularly gathered for prayer during the competition.

“The entire competition in itself is scary, and there’s a lot of spiritual warfare in LA, and we both are like sponges when it comes to that,” she told the Christian Post. “We feel all of it. So it’s been really nice to have somebody like-minded in that sense to be able to share these moments with me.”

Hannah beat out worship leader Jordan McCullough who finished second and Keyla Richardson who came in third.

Jordan has served as full-time worship leader at Zeal Church in Nashville, TN since 2023. For his closing song, he sang “Goodness of God.”

Speaking of his experience in an interview with the Nashville Voyager, , Jordan said “Deep down, it’s something I never wanted to do or even saw myself doing.”

But things changed for Jordan, when he started sharing worship music on social media.

“My platform started to grow and I was being recognized by other larger artists and platforms on these sites,” Jordan said.

In 2019, Jordan entered The Voice competition, but none of the judges turned their chair stopping any further advancement.

King David Brought in Worship

Worship music as many Christians experience today came to the forefront during the reign of King David.

He was not only a renown musician, but a prolific composer. He wrote several songs or psalms that were incorporated in the worship associated with the Tabernacle of David, which David had set up after moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

David organized musicians and singers who offered ‘service of song’ at the Tabernacle::

Now these are the ones whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ark rested there. ³² They were ministering in song in front of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon’s building of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they served in their office according to their order. (1 Chronicles 6:31-32 NASV)

After David’s son, Solomon, built the Temple the worship tradition not only continued, but even expanded.

The musicians and singers actually lived in the Temple and were freed up from other work so they could minister to the Lord 24 hours a day.

  Now these are the singers, heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free of other duties; for they were engaged in their work day and night. ³⁴ These were heads of fathers’ households of the Levites according to their generations, chief men who lived in Jerusalem.. (I Chronicles 9:33-34 NASV).