R. Loren Sandford grew up a preacher’s son in the Congregational Church in Illinois, Kansas and north Idaho. As a teenager he played rock music professionally over three states and two provinces of Canada before leaving to attend the College of Idaho. In 1973 he completed a B.A. degree in music education, then moved to California and attended Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, earning a Master of Divinity degree in 1976.

Since 1976 Loren has served four churches full time, successfully planting two of them himself, including New Song Church and Ministries, Denver, Colorado (www.newsongchurchandministries.org) where he remains the senior pastor. In 1979 and 1980 he co-directed Elijah House (an international ministry in Christian counseling and counselor training) and continues to be in demand internationally primarily for teaching but also for leading worship. Initially ordained in a mainline denomination where he served on the national board for the charismatic renewal group within that affiliation, he has since served in the Vineyard and with Partners in Harvest, the family of churches associated with Catch the Fire Toronto (formerly the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship) and the renewal centered there. Now independent, he oversees churches in several states.

In 1991 he was the worship leader for the first Promise Keepers mass men’s meeting at the CU Event Center in Boulder, Colorado and has released 14 CDs of original music, most of it for worship. In addition to the music, Loren is the author of “Purifying the Prophetic: Breaking Free from the Spirit of Self-Fulfillment”, “Understanding Prophetic People: Blessings and Problems with the Prophetic Gift”, “The Prophetic Church: Wielding the Power to Change the World”, “Renewal for the Wounded Warrior: A Burnout Survival Guide for Believers”, “Visions of the Coming Days: What to Look for and How to Prepare” and as of April, 2015, “Yes, There’s More: A Return to Childlike Faith and a Deeper Experience of God”.