There are worship songs written in comfort - and then there are worship songs written from the floor.
Seph Schlueter knows what the floor looks like. In his own words, the day he and his wife went in for their 20-week ultrasound and found out their little girl no longer had a heartbeat was "the worst day of my life." Their daughter - named Charlotte Davy Schlueter - never made it home.
Out of that grief came "Valley of Worship," released March 13, 2026 - a song that asks: what if the darkest valley you've ever walked through could become the place where you found your loudest praise?
Schlueter co-wrote the track with David Leonard, Ethan Hulse, and Jacob Sooter, pouring his doubts and fears into the lyrics - openly questioning God's goodness in the middle of unfathomable loss. The song doesn't rush to a tidy resolution. It sits in the pain first, then builds slowly into surrender.
Rooted in the truth that God is just as present in our hardest seasons as in our highest ones, "Valley of Worship" invites listeners to build an altar - not despite their circumstances, but through them.
The timing hits even harder when you consider who Seph Schlueter is to his audience. His breakout hit "Counting My Blessings" became a global sensation with more than 12 billion short-form video views and 112 million global streams. He admitted it became genuinely difficult to sing that song during this season of grief. The contrast between that viral anthem of gratitude and this raw, unguarded new single is what makes "Valley of Worship" land so differently.
Since its release, fans have flooded Schlueter with their own tender stories of pregnancy loss - proof that when an artist is willing to go to the hard places, the Church shows up. Faith doesn't mean the pain disappears. Sometimes it just means you build an altar right there in the middle of it.
Schlueter is set to support Crowder on the road this spring alongside Patrick Mayberry. "Valley of Worship" is available now on all streaming platforms.
