#BrianDoerksen is the tribute hashtag that circulated across Christian music, worship-leader, and Fraser Valley communities on July 21–22, 2026, after Canadian songwriter Brian Doerksen — the composer of “Come, Now Is the Time to Worship,” “Refiner’s Fire,” and “Hope of the Nations” — died at 60 at his home in Abbotsford, British Columbia. His family announced he had been diagnosed with stage-4 cancer only days earlier and died in his sleep, surrounded by his wife Joyce and their six children.
Quick Facts
- Born: December 3, 1965, Abbotsford, British Columbia
- Died: July 21, 2026, Abbotsford, British Columbia, aged 60
- Cause of death: Stage-4 cancer, diagnosed days before his death
- Signature song: “Come, Now Is the Time to Worship” (1998) — one of the most-sung modern worship choruses of the past three decades
- Other standards: “Refiner’s Fire”, “Hope of the Nations”, “Faithful One”, “Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)”, “Light the Fire Again”
- Church tradition: Vineyard Movement worship pastor and long-serving worship leader / trainer
Career
Doerksen grew up in a Mennonite family in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and began writing worship songs in the late 1980s in the Vineyard church movement, which through the 1990s was one of the most influential incubators of what became modern congregational worship music. His 1998 song “Come, Now Is the Time to Worship” — with its plain-spoken lyric (“one day every tongue will confess You are God”) and unfussy hymn-like melody — became one of the defining chorus-driven worship songs of the era, sung in Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic charismatic, and non-denominational congregations across the world.
He followed it with a run of songs — “Refiner’s Fire,” “Hope of the Nations,” “Faithful One,” “Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing),” and “Light the Fire Again” — that became recurring entries on the Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) most-sung lists in North America, the UK, and Australia. Alongside his catalogue he served as a Vineyard worship pastor and led long-running worship-training projects, including the Heart Cry Conference and a period leading worship at the Vineyard’s Langley Community Church in British Columbia.
Cultural Impact
Within global modern worship, Doerksen’s songs are structural: “Come, Now Is the Time to Worship” and “Refiner’s Fire” are among the small set of Vineyard-era choruses that outlasted the 1990s worship boom to become permanent parts of the congregational canon. His death drew tributes from Vineyard leaders, from other Canadian worship songwriters, and from artists including Matt Redman and Robin Mark, and prompted a wave of covers and Sunday-service tributes across denominations in the following week. In Abbotsford, where he had lived his entire life, the news dominated local Christian media as a homegrown loss.
Sources
- https://www.christianpost.com/news/worship-leader-brian-doerksen-dies-from-cancer.html
- https://www.christiantoday.com/news/worship-leader-brian-doerksen-dies-from-stage-4-cancer
- https://wng.org/sift/canadian-worship-leader-brian-doerksen-dies-1784742237
- https://roysreport.com/brian-doerksen-songwriter-behind-come-now-is-the-time-to-worship-dies-at-60/
- https://mycharisma.com/news/brian-doerksen-remembered-the-worship-leader-behind-come-now-is-the-time-to-worship-dies-at-60/
- https://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/2026/07/24.WorshipLeaderBrianDoerksenPassesAwayAt60.asp
- https://www.thatericalper.com/2026/07/22/brian-doerksen-songwriter-behind-come-now-is-the-time-to-worship-dies-at-60/