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There was quite a spiritual emphasis at last week's memorial service for Michael Jackson. With Los Angeles' Staples Center filled to maximum capacity, plus millions watching on TV, artists of all genres and faiths paid tribute to the departed "King of Pop."

Though Jackson was raised a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, his recent religious practices were never publicized. But the memorial kicked off with the Andrae Crouch Choir's rendition of "Soon and Very Soon," followed by a prayer from Pastor Lucious Smith of Pasadena's Friendship Baptist Church. Mariah Carey shouted "Thank you Jesus" after a tear-jerking rendition of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There."

Lionel Richie sang the especially overt "Jesus Is Love," which was made famous by his pre-solo group The Commodores. And Biola alumnus Judith Hill sang Jackson's "Heal the World," prompting her mother to later say, "It seems like God put her there for a purpose—to bring hope. We're praying that the Lord will use her and she will be an ambassador for Christ through her music."

When we first reported on Derek Webb's controversial lyrical content on the upcoming solo album Stockholm Syndrome, it was unclear if his record label was ever going to release the project. Since then, more than 1,200 independent blogs reported on some aspect of the issue, making Webb amongst the top 70 Google searches when the debate first raged. But after all the chatter, INO Records finally set September 1 for the street date, through their version won't include the highly talked about track "What Matters More." (To hear the song, click here, and the lyrics, here—but beware, it includes some profanity.) The album is available for order from Webb's personal store.

Canada's downhere is delivering its first Yuletide collection. How Many Kings: Songs For Christmas, landing October 6 and finding the group applying its signature harmonies to a stripped down, partially unplugged sound. "Basically we made a giant list of Christmas songs and narrowed them down to our top choices, realizing that every one of them was at least a hundred years old," wrote lead singer Marc Martel on the Centricity Records website. "We all really resonate with a love for good lyrics, the classic ones that are going to last, so we do a lot of really old Christmas carols."

Looking at the entire Christian music industry from an indie artist perspective can be very intimidating, but Christian Artist Resources is hoping to help. The Nashville-based industry collective just started an Artist Mentoring Program with tutorials on booking, radio promotions, publicity, retail distribution, and more. Those curious about the eventual subscription service can check out an introductory session August 6 featuring contemporary pop veteran Scott Krippayne as guest mentor.

Independent singer/songwriter Cindy Hughlett teamed up with an adoptive mother to pen a heart-wrenching tune to discourage abortion. The vision behind "There Was a Heartbeat" is to spread the message of adoption throughout crisis pregnancy centers and also encourage the church to support related ministry resources. The story behind the song can be found here, while a music video was just posted on YouTube.

After two legs in America alongside Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith brought his tour in support of last year's A New Hallelujah to Europe. The 19-date trek included shows in Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Paris, while also marking his first ever foray into Spain, Latvia and Hungary. Smith also headlined EO Youth Day in Holland in front of 30,000 fans, which was also broadcast to over a million local television viewers.

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