Arriving
album by Chris Tomlin
Arriving is the third studio album by Chris Tomlin released in 2004. The album has received RIAA "Platinum" status and peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. As of October 2008, "How Great Is Our God" is No. 1 and "Holy Is the Lord" is No. 7 on CCLI's Top 100 songs used in churches in the U.S.
"Indescribable" is a cover of Laura Story, originally performed by Laura Story herself in 2003. Tomlin covered the song on this album.
Likewise, "Your Grace Is Enough" is a cover of a Matt Maher song, though Tomlin rewrote the chorus compared to Maher's original version.
Name
Tomlin named this album after a passage he read in Isaiah 40 because he said he feels "as though we're like this landing strip in the desert for our great, incredible God to arrive on; a way for Him to come into people's lives."
Track listing
Personnel
Chris Tomlin – vocals, acoustic piano (11)
Ed Cash – programming (1–6, 8, 9, 11), acoustic guitars (1–6, 8–11), electric guitars (1), backing vocals (1–6, 8, 10, 11), keyboards (2, 3, 5, 9), mandolin (2), acoustic piano (3), classical guitar (7), bass (7)
Laura Story – acoustic piano (1)
Daniel Carson – electric guitars (1–6, 8–11)
Jesse Reeves – bass (1–6, 8–11)
Dan Needham – drums (1, 3, 5, 9–11)
Joey Parish – drums (2, 4, 6, 8–10)
Matt Slocum – cello (7)
Christy Nockels – backing vocals (3)
Nathan Nockels – backing vocals (3)
Darwin Hobbs – backing vocals (3, 9)
Gale Mayes-West – backing vocals (3, 9)
Leanne Palmore – backing vocals (3, 9)
Angela Primm – backing vocals (3, 9)
Jerard Woods – backing vocals (3, 9), lead vocal (second verse of 9)
Jovaun Woods – backing vocals (3, 9)
Matt Wertz – backing vocals (3, 7)
Steven Curtis Chapman – backing vocals (5)
Melissa Polinar – backing vocals and ad-lib on ending (9)
Production
Louie Giglio – executive producer
Brad O'Donnell – executive producer
Ed Cash – producer, recording, mixing
Steve Bishir – mixing
Scott Olivier – additional recording
Richard Dodd – mastering
Thomas Petillo – photography
Jan Cook – creative direction
Benji Peck – art direction, design
sixsteps – management
Singles
"Indescribable" (2004)
"Holy Is the Lord" (2005)
"How Great Is Our God" (2005)
Awards
In 2005, the album won a Dove Award for Praise & Worship Album of the Year at the 36th GMA Dove Awards.
The public source identifies “Arriving” as album by Chris Tomlin. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Arriving, album and Chris.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Arriving”, the useful work is to connect “album by Chris Tomlin” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4796040. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2004, 2008, 2003 and 2005.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Arriving”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Arriving primary sources, Arriving archive and Arriving research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Arriving”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Arriving” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.