The church in the song is used figuratively to describe the sanctuary that the narrator feels is her car when she plays music on the Highway FM radio while driving. The song refers to listening to country icons like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams and is about "the simple joy that comes with turning up the volume, rolling down the windows and singing along to the radio at 65 miles an hour ." She compares the experience to a church revival, saying, "Yeah, I guess that's my church." She co-wrote and co-produced the single with busbee.
Music video
The music video debuted in January 2016. It features Morris driving an early 1970s Mercedes Sedan, and picking up various passengers along the way. The guy on the motorcycle is played by actor Oryan West.
Critical reception
Billy Dukes of Taste of Country rated the song as a "Critic's Pick", saying that "She’s a mix of Amy Winehouse, Little Big Town and pulp fiction. Beautiful images and ideas swirl around lo-fi instrumentation... A little sweetness seeps through during this soulful, blues-influenced jam." Rolling Stone named "My Church" one of the 30 best songs of the first half of 2016: "Some keep the Sabbath going to church. Breakout Nashville star Maren Morris keeps it blazing down the freeway listening to classic country radio – with Hank Williams delivering the sermon and Johnny Cash leading the choir. Honoring tradition, this joyous popwise stomper keeps it moving forward." Billboard ranked "My Church" at number 15 on their "100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list: “Talk about finding your religion: On this undeniable singalong, country’s hottest newcome of 2016 takes us to church via this love letter to driving with the windows down, while country radio preaches to your solo choir. Fittingly, it navigated Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for 22 weeks, even earning Maren Morris a trip to the top 10. Not a bad blessing for your first major-label single.” In the annual Village Voice's Pazz & Jop mass critics poll of the year's best in music in 2016, "My Church" was ranked at number 29, tied with Rihanna's "Kiss It Better" and The Weeknd's "Starboy".
Accolades
Chart performance
According to Columbia Nashville, the song set a record as the song played by the greatest number of radio stations ever for a debut single in its impact week, with 107 stations playing the song, beating the previous record of 99. It entered the Country Airplay chart at number 59. It first entered the Hot Country Songs chart at number 38 for the week of January 30, 2016, selling 6,000 copies that week. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart two weeks later and reached number one on the Country Digital Songs chart in another four weeks. In the US, the song has sold over 974,000 digital copies as of July 2017.
