"If Larry
Norman is to be called the father of Christian Rock, then
Marsha Stevens certainly deserves to be known as the mother of
contemporary Christian music, a title that Christian Century
and others have bestowed upon her.
She was the
leader of what is considered to be the world's first
contemporary Christian music group, Children of the Day, and
she has continued as a solo artist to produce albums of
worship-oriented and edifying adult contemporary pop. As such,
she remains the progenitor of what, by 2002, would become the
single most popular genre in the contemporary Christian music
market. Such artists as Susan Ashton, Margaret Becker, Amy
Grant, Kim Hill, Twila Paris, Sandi Patty and Jaci Velasquez
all sing in her shadow. Whether they know it or not, Marsha
Stevens went before them to prepare the way - against odds
they can scarcely imagine.
A pioneer of
pioneers, Stevens would be one of the only artists from the
early Jesus movement to be still recording and touring
fulltime at the end of the millennium. And yet - she would
remain virtually unknown to potential fans of her music,
ostracized by an industry whose limits of ecumenicity had been
tried and found wanting.
The story of
Marsha Stevens in many ways parallels the story of the Jesus
movement itself. That revival began with spontaneous waves of
spiritual renewal and impassioned piety; it ended with
controlled legalism that replaced spiritual agendas with
political ones. Whether the Jesus movement of the 1970's
morphed into the Religious Right of the 80's or was killed by
it is a matter of historical perspective.
In any case,
and whoever may be to blame, by the end of the 70's, the
Spirit had been quenched and revival was over. Stevens, who
had perhaps typified the revival better than anyone else, was
caught in the transition and became one of the first victims
of the new order. Whatever one may think of the issues
involved, the Christian music community's rejection of Marsha
Stevens remains an ugly smirch on its legacy, and a prime
example of its often unacknowledged sectarian character.
Born Marsha
Carter, the talented performer wrote what would become
Children of the Day's classic hit, 'For Those Tears I Died
(Come to the Water)' when she was just sixteen. One of the
most popular songs of the Jesus movement, "For Those Tears I
Died" is a moving testimony to God's saving grace, replete
with images of baptism and liberation…the song was featured on
what was destined to become the most important Christian music
album of all time, Maranatha's The Everlastin' Living Jesus
Music Concert, the record that put the Jesus movement revival
into high gear, spreading its influence from Calvary Chapel in
Costa Mesa throughout the country and beyond. 'For Those Tears
I Died' became one of the best known Christian folk songs of
the decade. It would be translated into numerous languages,
recorded by countless artists and, for a time, could be found
in practically every evangelical songbook in the country. No
one in 1969 could have predicted it would have such influence
in the decade ahead - much less that, for two decades beyond,
Christian congregations would be ripping the song out of their
hymnals, systematically binding up the pages and mailing them
off to Stevens as a symbol of the hostility they felt toward
one who continued to love Jesus and sing His praises when they
thought she was no longer entitled to do so…
Stevens
became the first (and as of 2002, the only) major singer in
the contemporary Christian music subculture to identify
herself publicly as a lesbian…Christian Century Magazine has
said that Stevens became 'conservative Christianity's worst
nightmare - a Jesus-loving, Bible-believing, God-fearing
lesbian Christian.'
Somewhat
ironically, Stevens has continued to represent "the spirit of
the Jesus movement" more faithfully than anyone else from that
era. In the early '70s, Christian bands often traveled the
country in vans or buses, playing wherever and whenever they
could in exchange for a free-will offering and a chance to
give their testimonies. Likewise, Stevens spent the (past 10
years) in an RV doing from 120-200 concerts a year…she eschews
worldly possessions, fame, fortune and all the rest for the
simple opportunity of telling the old, old story of Jesus and
His love.
For her
part, Marsha does not betray a shred of bitterness toward any
of those who have opposed her and she does not seem to resent
her exclusion from the contemporary music culture. She speaks
tenderly of her former colleagues and respectfully of the
leaders at…churches that have dismissed or denounced her…And
she has found her calling, 'Does the church really need
another middle-aged female Christian singer? Check out the CD
racks! I write and sing contemporary Christian music for the
glbt community. It may be a narrow field, but hey, it's wide
open!' (ibid)
Guest
Speaker
ORDER
TODAY...
