Artist description Contemporary Christian Singer/Songwriter for the Gay and Lesbian Community.It's a narrow field, but it's wide open!

Music Style Contemporary Christian

Artist History In 1969, Marsha Stevens was a troubled adolescent when she had her first conscious encounter with Christ while participating in a Bible study group. In the vision this encounter evoked, she saw herself walking with Jesus near a deep blue river and this experience both changed and saved her life. Following it, she composed the folk hymn, "For Those Tears I Died" (or "Come To the Water"). The song has now become a standard of Christian hymnals and it launched her career as a Christian singer/songwriter. At the age of 16, Stevens sang and toured with the Christian folk group, The Children of the Day. Over the next nine years, the group recorded six albums, with Stevens writing most of the songs. She also sang and provided back-up vocals on several of the Maranatha and Praise albums and toured extensively in the United States, as well as Canada, Israel, and Europe. She eventually married and began a family. Then, in 1979, after seven years of wedlock, she divorced. She had fallen in love with a woman. "When I came out as a born again lesbian, I didn't anticipate that people would come unglued the way they did," Stevens said. "Once the church found out, people came over and told me to take the 'Jesus Is Lord' sign off my door. People would rip the pages out of their hymnals containing my songs and send them to me with hate mail." It took Stevens five years to sort out her life and to reconcile herself with her religion. She studied nursing at the University of the State of New York and eventually became a Registered Nurse to support herself and her two children. "It was during that time that I found out that I didn't need to come out to God," she said.

Group Members Marsha Stevens, Singer/Songwriter

Instruments keyboard, guitar, band

Albums Free To Be, The Best Is Yet To Come; I Still Have A Dream; I Will Not Behave Like Prey; For Those Who Know It Best (Inclusive Hymns); Christian Music & Meditation; No Matter What Way!; The Gift Is On The Inside; The Waiting's Over

Press Reviews Christian Century calls Marsha Stevens "The Mother of Contemporary Christian Music...conservative Christianity's worst nightmare: a Bible-believing, God-fearing, Jesus-loving lesbian Christian."(Christian Cetury, March 1999 "Marsha's Tears")"...very powerful and moving...a song for every one of us." Pam Smith, Amazon Radio"If Marsha Stevens is the house band in heaven, even I'll be good." Will Grega, Gay Music Guide"The Mother of Contemporary Christian Music continues to capture hearts for Jesus. Argue interpretations of Scripture and debate the ethics and origins of homosexuality all you want - no one with sensitivity to things of the Spirit can deny God is using Marsha Stevens to bring the love and mercy of Christ to people whom God apparently has not forgotten. Dr. Mark Allen Powell, Professor of New Testament, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Author of "An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music".

Additional Info Till We Meet Again (Concert Tour Video)

Location Costa Mesa, CA - USA

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