[PDF]Rich Mullins

The Cross Examiner


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Rich Mullins is one of the rising performers in the glamorous world of contemporary
Christian music. And yet, as a former CBC student, he is one of our own. The story of
Rich Mullins is one of success and failure. He hailed originally from a farm just north of
Richmond, Indiana, and his rise has been one of both emotional highs and lows. Before
entering the music world for a career, Mullins spent six years at CBC and yet never
graduated ("I had trouble picking out a major!"). During this time, he served as interim
youth minister for First Christian Church in Kingsport, Tennessee, and Kentwood Christian
Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Yet it was his youth ministry at Erlanger United
Methodist Church in Erlanger, Kentucky, that Mullins came to the crossroads of music or
ministry. However, even at the "crossroads" the choice was clear: youth ministry was his
priority. "It wasn't a big deal to me," he explained. "I wasn't thinking of that [music] as a
career. I was intending to be a youth minister."

However, God had something else in mind for Rich Mullins. Following an ICTHUS festival
in Wilmore, Kentucky, Mullins began to realize the power of music in the lives of young
people. And following God's leading, Mullins moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a
totally new direction as a songwriter and performer.

One day the break came when one of his songs was to be recorded by Amy Grant, who
was quickly ascending to the top of the music world with her songs. That song, "Sing Your
Praise to the Lord", would later help to secure Mullins a place on Grant's "Unguarded" tour
as the opening act.

Yet Mullins was also cementing himself in the hearts of music lovers when he released his
debut album, simply entitled, "Rich Mullins". The album, recorded on a low budget, was
completed within a two month stretch. He is presently working on a new album (still
untitled) which he hopes to see on the market by February.

Mullins, who lists Bruce Cockburn, Peter Gabriel, and U2 as his favorite influences, is
beginning to see a lot of success come his way. And for someone who tried out for, and
failed to make, CBC's Talent Night four or five times, that's not bad.

Those early years of "Talent Night" failure have now given way to Amy Grant tours and
record albums. And Mullins lists several "memorable" concerts, including The Forum in
Los Angeles ("really scary"), and The Omni in Atlanta, where he played the same stage as
U2 ("I forgot to play the piano in one part because I had a lot of friends there and was
nervous!").


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Above all, however, Rich Mullins is a committed Christian. And on the eve of his benefit
concert for Mark and Beth Lutz at CBC, Rich spent some time with a Cross Examiner
reporter for a close-up, intimate look at the real Rich Mullins. The following are Rich's
repsonses to a variety of subjects:

On the Turning Point from Youth Minister to Musician

"I was just watching the kids (at the Ichtus festival in Wilmore, KY) and how affected they
were by the music. I really felt like I had some gifts in music and at the time I just prayed
'Lord, I want to do this but I want to take the steps'. The next morning my neighbor was
sick and didn't go to work and I was just playing the piano when there was a knock at the
door. He wanted to know if it was me who was playing the piano and I said yes. He said,
'Well, I don't know what you do for a living but you should be in music'. So I though that
was either a really weird coincidence or an answer from God. Within a week I had several
people calling me."

On His Song "Sing Your Praise to the Lord", Recorded by Amy
Grant:

"It was the first song I ever had published. Beth Lutz took a tape to a convention and gave
it to someone who gave it to someone who gave it to someone and it ended up at Amy's
manager's office."

On Making the Move to Nashville to Begin His Music Career:

"I made a list of all the positives and all the negatives. I did as much thinking as I could.
And then I prayed, 'There are three things I really have to give up to do this and I need to
know they would be replaced. When these three things line up, I will consider it a good
move.' So I got down there [to Nashville] and like 'snap-snap-snap' people were saying we
want you to be a part of this, and we want you to be a part of this, and we feel like this is
an important thing for you as a writer. Within a couple of hours, all three of the reasons
were covered. Once again, a very odd coincidence because I had prayed very specifically
and God gave me an indication of where He wanted me to go."

On the Contemporary Christian Music Industry:

" I think the biggest probelem is not necessarily the Christian music. The problem is that
we in America trust institutions so much that we have all these other organizations doing
the work of the church. And because they do this, the local body is robbed of the joy of


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actually involving themselves personally. I think that a lot of people want the Christian
music industry to be an evangelistic or nurturing thing. People are looking at the Christian
music industry and saying, 'Feed us! Convert us! Make us what we want to be!' And that is
not the job of any industry. That's the job of the church. We need to realize that it is
wonderful to have songs to listen to while we are doing the housework or driving the car
that are going to be positive and uplifting. I don't really listen to Christian music."

On the Question of Rock Music in the Church:

"One real problem that we have fallen into is that we cater to our own tastes and we forget
that there are other things to experience. It's like people who eat spaghetti constantly and
never have an oyster or a lobster. I think it does us good to go to a church where they sing
a [certain] kind of music, but I do fall into judgment myself when I say, 'Gee, if we can't
have rock then I am not going to go'. If you want to go to a Christian rock concert on
Thursday night to hear rock music, then you are free to go, but we don't go to church to
hear rock music."

On CBC's "Talent Night", Which He Failed to Make Several
Times:

"I was allowed to play a piano duet once. And I accompanied several people. I just could
never cut the mustard. I was very hurt and angry. I was going, 'You know, I could take this
if the people who were in this were really excellent.' But they weren't. I don't like the idea
of a talent night anyway. I was too competitive to deal with it very well."

On the Criticism of Amy Grant:

"Don't buy her albums if you don't like her. So what if she does things you don't
necessarily approve of. I am sure that God, or I, or she, or any number of people don;t
approve of everything that you do. It's really nobody's business. That's between her and
God and between you and God."

On Touring with Amy Grant:

"Amy Grant is one of those people who the more I know the more I respect her. I can't
think of a single minister I have met that exhibits the kind of servanthood that she does,
the kind of calmness. She's very pleasant, loving, and caring"

On His Responsibilities to Audiences:


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"It is not the job of a musician to convert people. I can introduce them to Christ. But the
reason I am a Christian is not because someone got up and sang a song. The reason I
am a Christian is because someone loved me. We do affect people and I am glad that I
affect people in a good way. But nobody can take responsibility for anybody but
themselves. I feel I do have a responsibility to God and I have a responsibility to the
church. My responsibility, as a musician, is to play honestly, communicate clearly, and to
be faithful. If I an faithful and obedient to God than that will affect those people I come in
contact with."

On Being a Role Model to Young People:

"That's when I have a ministry. I don't really believe in 'stars'. But I think role models are
good. If I should be honored enough to be looked up to, one thing I wouls want kids to see
is that they are important and that if they are going to imitate me, then that's what I would
want them to imitate - making other people feel important."


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Dave Mullins Interview Part II


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kidbrothers.net/interviews/dave/bro2.html


Dave took time out to sit down with Robin at the keyboard and give this online, late-night
interview to catch us up on The Legacy, his new career away from the pulpit and to kindly
answer questions from the ragamuffin list...

Screen names have been changed to protect privacy.

Also, keep in mind that Rich's family called him by his middle name and Dave refers
to him at times in this interview as Wayne.

Rhonda: Last time I saw you, you were on your way to KS - now you're there and settled
- tell us how you like it.

Dave: I'd say we like it just fine. We're getting settled and it feels like home.

Rhonda: And last time we talked, your role in the Legacy was undefined. ..what about
now? Do you have a better idea of what you'll be doing?

Dave: Umm, wow, right now Alyssa Loukota and I are pretty much doing everything
together.

Rhonda: Which consists of...?

Dave: We did Jesus Fest, which went well. We have taken two trips to the Rez
(reservation) and we were able to teach in a couple of camps down there.

Rhonda: What was that like for you?

Dave: It was a good trip. It was interesting. I found it to be similar to Appalachia. The
poverty is pretty overwhelming. But the people seemed like people anywhere else. We
participated in a couple of camps, mainly just being there and observing. We've laid some
goals for the next year.

Rhonda: Pretend I'm clueless (not a great stretch) and I ask you what you do for a
living....

Dave: My days vary greatly. Most days, Alyssa and I get together either at her house, my

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house, or the office and work on planning and direction for the Legacy. We also try to
answer the phone calls that come in, which is my job.

The mail, and email. Right now we're getting caught up on that. We have developed a
brochure for our native work and we're also in search of school buses, instruments and
other things needed to support our traveling schools.

Rhonda: Are you getting quite a bit of mail?

Dave: Yeah, it's coming pretty steadily, along with some donations. And we have sent out
an update letter. Other days I just spend studying.

Rhonda: Studying what?

Dave: Well, we have some plans for the spring to address the requests to learn more
about St. Francis so I've been reading quite a bit about him. We'll be sending out a
newsletter this month to talk about that. Also I've been reading a lot of Phillip Yancy. I'm
also working on sermons for a Faith Promise Rally at my home church.

Rhonda: And tell me about the retreat ministry that you've put in place.

Dave: We have, through a lot of thinking and praying, decided that our ministry is to more
than just the Native Americans. We want to try to help people who really are looking for a
deeper relationship with Christ to find ways to do that. We have had a lot of questions
about what we are. Are we an order or something else? We hope to have a retreat on
Abandonment to Christ ready to offer by the first of Feb. 1999. We will be teaching using
the example of St. Frank. He tried to live a life totally dependent upon Christ. He really
believed and took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. We will be teaching sessions
on those three ideas. We don't hold [St. Francis] up as some kind of God but as a person
who really lived a life of dependence and sacrifice to God.

Rhonda: How long will it last and how often will you give them?

Dave: The retreat will be for a weekend. We now have the basic overview ready. It will
begin on Friday night and run through Sat. night. Right now we plan to have Fri. be an
introduction. We will also have a time of worship. Sat. will have three main sessions with
teaching times on poverty or simplicity, chastity and obedience. Along with some other
activities.

Rhonda: Who will this involve?

Dave: Right now it will be Alyssa and I and possibly Mitch, Eric, and Michael. Jim Smith


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may also help on some retreats. Right now we will be traveling with this retreat. If there
is a group who really wants us to come we will try to come.

Rhonda: So a church can bring you in?

Dave: Yes. And we will probably offer a concert. That is the plan and I'm really excited
about this.

Rhonda: So if people want that for their church they just contact KIDBROTHERS?

Dave: Yes. We hope to send out our first news letter to our mailing list later this month.
We hope to have some details about the retreats in there. We are now studying and
planning for it. We hope to be ready to do it in Feb. Eventually we would like to set up
retreat centers around the country. We would like to set one up in Cin. Ohio, here in
Wichita, and one in the south west. If we get that done it would be open to people year
around. We would offer directed retreats in the spring and fall. And possibly week long
things in the summer. It would also be available to groups who just wanted to use the
facilities. It would also be available to those who just need to get away by themselves for
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