70s Christian Music

When I was growing up the only "contemporary" Christian music was hymn arrangements and gospel music from the country music tradition. Popular groups included the Blackwood Brothers and Bill Gather Trio. My parents loved this music...still do...but it didn't speak to me. There was nothing, absolutely nothing with Christian lyrics, in the music styles of the times. My friends were listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash, Simone & Garfunkel, The Beatles and others. I felt so left out.

Then, something amazing happened. A little church named Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California began to welcome hippies into their church. Long haired, bell-bottomed hippies. Shockingly, the church did NOT require them to cut their hair before entering the church. Even more amazing was that the church allowed these hippies to get up on stage every Friday night and sing...their OWN music...in CHURCH! It was simply scandalous! Rock and Roll was considered by most mainline Christian sects to be "of the devil". How could they be letting these hippies sing Rock and Roll in a church...even if there were Christian lyrics to it? Why, nobody had done anything this scandalous since Jesus had dinner with the tax collector, or partied with sinners! SHOCKING!

The wonderful "hippies" getting saved in that church began a revolution in Christian music. Finally, Christian music could also follow popular music styles of the day, but with a higher purpose of leading people to God.

Well, I was a girl, and I played guitar, but I had never seen a girl play guitar like Karen Lafferty played guitar...and she was a Christian to boot! This woman became a role model to me. I felt that if she could do it, I could do it, since the same God that had called her into ministry was calling me too.

I never attained the virtuosity of the guitar that Karen displayed, but she inspired me and I wanted to be like her. It pushed me to learn and grow as a musician and a performer in ways that I never would have without her inspiration.