Feature Articles

The Crist Family

The Crist Family is a new name on the Gospel music scene. Explain
the history of the group for our readers.

Rich Crist: We started singing in 1987 and sang about 40 dates a year part time around theSeattle, WA area. In 2004 we believed God was calling us to do more and so we moved to East Tennessee on faith, to follow God’s call to go into full-time gospel music ministry. Our prayer was simply to ask God to open the doors of opportunity for us to be able to minister to as many people as we could before His return, or until He takes us home, in order that we might share a message of hope and the gospel of Jesus Christ through song.

What's it like traveling with 7 singers. How do you incorporate
every vocalist into your live events?

Tami Crist Starkel: We actually travel with 11 people. There are 7 singers, plus our bass singer’s wife (Gail Joyce) who is our sound engineer/office manager and our 3 younger children who are not singing yet. It’s a full bus, but it sure beats the 15 passenger van and trailer that we finally got out of a year ago!

With seven of us singing, we can give so many different looks in concert. It is one of the things that we have become known for. We use solos, duets, trios, quartets and then full group songs. We do this in many different combinations, so our performance is always changing.

You guys just won the Singing News Horizon Group of the Year.
What an honor! To what do you attribute all of your recent success?

Breana Crist: First of all, I would say that it is God answering our prayers to open up doors for us to minister. God is so good and we are so thankful to Him for allowing us to serve Him in this way.

Secondly, I would have to say it’s connecting with people. We work very hard on the road and will go anywhere people will have us. There is nothing easy about being on the road, but it is where God opens doors for us to connect with people. There are lots of folks out there who are hurting or may just need some encouragement to keep on keeping on. Our songs are songs that touch the heart, and that, combined with just being there to love people and be real has really caused our ministry to grow.

Lastly, we have had some great help and encouragement along the way from our peers (other artists) in the industry, our record company (Crossroads/Horizon) records and our booking agency (The Harper Agency).

You guys just released your latest release for Crossroads Music -
and your first on Horizon Records. Tell us a bit about that record.

Jackie Crist: I love our new CD “Declaration”!! It’s probably my favorite so far. All the songs are great and there is so much variety in the music that it never gets old listening to it. There are 5 different singers from our group that are featured on songs, so you get to hear from a lot of us on this project. Our first radio single quickly moved to a top 20 song and our second song on the project (My Heart Knows) which is a song I lead, is already at #23 after 3months. So we are hopeful for another top 20 single off of our second release. No matter what age you are, there is something on this CD that you will really enjoy.

What songs have you found have been getting the strongest response
at concerts?

John Starkel: “My Heart Knows” is a song that has gotten a huge response at our concerts. Not huge in the respect that people get on their feet, as it’s not that kind of song, but it really touches a lot of hearts. One of the songs that people jump out of their seats for is a song titled “The Rock”. Joseph Habedank wrote this song along with Matthew Holt. It is an incredibly powerful song about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and very possibly will be the 3rd single off of the project. I love the hook of the song that says “the stone could not hold the Rock”!! It should come out before Easter which would be perfect timing for the song. Be Looking for “The Rock”.

What are some long term goals that you hope to accomplish with the
Crist Family?

Rich Crist: We would love to put together a 3-4 piece band at some point in the near future and do some 2-3 day events (praise gatherings) that we not only sing our music at, but have time for some great congregational singing as well. We would have workshops, bible studies, counseling and all sorts of other things that would bring us all together to grow in Christ. It has been a long time dream of our team to do several large events like this during the year. We would also love the opportunity to join with an evangelist and do some short term missions trips using our team for the music and then having great preaching afterwards. We have a lot of dreams and goals for the future, but want to do it in God’s timing. Until then, we are thrilled to be doing what we are doing now and again are very thankful for God’s anointing on our team.

What has God been teaching you lately?

Tom Joyce: We have been talking a lot about “loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself” in our team. We cannot be nearly as effective in our ministry if we don’t follow these two commands. It is a daily practice to do these things. We have a weekly bible study as a group that I lead and it is probably the most important thing we do as a group. We might be completely musically prepared, but unless we are spiritually prepared we will fall on our face. It’s critical that we practice loving each other as a team so that when we get out on the road it is natural for us to do this with others. I’m thankful for all that God has taught The Crist Family team over the last 5 years and we want to continue to practice loving each other as Christ loves us.

Any additional thoughts that you would like to share?

When we left Seattle a little over 5 years ago, we said goodbye to our extended families and everything that we knew and “felt” secure in behind. Since moving to East Tennessee and going full-time in gospel music, we have made more friends and have more family here in southern gospel than we would have ever dreamed. We are so thankful for the fans, peers and friends we have made here and the love that has been extended to us. We can only hope that we can continue to give this kind of love back to all of you for years and years to come. Thank you all for the love and support you have given to The Crist Family. We hope to see you at a concert event in your area soon. Please continue to pray that God would keep us effective for Him and that we will be safe on our travels. God Bless

The Crist Family
http://www.cristfamilymusic.com