- July 23rd, 2006, 9:07 pm
#21603
here is a good read on meredith. do any of you guys know her? what a great testimony she is!
God's instrument
For Christian pop singer Meredith Andrews, music is "my form of expression to the Lord."
By Pamela J. Podger | 981-3131
Piling girlishly on the sofa to watch “The Bachelor” with her two roommates, Meredith Andrews seemed worlds apart from the poised woman who cut a new Christian pop CD and sang at Liberty University’s convocation.
For Andrews, music is a calling, a way to glorify God. She said her challenge is growing as a singer — wanting to lift up people to the Lord while remaining pure in her intentions.
“All the songs that I write, I don’t sit down and say, ‘Hmm, I’m going to write a song today.’ It’s always just something has laid so heavy on my heart and all of a sudden it just starts to come out ... and it comes out in song, said Andrews, 23, in her Lynchburg apartment. “I feel like music has always been my form of expression to the Lord.”
She’s a fresh face on the Christian pop scene, trying to fuse upbeat, modern music with the traditional hymns. With lyrics drawn from the Scriptures, she strives to answer questions of purpose and capture the wonder of a religion-centered life.
A 2005 graduate of Liberty University, Andrews has performed at Lynchburg coffeehouses, Liberty convocations, Roanoke churches and elsewhere. In April, she released her “Mesmerized” compact disc. She plans on moving in August to Harvest Bible Church in suburban Chicago, where she’ll assist in the musical aspects of worship. She’ll continue her musical appearances and occasional mission trips to orphanages in India and Guatemala.
“I know that the Lord has gifted me musically, but you know music isn’t my passion. The Lord is my passion,” she said. “I’m going to worship him through music.”
From the age of 6, Andrews was “tossed” on stages at small country churches by her mother, who encouraged her to sing. Together, they performed Southern gospel, with snapping fingers and syncopated moves. She grew up a tomboy with three younger brothers, who now tower over her slight frame, in rural Wilson, N.C., a small town near Raleigh. Crowned as Miss North Carolina Teen when she was 18, Andrews said her music allowed her to talk about the gospel and pray over those who made it to the national finals in Orlando, Fla.
She learned keyboard, took voice classes at her private Christian school and started singing backup at 12 for the church youth group at her local church, The Farmington Heights Church of God. On Saturday nights, kids from miles away would arrive and worship for hours.
“It was humble beginnings, but we had so much fun,” she said.
By invitation, she has sung several times at Liberty convocations where the students, staff and professors worship together. Inside the packed Vines Center on campus, Andrews’ face is projected on oversized screens, while the students sing along and raise their hands in praise.
An avid soccer, volleyball and basketball player, Andrews said she initially wanted to attend Campbell University to play basketball until she got “heavily involved” with music. That decision helped her to choose Liberty.
Andrews confesses to rare bouts of stage fright, like when she faltered over singing the national anthem during a high school performance.
“There are certain things I get nervous for, like singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ that seem more like a performance honoring our country,” Andrews said. “For the national anthem, I usually just keep my eyes on the flag or close them altogether and concentrate on what I am saying.”
Andrews takes time to pray each day, kneeling on a carpet in her bedroom. She said she cherishes the quiet devotions and time away from daily distractions. These moments help her with the creative spark needed for writing her lyrics. “These songs are the story of my pursuit after God,” she said.
Growing up listening to Rita Springer and Rebecca St. James, she now has stacks of U2, Celine Dion and Cranberries CDs piled in her bedroom. The Bible and John Piper’s “Desiring God” are on her night table.
One of the challenges, she says, is finding new ways to encourage people from different backgrounds to rejoice, from those readily willing to sing to those who stand awkwardly in the pews.
“If you’ve got a group who are so eager to worship the Lord and they’re right there with you from minute one, then it’s easy,” she said. “But there are other times when people — maybe they don’t know how to worship, maybe they don’t even know why they should worship or they feel silly just singing a bunch of songs to the ceiling. But it is like painting a picture for them and saying ‘This is why we are here, guys — it’s not to see somebody sing, it’s not to hear somebody preach, it’s to worship the Lord.’ ”
In her spare time, she leads Bible study groups, wakeboards and shops. “Although that gets me in trouble,” she jokes. She has dated “a couple of great guys” at Liberty and eventually hopes to have a family.
“But I’ve really committed this area of my life over to the Lord,” she said. “I’m not interested in wasting any time dating someone just to be dating ... and I believe I still have much to learn before I am ready for a relationship of that nature.”
While Andrews has sung secular music at Liberty’s coffeehouse, she said her passion is religious music.
“If the Lord does not have his hand on my life, if the Lord hasn’t anointed me to live my life and to lead worship, then I might as well sit down ... I might as well never come out of my room because I don’t have anything else to offer.”
- By stokesjokes
- By TH Spangler