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Lesbian 'mother of contemporary Christian music' to perform in Akron

by Pam Reid

Akron-Did you ever think that a lesbian would be touted as the "mother of contemporary Christian music?" This title was actually bestowed upon Marsha Stevens by Dr. Mark Allen Powell, a professor of the New Testament and the author of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music.

In 1969, Stevens was a troubled adolescent, doing drugs, 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 the encounter, she composed the folk hymn "For Those Tears I Died (Come to the Water)." The song has now become a standard of Christian hymnals and it launched her career as a Christian singer and songwriter. She sang and toured for nine years with the Christian folk group The Children of the Day.

The group made six albums for which Stevens wrote most of the songs. During this time she also sang and did back-up vocals on several of the “Maranatha” and “Praise" albums, and toured the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel.

In 1979, after seven years of marriage and a divorce, Stevens came out as a born again lesbian, but "I didn't anticipate that people would come unglued the way they did," she said.

"Once the church found out, people came over and told me to take the 'Jesus is Lord'

sign off my door," Stevens said. "People would rip the pages out of their hymnals containing my songs and send them to me with hate mail. I always looked on the reverse to see what hymn was torn out with mine. One time it was 'A Mighty Fortress' by Martin Luther-I figured I was in good company!"

It took her five long years to sort out her life and her relationship with God. In 1984 she began singing and writing again, this time as a ministry to the gay and lesbian Christian community.

"I found out that I didn't need to come out to God," Stevens said. "I found that the Word still burned in my heart and I could not contain it."

She began to sing again, and in taking her music to the gay and lesbian community, she found that the Christian stores wouldn't carry her tapes because she's gay, and the gay stores wouldn't carry her because she was a Christian.

When they actually listened to the music, she heard, "This is great music! Can't we just... well, we don't have to mention you're gay (or in the gay stores, Christian) do we?"

Stevens' music also includes songs related to AIDS, such as her song "The Body of Christ Has AIDS." This is near to her heart since she nursed her dear friend Deb through the disease, until her death.

She primarily views herself as a Christian with her ministry to the gay community.

"In the gay community-a community that's already so marginalized-there's a real need for this kind of music and this kind

of message," Stevens said. "When you think about it, Jesus' ministry was not with the elders, the Pharisees, the people of wealth, the people in the synagogues. Jesus ministered to the poor, the prostitutes, tax collectors-all those groups at the very margins of society."

But Stevens says she didn't have as much of a struggle herself reconciling her lesbianism with her spirituality. She had gone to Bible college for five years and knew Greek and Hebrew, but the real deciding factor was her heart.

"My heart is with Jesus. The church of Jesus was rabble rous-

ers! They were accused of hanging with tax collectors, prostitutes, et cetera," said Stevens, who points out that if Jesus and His followers were alive today, they'd be in ACT UP. “I had a harder time reconciling the church with Jesus than with my sexuality!"

In early 1993, Stevens and her partner, Suzanne, sold their home and moved into an RV to begin traveling full-time to sing and share about God's love for all people. She now makes about 200 appearances, and drives 50,000 or more miles a year.

She is adamant when she states that, "What I really wish the Christian community could recognize is that the spirit of God is a work in our lives, all our lives. God is faithful, and... it's the Lord's work to separate the wheat from the tares. The church doesn't need to do that work for Him."

Marsha Stefens

On Wednesday, April 28, at 7 p.m., Marsha Stevens will be in concert at Emmanuel Fellowship Church at 60 North Arlington St. in Akron.

Did you grow up in church, but don't know how to reconcile those beliefs with your sexuality? Are you looking for something to fill that empty place in your heart? Stevens not only has a great voice and wonderful music, but has a comforting and encouraging message for all of us in dealing with those inner struggles. Please come and join us Stevens has traveled a long way to. sing just for you.

For further information, please contact the church secretary at 330-497-1203. For directions to the church, see the web site at http://www.emmanuelfellowship.org/

directions/directions.htm.

♡

Pam Reid is a member of Emmanuel Fellowship Church.

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