The impact of Jimmy and Carol Owen ’ s upon the church cannot be underestimated . Through the musicals Come Together , If My People , The Witness , Show Me , Ants ’ hillvania , and others , millions have been spiritually touched and strengthened . Their daughter , Jamie Owens Collins , is a significant recording artist in CCM history , and my good friend , Buddy Owens , is now a teaching pastor for Saddleback Church ’ s main campus . The entire family are worshipers , songwriters , and authors ! Chasing Fireflies in the Twilight , just released , is Carol ’ s incredible memoir . It ’ s an amazing and insightful retelling of God ’ s faithfulness to musicians , songwriters , authors , and visionaries chasing after God . You can purchase the book at Amazon .
[ WM ] Hello everyone ! Thank you so much for this visit ! What an honor it is for me to have this opportunity with you .
[ Carol ] Thanks for this great opportunity to share with your readers . I hope it will be an encouragement to God ’ s music makers !
[ WM ] One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 18:16 . It states , “ A man ’ s gift opens doors for him , and brings him before great men ” ( Berean ). This certainly applies to your family and the paths of your collective callings . You ’ ve been hosts , mentors , and partners to musicians , actors , songwriters , authors , pastors , worshipers , and artists of all types . What can you tell us about this this Biblical dynamic ?
[ Carol ] Proverbs 18:16 has been Jimmy ’ s and my story . I ’ ve always interpreted that verse to mean the gifts God gives to a person will open doors of great influence for them . That was our experience . You know , when we saw our musical gifts as tools to serve God in a messed-up world , unthought of doors opened .
God gave us three champions : first , Audrey Meier . Remember her great song , “ His Name Is Wonderful ”? Audrey was one of the bestconnected people in Christian music in the 1960s . She heard Jimmy ’ s arranging and said ,
“ You need a bigger platform for your talent ,” and introduced him to recording artists and publishers . This was at the beginning of the Jesus Movement . It was through Audrey that we became friends with Ralph Carmichael and Andraé Crouch . Jimmy wrote the arrangements
Come Together for Andraé ’ s first album . Other aspiring artists soon crossed our path and partnered with us in music ministry , including Randy Stonehill and Michael & Stormie Omartian ( who met on one of our recording sessions ).
Then in 1972 , our second champion was our pastor , Jack Hayford ( Church on the Way ). Jack casually said , “ Why don ’ t you guys write a musical about what God is doing in our church ?” The Jesus Movement was at its apex , and God was moving in our congregation in powerful ways through worship and body ministry . So , we wrote our musical , Come