Father Matt McGinness had never heard the song playing on his car radio, even though \u201cSing Your Praise to the Lord\u201d was one of superstar Amy Grant\u2019s biggest hits.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cGosh, I really like that song,\u201d the priest told a musician friend that night back in 1995. \u201cWell, thanks,\u201d responded Rich Mullins. This mystified the priest, who asked what he meant. \u201cI wrote that,\u201d said Mullins.<\/p>\n\n
McGinness hadn\u2019t realized that Mullins was that famous. The priest simply knew him as another seeker who kept asking questions about doctrine, history and art and was developing a unique spiritual bond with St. Francis of Assisi. At the time of his death in a Sept. 19 car crash Mullins was taking the final steps to enter Catholicism.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cRich had made up his mind and he wasn\u2019t hiding anymore,\u201d said McGinness, chaplain of the Newman Center at Wichita State University. \u201cBut I really don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to make him the poster child for Catholic converts. \u2026The key to Rich is that he was searching for a deep, lasting unity with God. He was such a reflective man and that quality brought him both peace and a great deal of anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Even friends described Mullins as \u201cenigmatic\u201d and \u201ceccentric\u201d and there was much more to him than hit songs, led by the youth-rally anthem \u201cAwesome God.\u201d Grant summed up his legacy during last month\u2019s Dove Awards in Nashville, in which Mullins received his first \u201cartist of the year\u201d award.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cRich Mullins was the uneasy conscience of Christian music,\u201d she said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t live like a star. He\u2019d taken a vow of poverty so that what he earned could be used to help others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
McGinness said Mullins often said he felt called to a life of chastity and service, while staying active in music. It was hard to predict his future. His final recordings are slated for release on June 30 as \u201cThe Jesus Record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cRich didn\u2019t know for sure if he was called to ministry, which in the Catholic context would be the priesthood,\u201d said McGinness. \u201cHe also feared that converting to Catholicism could mean losing his audience. \u2026 He knew there might be rough days ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s crucial to remember that Mullins grew up surrounded by fiercely independent brands of Protestantism such as the Quakers and the Churches of Christ, said his brother David Mullins, minister at the Oak Grove Christian Church in Beckley, W. Va. This taught him to fear formality and hierarchies, while also yearning for a faith that united people in all times and places \u2013 \u2013 with no labels.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cRich had a very low view of church structures, but he had very high ideals about what the church could be,\u201d said his brother. \u201cHe was sincerely drawn to Catholicism, but he also wondered where he would fit in the Roman Catholic Church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Nevertheless, Mullins\u2019 recent music was steeped in Catholicism, from his autobiographical album \u201cA Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band\u201d to his \u201cCanticle of the Plains\u201d musical about a Kansas cowboy he called St. Frank. His greatest-hits set was filled with photos of Celtic churches, crucifixes, nuns and statues of Mary. He quoted G.K. Chesterton and Flannery O\u2019Connor, defended the pope and told one interviewer: \u201cI think that a lot of Protestants think that Pentecost happened and then the church disappeared until the Reformation. So there is this long span of time when there was no church. That can\u2019t be if Jesus was telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
After playing telephone tag for a week, McGinness and Mullins talked one last time the night before the fatal accident. Mullins was going to Mass weekly, if not more often. He was ready to say his first confession and be confirmed. They set a meeting in two days. Others said Mullins was aiming for Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThere was a sense of urgency,\u201d said the priest. \u201cHe told me, \u2018This may sound strange, but I HAVE to receive the body and blood of Christ.\u2019 I told him, \u2018That doesn\u2019t sound strange at all. That sounds wonderful.\u2019 \u2026 Of course, I\u2019ll always remember that conversation. Rich finally sounded like he was at peace with his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Father Matt McGinness had never heard the song playing on his car radio, even though \u201cSing Your Praise to the Lord\u201d was one of superstar Amy Grant\u2019s biggest hits. \u201cGosh, I really like that song,\u201d the priest told a musician friend that night back in 1995. \u201cWell, thanks,\u201d responded Rich Mullins. This mystified the priest, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n