LITTLE ROCK — Time has helped heal Steven Curtis Chapman and his family from a personal tragedy that had him wondering whether he would continue his career as a mainstay of the contemporary Christian music scene.
Chapman, who has sold more than 10 million albums and won 56 Dove Awards since 1987, put his work on hold after the May 2008 death of 5-year-old daughter Maria. An older brother accidentally backed over her in the family’s driveway.
The performer slowly put his thoughts on paper. Eventually music joined the words and he had a new album, Beauty Will Rise, inspired by the family’s loss and grieving.
“There aren’t any words that match the pain of that,” Chapman says. “We were introduced to a whole new fellowship of suffering. Just to mention my mom and dad: Watching them watch us was a whole another kind of pain.”
After Maria’s death, Chapman kept a journal his wife Mary Beth had given him. He decided to begin sharing the music he was writing after she found a website where she sent pictures of Maria that were then engraved in jewelry.
“She had gotten the journal made so that there was a picture of Maria on the little button that closes the journal,”Chapman says. “She wrote a note inside telling me that it was all right to share my thoughts through music.”
Mary Beth will have no musical part of the evening. She will speak about her book, Choosing to See: A Journey of Struggle and Hope, co-written with Ellen Vaughn and published this month by Revell. In addition to the tour with her husband, she is speaking at a dozen Women of Faith conferences this year.
“She only sings in the shower,” Chapman says, “and to the kids up to a certain age. She will share some of her story and her life’s journey. It was not on her list of things to do, and she says writing a book was not the beginning of a new career. But she wanted the opportunity to say ‘thankyou’ for all the help we got after Maria went to heaven.”
He expresses hope “that this night will be a celebration of Maria’s life. She was the goofy, silly Chapman, and we’re going to honor her life. It can’t be a night of sadness and grief.”
Chapman assures fans that most of the evening will be musical, including his hits through the years.
“Mary Beth will tell the story of how we met and the great adventure of our life. Most of her part will be sharing that and maybe there will be a question and answer period,” he says.
“She likes to say that there were three things she had told God that she would never do: home-school, adopt and speak in public. So now thatshe’s done the home schooling and the adoptions and is about to do the speaking, she says she’s telling God that she will not go to Hawaii for three months!”
Married 25 years, the Chapmans have six children. In 2001, they began an adoption ministry, Show Hope, which helps adopting parents financially. So far, the organization has given more than 2,300 grants.
Caleb, the opening act, is part of the extended Chapman musical family. The four-piece band features singer-songwriter Caleb Chapman and his brother, drummer Will Chapman, and plays a mixture of alternative, rock and pop, along with lyrics that address the questions in life. Caleb spent part of thespring on tour with Casting Crowns.
“My sons will also join in with my normal touring band to back me,” Chapman explains. “For about four years now, my sons have been backing me.”A Night With the Chapmans Opening act: Caleb 7 p.m. today, Church at Rock Creek, 11500 W. 36th St., Little Rock Tickets: $45, $26, $20 (800) 965-9324 or tickets.com
Weekend, Pages 36 on 09/30/2010