Casting Crowns

While music has always been a part of Casting Crowns’ leadsinger Mark Hall’s long career as a youth pastor, there’s nobody more baffled by the success of his band than Mark himself. He never could have expected writing and playing songs for jam-packed audiences older than, say, 15 or 16.

Impressed the voice and straightforward Christian message of songs like “If We Are the Body” and “Who Am I”, Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown and fellow artist Steven Curtis Chapman eventually convinced Mark Hall that he needed to be pursuing music full-time. While Hall was definitely open to the idea, his only concern was that he’d still get to be a youth pastor, something he’s continued to do while recording and touring with Casting Crowns.

Now with a congregation larger than he ever imagined, the reigning “Artist of the Year” at this year’s Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, Casting Crowns, which also includes Juan DeVevo (guitar, vocals), Melodee DeVevo (vocals, violin), Hector Cervantes (vocals, guitar), Chris Huffman (bass), Megan Garrett (keys, vocals, accordian) and Bryan Scoggin (drums), has made five studio albums that challenge Christians to live out a faith that’s anything but status quo.

With their latest project, Until the Whole World Hears, they’ve explored new musical horizons as well with a more rockin’ soundtrack on the title track. Above all else though, for Mark Hall the most important thing is the Message; that the whole world needs to have a personal relationship with Jesus. “I want to shake people up and help them see that Jesus is not a religion, and God is not a book,” Mark says in the band’s official biography. “You can’t pray to a book, and you can’t draw strength from an idea or standard.” The band went on to produce a live album based on the project, which includes the "Until the Whole World Hears" music video, teaching videos from Mark Hall, and the story of Hall's adopted daughter, Hope.

Casting Crowns has also made a difference off the stage, acting as a long-time partner of the nonprofit organization World Vision. In the summer of 2010, Mark Hall sold a portion of his much famed Star Wars collection and donated all the proceeds to benefit World Vision.