Casting Crowns

Originally written for the movie by the same title, Casting Crowns' newest song, "Courageous" off their album Come To The Well encourages fathers and husbands to take their responsibilities seriously, and seek God for help. 

"The warriors have become the watchers," lead singer Mark Hall explains on an interview with K-LOVE's Scott and Kelli. "We gotta get out our seats; we gotta get back in the game and love our families."

While music has always been a part of Mark'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, accordion) 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. In addition to the title track, all of the songs on the album display amazing depth. "Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)" is actually a "reinvention" of a hymn that lead singer Mark Hall grew up listening to, entitled "One Day." Additionally, the song "To Know You" is rooted in Romans 8:29, "For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters," and explains that God's biggest goal is to conform us to live like Jesus.

In addition to their church ministry, Casting Crowns has also made a difference off the stage acting as a long-time partner of the nonprofit organization World Vision.