Who’d ever thought I’d be a rock ‘n roll preacher
Instead of just singin’ the blues
Who’d ever thought I’d be a rock ‘n roll preacher
Singing my songs so you could hear the good news.
If you saw the movie The Jesus Revolution, you know all about the band LoveSong, and the pivotal role they played in the story of Calvary Chapel, Pastor Chuck Smith, and what was then called Jesus Music.
For many of us, that was our introduction to Chuck Girard, who would later go on to a solo career with a much greater focus on modern worship music.
Sadly, Chuck left us. His wife posted this on Facebook on Monday (8/11):
This is Chuck’s wife, Karen. It is with great sorrow, yet also great joy, to let you know that Chuck has moved to Heaven and will be eternally with Jesus! He left this earth at rest and in total peace, surrounded by family. We praise the Lord for His great mercy and for His gift of Chuck’s music, message, and heart. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” We’re grateful for Jesus who paid the price for all who receive Him. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for Chuck and held us in prayer.
Most of the news about Chuck Girard the last few days has come through his daughter Cherie on his Facebook Channel. If you search for Chuck’s entry on Wikipedia it only mentions his daughter Alisa Childers, the author who once enjoyed a previous life as a member of the band Zoe Girl. Hopefully someone edits that.
Chuck was my first formal interview as a budding Christian journalist. It was in the back of a theater in Buffalo New York, and I had borrowed a Nagra tape recorder from the radio station without realizing how fast its 5-in reels would need replenishing. There were some guys there from a US radio station who were very patient while I changed reels.
They were asking all the mundane questions about how he got started and how the band got its name and then Chuck decided in fairness it was my turn to ask a few questions. My first was about a song on his album called Tinagera. He was so thrilled that someone was actually asking him about his music.
For the record, the meaning morphs back and forth between the name of a girl and the time in which she lived, the teen-age era. The first time that teenagers were identified as a separate group, and the time when sociologists say we moved from children simply moving directly to adulthood. Teenagers became a more identifiable demographic, which was not lost on marketers.
Chuck’s song Rock and Roll Preacher was one I performed many many times in coffee house locations and at Toronto’s Yonge Street Mission. It helped me define what I felt was my own calling, using the musical idioms of our generation to reach our generation.
But it was the depth of some of his later worship music which touched a later demographic who might have missed the LoveSong days. The song, The Name Above Names exemplifies that type of writing.
Within six hours, nearly a thousand tributes had been posted to Karen Girard’s Facebook notice, including musicians Richie Furay, Alex MacDougall, Kemper Crabb, Bubba Chambers, Henry Curtona, Oden Fong, Keith Thibadeaux, and many more.
Church historian and Regent University professor Dr. Ewen Butler is a friend of ours who wrote this on Monday:
The memory of Chuck Girard will live on. Personally, I am eternally grateful for his life and music ministry. I was delighted to hear him a couple of times in concert and to assist in hosting him. He was a gift to me and to so many others at times when I needed to hear his music again. May he rest in peace now and rise in glory.
I’ll leave the last word here to something daughter Cherie posted on August 7th:
Chuck had hoped to share some parting words with you all, but he’s too weak right now. I know he would want you to know that serving the Lord, and each of you, through his music has been the greatest honor of his life.
Update (August 17th) — I did a 10-minute tribute to Chuck on Sunday Morning at the church my wife leads. I thought I would embed it here if you’re interested. It contains some things not in the above article.
