​​Chris and Carol Green are songwriters, poets, producers and publishers. Since the late 1980's they have been writing songs and poetry to address the issues of life, love, marriage, family and God.

 

From songs and poems written to teach and inspire youth and young adults, to prophetic or politically-incorrect tunes that challenged the social tides that moved in against Godly perspectives, they have been sharing their thoughts and convictions in this simple, yet powerful medium of expression for four decades.

 

Now, in this very personal effort to build a legacy for their children and grandchildren, they have catalogued their most significant works, not merely for public consumption, but for preserving a legacy for their family, for generations to come.

 

When they met in college, and their new friendship was developing, they exchanged their notebooks. Not just any notebook, but “the” notebooks, that held their most intimate thoughts and feelings. Carol’s writing featured primarily poetry, prose and essay styles. Chris was a definite rhythmic writer, featuring rhymes within patterned stanzas. The daring exchange was the beginning of a lifelong journey together. A few years later they were married, and they set out with a simple goal to just build a life together, and to someday, somehow find an outlet for their writing.

 

In the 1990’s, when they became the youth leaders in their local church, their writing exploded through the expression of songs for the teenager’s times of praise and worship and for their dramatic musicals that they wrote, directed and produced for them.

 

Chris would have dreams that he was listening to songs on the radio. He heard all the music and lyrics. He would wake up and record himself on a portable tape recorder so that he wouldn’t forget what he dreamed. Eventually, they kept a portable recorder on the nightstand. They used many of those songs, with their Biblically-principled lyrics, to reinforce the lessons in their weekly sessions with teenagers.

 

During those years, they also began writing songs that were embraced by their larger church community as their senior pastor recognized that their tunes contained lyrics that could impact more people beyond the youth in the congregation. They were given one Sunday each month to lead the entire congregation in songs of praise and worship, and they taught them the songs that God had given them.

 

They also brought the songs to the neighborhood in which their church resided. Every week the church had a food outreach. The neighbors were allowed to gather in the fellowship hall. While their groceries were being bagged, Chris and Carol had assembled some of the teenagers as a small ensemble to sing to the people while they waited for their food. They literally taught the attendees their simple little tunes, and then prayed for everyone.

 

This outreach grew to the point where they had 50 families, (not just 50 people), yes, 50 families attending every week. They completely filled the hall. It was as if though they had another church congregation in the building. They were an incredible mix of black, white, Hispanic, the old, and the young. Some people said that they no longer came for the food. They were coming for the worship and the prayer. One such attendee was a young girl who happened to be pregnant. Then, for several weeks, they didn’t see her.

 

Suddenly she returned with a little bundle of joy. The volunteers and teenagers surrounded her as she kept saying, “Come see my miracle baby! See my little miracle!”

 

Of course, they wanted to know why she kept referring to her baby as a miracle. Then she shared her testimony and it forever changed Chris and Carol’s view of songwriting and worship.

 

She revealed that when the baby was born, the child died immediately afterwards. The baby was dead; gone. She said, “All I knew to do was just to sing the songs you guys taught me. So I just started singing those songs over my baby, and she came back to life. So here she is; my little miracle.”

 

Of course everyone rejoiced with her.

 

But, from that moment to this one right now, Chris and Carol have not cared about trying to make it ‘big’ in the music industry. They don’t care if they are ever well-known, famous worship artists, worship writers, or any of those titles.  Their songs may never receive any awards or accolades in the Christian music industry or any other music industry.

 

The highest level had already been reached and that was for the songs to be used by God in a powerful way. God had given them the songs, and those songs of praise and worship had been instrumental in imparting faith into a new mother; in resurrecting her baby from the dead.

 

When it comes to writing songs, poetry, books, or anything else that they put down on paper, type into a computer, or record onto a device, they realize God has already allowed them to experience His highest purpose for their writing gifts.

 

A small elite group of songwriters in this world will receive earthly awards and recognition, but this miracle was the highest honor. Chris and Carol’s focus was set: They’re writing for God alone. 

 

By the time they were promoted to associate pastors in 1999, and given the leadership over the young adults (ages 18-30), God was giving them songs at a prolific rate of two or three new tunes a month. They had written well over 150 songs by the time they were released to plant a ministry in south central Pennsylvania in 2004.

 

In Pennsylvania, during the first decade of the 2000’s, the songwriting tapered off, but Carol’s writings began to flourish through weekly emails to their small congregation.

 

This was a season in which they began to write weekly devotional messages, which eventually became books. However, embedded in those books were Carol’s expressions in poetry and prose.

 

Eventually they found themselves writing songs of sacrificial worship; songs that lifted and carried them through some of the most challenging, disappointing and discouraging moments in their lives.    

 

After about eleven years of ministering to people on weekends within their small facility, they began to step outside the four walls of the church. They became trained and certified to address the needs of unemployment, homelessness, re-entry, and the mental health challenges within their local community.

 

This fostered a renewed commitment to the will of God and the discovery of a new pioneering work and their true purpose for being planted in that community. It was the launch into their current marketplace ministry.

 

As life continued, and they became empty nesters and grandparents, they shifted into a posture of building a legacy and passing the creative baton to their sons, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. And now that you’ve heard some of those songs, it is Chris and Carol’s prayer that you embrace, hold and carry forth this legacy mandate in your heart and home as well.​