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Rebecca St James

Rebecca was born on July 26, 1977 in Sydney, Australia, to David and Helen Smallbone. Her birth name is Rebecca Jean Smallbone (named after her maternal grandma, Jean Francis).  Rebecca is the oldest of seven children, five boys and two girls. From oldest to youngest: Rebecca, Daniel, Ben, Joel, Luke, Joshua, and finally her 'little sister' Elizabeth ('Libby'). At the age of 13, still living in her homeland Australia, Rebecca released her first album Refresh My Heart - a Christian worship album. During that year, a tape with Rebecca’s unique voice on it made it into he hands of the Christian artist Carman, and he invited Rebecca to open his shows during his Australian tour. In 1991 the Smallbones moved to the United States.

Before the family moved, Mr. Smallbone, Rebecca's father, was already active in Australia as a Christian concert promoter. When the Smallbones migrated to the U.S., Mr. Smallbone became the founder and president of Smallbone Management, a successful Christian artist management company in the U.S. But there were some very difficult times before that happened. We do not cover that on this page but you may find more information in the weblog posting: David Smallbone - Silend Professional for God.

During the first time in the U.S., the family had really to live on prayer, on Gods grace, and people willing to help of course. It was a hard time but also a great time in some ways, as the family really learned to stick together firmly. In a press release, Rebecca declared: "I'm part of such a big team of people ... none of us could do without the other, and so I just see myself as one of the pieces of the puzzle". In a nice video (which has now been published on the official rsjchannel on YouTube), the subjects speak for themselves: No Secrets: Working Together / No Secrets Policy. Rebecca's mom explains in this video how the hard situation at the time worked out well for them.

Although Rebecca wasn't so much occupied with making it as a musician at that time, she wasn't giving up singing entirely - she sung in Christian churches from time to time. One day, Eddie DeGarmo heard her sing at Rebecca's home church, the First Baptist Church in Franklin, Tennessee. Recognizing the potential in her, he (and Brown Banister) helped her to produce her debut album. By the age of 15 she had a contract with Frontline Records, where she released, at age 16, her self-titled debut in 1994. This was not yet the real breakthrough album but the lines were already set out: a no-nonse Christian message of hope in God, trusting Him, living according to His will. But this message was packed in high quality music. With the album God (1996), her potential to combine high quality and highly artistic music with a radical, crystal clear Christian message was really exploding. I remember this video clip from TV as if I saw it yesterday. I was fascinated about it - even though I saw no reason to be a 'fan' of Rebecca then - merely because I had little affinity with music at all at that time.

What has Rebecca (and the whole family in fact) achieved until now? The 'public' side of it can be summarized in a couple of quick facts:

(PS. Used sources for the Awards information: grammy.com, doveawards.com).

Mission

Rebecca has a message. It is packed in her wonderful music, over one hundred songs (including those written by others) because music is a language that reaches many people and certainly many Christians too. Her style varies slight:y: from Pop music on her first two albums, Rock on all the other albums with the exception of her album Transform - which is more a Techno-pop album (with nice string arrangements). Within the Smallbone family, the idea has always lived that to serve God also means to use your given talents accordingly. This is reflected in a style of music that goes well with Rebecca's voice and talent. But it isn't talent alone that made her so popular among many Christians. She has used her music to make it serve a higher priority: the Christian mission to tell the good news about God. With the words of Rebecca's dad, David Smallbone: "Ever since we have arrived in the US from Australia we had a dream of encouraging people to worship God with a contemporary and youthful emphasis". And: "We're committed to a ministry philosophy. We're committed to serving the church and its people." Underneath the manager, there is the heart of a missionary, and this aspect has clearly been catching on with Rebecca. Her own summary: "Live radically for God. Read the Bible. Pray. Stand up for what you believe in and make a difference in your world." It characterizes her directness. In the intro to her song Thank You she wrote: ""I'm a fan of simplicity".

Rebecca is a role model for many - and she accepts the responsibilities that come with such a position. We have come to know here as a devout, authentic Christian, and the result is that people can believe what she stands for, the things she sings and says. Rebecca is typically seeing more than 800,000 fans at something between 150 and 200 concerts a year, so living up to what you say (or not doing so) is inevitably bearing serious consequences. While some level of 'stardom' may certainly be helpful in communicating an important message - failing to do it right or to persist may lead to disaster. If you can properly deal with fame, it can be helpful. Listening to Rebecca's songs one can hardly miss it: the real star here is Jesus. She sings passionately about God / Jesus for more than 17 years now so this is obviously very serious. She has also been receiving great support from other Christians too of course. For instance, people like Vicky Beeching and Charmaine have been in the immediate entourage of Rebecca for quite some time, offering background vocals to her concerts but also offering their support in many other ways, as faithful Christians ("She is stable like a rock" - Rebecca speaking about Charmaine). Both are also great musicians of their own, and Vicky Beeching - who has studied theology by the way - is particularly active in modern Praise music .

Recently, religion has made a come-back, even in Europe. But still, the average 'liberal' mind has usually little understanding of holy things, moral duties, involving God in your decisions. Generally speaking, secularism and Christianism remain different worlds - maybe the two big rivals who have finally emerged after 20 centuries in what is now the Western world. Taking Christian life very seriously still means, in this Western world: to join the club of the unimportant ones (from a political viewpoint). The Christian club may be worldwide - there are serious Christians all over the world and it is basically one family - but the public domain in the Western world (paricularly Europe) has been largely subject to that specific form of secularism which aims at excluding religion from any public debate. In the U.S. you may hear Rebecca on the radio or see her on TV, but in Europe this has been much less likely to happen. She is simply too explicit about faith, about God. There is, however, a great Christian broadcasting station in The Netherlands, it is called EO (for 'Evangelische Omroep' - evangelical broadcast). These broadcasters also organise Christian music festivals that attract thousands of Christians from all kinds of denominations. Rebecca has been on the 'EO Jongerendag' (EO Youth Day') in The Netherlands three times (1998, 2000, 2006) and also at their Flevo Festival (2007).

Not called to be a star: more than Rock Bec is here

So RStJ is about much more than rock music. "I'm not called to be a star" so Rebecca declared repeatedly. She also declared : "I can't convince some 16-year-old, non-Christian guy to come and listen to my music, but if I can encourage believers to reach out to the world about the love of Christ... who knows? Revival could break out."

And to make this revival happen, she did more than make music.

I. First of all, Rebecca has strongly encouraged people to commit themselves to sexual purity. From a 'stardom viewpoint', this is the 'wrong message' of course. It is 'not of this world'. Many people have trouble to understand it, because it does not fit with what we are told day after day in mainstream media all around. The West had long lost the real meaning and sense of what liberty really means, it has disconnected it from (moral) duties. Rebecca also wrote books on these subjects. One of these books is titled Wait For Me (also the title of a great song written by Rebecca). It challenges young people to stand strong on issues of sexual purity. This book has gone through some 10 printings already (over 100,000 copies have already reached readers around the world). In 2008, a new 'follow-up' book is expected, called Pure. One might wonder what kind of young people want to live pure today. The answer is that many Christians (Rebecca's primary audience) understand this message - but also those non-Christians who happen to be seekers, who happen to see through the false promises of so-called freedom, that ultimately tear apart everything precious we ever had, from family over good relations up to trust and peace of mind. Even a message which may sound 'draconian' at the first hearing, can be understood if it is explained with an authentic life backing it. As Joshua Harris, author of the best-selling book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, noticed: "A lot of Christian music artists are shying away, not wanting to 'preach' to people. But Rebecca is very vocal and very real. People come to her concerts not just for the music but because they feel connected to her". There is a very practical side to it too, as Rebecca explains: "Young people, whether they are Christians or not, are realizing that abstinence is actually smart because you don't have to worry about STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), AIDS and pregnancy outside marriage. ... Young people are wising up to the fact that it saves you a whole lot of pain when you do wait."

II. Rebecca has also been writing on he subject of (new) feminism. Feminism has traditionally also been a promotor of libertinism, of female egotripping wrapped up as 'freedom' - at the expense of all kinds of good values. They created a prototype for women which is not conform to the way many, if not most, women really feel inside. Rebecca's book SHE (co-authored by Lynda Hunter Björklund) gives a voice to a real Christian and modern womanhood based on a return to biblical principles - not just 'because the Bible says so', but because it is also reasonable to do so. The Bible makes sense, it has still a say about the life of hundreds of millions of people today, and that is because this book is so much more than a 'textbook' - it represents not just 'prescriptions', but a way of life. Today, many people have regained the insight that a 5000 years old heritage of steadily developed religious insights cannot be regarded as a useless source. Besides being very arrogant, this would also be very foolish. (Have you ever realized that the Bible contains not only the reflections of numerous wise men during so many years of hisory, but also of numerous women ? The Bible is a Book of Life in every meaning of the word).

III. Rebecca has also been active on the movie scene, be it in a limited manner. It is a different way of taking your message to the public. She has made appearance in the Christian Rock Opera "!Hero". (In April 2004 she won Christian music’s Dove Award for her participation in his "Special Event Album Of The Year"). She played the role of Maggie - a modern day Mary Magdalene, a woman traditionally seen as of low repute. It somehow typifies St James: It is not that important what you were or where you came from. If you make mistakes, 'there is a second chance' (quote from he song Wait For Me). Mary Magdalene became an unwavering follower of Jesus. Acknowledge your Creator, the Creator of who you are, and take a serious look at the biblical personality of Jesus: how he lived, and why it is that he made such a deep impression on people of all times. There is a real 'Joy experience' in Christ, it makes lives change. !HERO places the old message in a modern context.

IV. Rebecca is also no stranger with regard to serving the poor of our world. Already in October 1997 (before the migration to the U.S.) she visited Calcutta and worked with the Sisters of Charity, the organisation established by Mother Teresa (who Rebecca sees as a role model for herself). Rebecca has also been a passionate spokesperson for Compassion International for more than a decade now. And with some interesting results: according to the organisation, the dedication of Ms. St James toward their activities has directly helped more than 30,000 of the world's neediest children to find sponsorship. Of course, we can immediately think of other artists being even more known for such activities - think Bono for instance. The more people get occupied with these world problems, the better. It works, it draws people's attention to the domains where Christians should be shining in stead of being absent.

Effects

Today, many more new, often young artists show similar accents in their performance: no compromise with the ways of the world, unmistakably Christian lyrics, practicing a mission not a broadly acceptable mainstream act; particular focus on purity; strongly encouraging to work on a real relationship with God through prayer. For instance, the Barlow girls (the bands name is BarlowGirl - actually 3 sisters) - good friends of Rebecca, young and beautiful girls who have publicly taken the same firm stance with regard to sexual purity - no compromise with the worldly views on this issue. The latter message is still quite rare in pop music (no often so outspoken), and at that age it may come as a surprise to many. Of course we cannot trace it all back to Rebecca's influence, and there is no need to try that. The fact that Rebecca has lived up to what she claimed so far, made her unmistakably a role model, and the beauty of it today is in the fact that there are many more role models now. It is unquestionably true that we humans are not so easily challenged to do something difficult when there are no good examples around. The fact that more and more Christian artists support his kind of message in a world which does not want to hear this, is a work of God, and that is what matters. That is what Christians are working for - not to be praised for it, but to have God being glorified through all of us.

While for many people a Christian message like this may be like 'over the top'. But take a look at the reality: if everyone would accept todays wholesale of sexual impurity just because it seems inevitable - where would we be heading? Religion has always fulfilled that role of pointing with the finger to things we may not like - but nevertheless know to be somehow true, deep in our hearts. Without courageous people taking position, the battle could already have been lost in many important domains of life. And this is of course not just about 'sexual' purity alone: that is just something that fits in a overall picture of God wanting us to live more valuable human lives. Living a pure live means: to live with a focus on what's good. And to know what is good, knowing God, who is intrinsic good, may of course help you a great deal. And his message must be told - oherwise no one would hear it (believing comes through hearing). Singing it is - unless reduced to pure entertainment - an artistic way to let people hear what is on our hearts.

From a Christian viewpoint, entertainment has a place in life, but there is always so much more about it. It is all about something absolutely real. Don't just know what's good for mankind, don't just act a little bit as you believe it should be, but act entirely accordingly to what you believe and know to be true. Secularists may label this 'fundamentalism' - what's in a name? If you take people back to certain standards, if you give an example for others to follow, of course you are working for fundaments in the life of people - what's wrong with that? It does not exclude liberty, it brings liberty and responsibilities back into balance. "It is all a matter of balance" - as I heard one of the guys of Stellar Kart saying in an interview. So many people think there's no fun in Christian life - but what they are missing is seeing balance. You give up certain things but you gain a lot by living in harmony with God and do that together with the whole Christian family. That can be fun! It doesn't exclude problems and misery - but NOT doing what God asks us will not exclude those problems either. If there was one person on earth who contributed to bringing people in a place where they could become free, it was Jesus. And this Jesus is at the very center of musicians like Rebecca St. James.