About Kelly Minter
(For more information on Kelly, including her music and speaking, please visit KellyMinter.com.)
She’s an author, songwriter, worship leader, speaker and musician – a list that’s likely to keep growing as Kelly Minter continues to discover new talents. In the meantime, she works hard to hone the gifts she’s been given, seeking God with commitment and an honest integrity that shines through in everything she does.
Her latest project, a Bible study that is part of her unique new Living Room Series, has been two years in the making. The first title, No Other Gods, released August 2007, and everything in it has been personally tested by Minter in a pilot group she put together and led herself. The intense study takes a holistic approach, calling for small groups of 5-6 women to meet in homes and share meals as they work through spiritual issues. More than just a traditional Bible study, the curriculum also includes recipes, a focus on aesthetics and an interactive component that uses the Web to provide podcasts, music, pictures and interaction across living rooms.
While she’s already an acclaimed author, with the title Water Into Wine: Hope for the Miraculous In the Struggle of the Mundane released in 2004 by WaterBrook Press, Minter got her start as a recording artist. Her 2001 major-label debut, Good Day, garnered critical acclaim, and its follow-up, 2003’s Wrestling the Angels, built on that solid foundation, with the song “This Is My Offering” soaring to No. 1 on the charts. But as Minter continued to pursue a career in contemporary Christian music, she felt she was hitting a wall.
Two years ago, she sensed God urging her to stop striving and lay it all down, to just release everything. She did, letting go of management and label ties to determine God’s new path for her. During this time, a good friend gave her a valuable Martin guitar that Minter had long admired, urging her to use it for ministry. “From that day on, that guitar was a symbol of what God was doing,” she says.
Minter never marketed herself as a worship leader, there was no information on her website touting her services, but churches started calling. In 2006 alone, Minter led worship every single weekend, filling in at churches in need of an interim worship leader and at her home church in Nashville, Tennessee. Two years later, the phone continues to ring, and that guitar, which has only ever been used for worship, continues to get a workout in congregations from coast to coast.
The next natural step is a worship record. Minter will apply what she’s learned through her years of worship leading when she records her first official worship release, due in fall 2007 on the Kingsway label. Before her full album is available, Minter will appear on a live worship DVD titled Worship at the Abbey. The multi-artist project was recorded at England’s famed Abbey Road in January 2007 by Kingsway and features Stuart Townend, Tim Hughes and other noted international worship leaders.
Conferences also play a large role in Minter’s current ministry. Minter will participate in a Kingsway worship conference in England later this year alongside Matt Redman and others. She’s even a popular speaker, sharing her spiritual insights at women’s events, such as After Eve and women’s retreats. A recurring theme in her talks is “Confronting Our Modern-day Idols,” a topic she’s passionate about and that spills over into her music and writing as well.
While her schedule as a worship leader keeps her busy, Minter continues to work as an author. Lifeway released a teen Bible study in May 2007 titled Hannah’s One Wish, while a lengthier book, which shares the title No Other Gods with the first release in her Living Room Series, will be available in March 2008 from Cook Communications.
In the songwriting arena, Minter continues to make an impact as well. Point of Grace and Joy Williams both recently cut songs she penned. She’s also had her music recorded by Sonicflood and Sandi Patty, while Margaret Becker will include three new Minter compositions on her upcoming album.
It’s a schedule that would be exhausting if it weren’t for her conviction that she’s right where God wants her to be.