Casting Crowns! - Mark Hall Home Page
Congratulations to Atlanta’s own Casting Crowns!
You may know them as Casting Crowns, the chart busting Christian band from Atlanta,
but to hundreds of kids on Sunday mornings, they are weekly youth leaders at Eagles
Landing Baptist Church.
“Most of our youth have never heard of the Dove Awards or know where we are on the
radio charts,” says Mark Hall of Casting Crowns. “These are everyday teenagers living in
the real world. Their parents are fighting, or their girlfriend or boyfriend just broke up
with them, and they’re failing math.”
Success has come quickly for Casting Crowns. Since 2003, they have several hit records;
“Lifesong” debuted at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart, “If We Are the Body” topped
at #1 for 5 weeks at CHR, “Voice of Truth” had the longest number of weeks (13) at #1
in the history of AC, and “Who Am I” was the only song to hit #1 on every format at the
same time in history. In addition, Casting Crowns is the fastest selling artist in recent
music history and were the most played artist on all Christian radio formats combined in
2004. They also were nominated for Favorite Artist in Contemporary Inspirational
Category and lead singer Mark Hall was BMI songwriter of the year in 2005.
Discussing the bands rise to success with leader Mark Hall left me certain that God was
truly their anchor. This is a band obviously blessed by God to minister to the multitudes,
yet they seem still humble in the newness of success and dependant upon God to lead
their careers according to His plan for Casting Crowns.
Mark received Christ when he was 9 years old after a week of Vacation Bible School in
his home town of Montgomery AL. Visitors from the church came to his home, and he
and his dad both prayed to receive Christ that week.
As a child, he had dreamed of becoming an artist and had hopes of someday attending an
art school. “I guess you could say I draw pictures with words,” says Mark laughing as he
remembered his childhood dream.
Later he went to school in Florida, which ultimately lead to his becoming involved in
youth ministry. Mark eventually moved to Atlanta where he got a job at Eagles Landing
Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga, just outside of Atlanta.
“Being around kids freaked me out in the beginning, but at some point I knew this was it.
His distinctive voice earned him the leading spot of the youth group band, which is where
he ministers each week to the youth at Eagles Landing Baptist Church.
One of the ways the youth ministry would reach out to other teens in the area was to
share copies of CD’s from their worship services, and they would give them out as an
invitation to visit. When one particular student went to basketball camp, he took the CD
with him. That youth met Mark Miller, lead singer of the popular country band Sawyer
Brown. Once he realized Miller was a Christian, he said, “you have got to hear my youth
leader”, and gave him a CD. Casting Crowns driving pop/rock style and Hall’s vocal
delivery of his hard-hitting songs struck Miller. As a result, Miller signed Casting
Crowns to Beach Street Records. He also took the group into the studio with co-producer
Steven Curtis Chapman, himself a popular artist. The resulting album was released in
2003, which began their rise to immediate success as a Christian band that has a list of
accomplishments that seems almost impossible for a three-year tenure in the music
industry.
With the rise to popularity, there is just reason to ask how the band has handled the fame
that accompanies their astounding accomplishments. “Being tied to the same church
every week keeps us grounded. We come home to the real world each week, nothing
brings your feet to the ground like being snuffed by a middle schooler,” laughs Mark as
he knows first hand how dealing with kids each week requires patience and strength only
God can give.
“You can’t come home to youth and sing the same songs, they’ve heard them all before.
You have to have something fresh to say. That is the great thing about being in our local
church, people know you and hold you accountable. What they need is you to be
vulnerable,” says Hall with certainty. “ We share our fears and failures, we talk about
tough issues from our perspective. We will say how we are struggling and talk about real
life.”
Attending the sold out concert in Atlanta in November 19 showed evidence of their
popularity, especially with the fans in their hometown. Enthusiastic people were lined up
to get tickets from will call, buy t-shirts and music, and the scurry of activity was full of
laughter and anticipation for this challenging music and time of uplifting worship. Before
the concert there was a back stage meet and greet where local fans were getting
autographs and meeting their favorite band member. Flash photography was constant as
people got to know the real people behind this music of Casting Crowns. Every day
people were having fun talking to the band and getting to know them beyond their music,
most seeming to find them friendly and approachable.
The atmosphere before the concert was warm and inviting, almost certainly due to the
bands special way to prepare for each show. “We prayer walk the entire arena and pray
for the people who are coming. We split up and walk the building. We sit in chairs and
pray for who will sit there later. So we know when we start that the whole room has been
covered in prayer. Then we have devotion time together, and that is really how we
prepare for each show,” says Mark.
During the concert, the atmosphere was no less that electric. Clapping, people singing out
loud, worshipping hands raised all across the building, many with eyes closed to
internalize the moment. Music written to challenge its audience, as if each word sang was
a personal invitation to join them in ministry. It was a concert with heart felt worship,
offering an alter call hoping to win new souls for Christ. During this particular concert
series of 20 concerts, over 7500 people have made a new professions of faith. This house
was rocking while heaven was rejoicing.
With the schedule of a successful band and leading youth in a large church, Mark is also
a devoted husband and father. Fitting it all in is as easy as a travel van for his family.
“They travel with me each week. My wife is our road manager, our 2 kids come on the
road and are home schooled, and we have our own van for our family. It helps that we are
only on the road Tuesday through Saturday and two Sundays a month. So we come home
at the end of each week to be in each of our student ministries.”
Mark seems to know how easily life could become too busy to stay focused. “The thing
about ministry is every opportunity is a good opportunity, you have to be discerning over
what you do. We have to say no to a lot of things. Eagles Landing is our priority, God
opened the door for Casting Crowns but he did not close the door on our church.”
One hit song of theirs is “Lifesong”, which is a challenge to live a “Lifesong” that pleases
God, that is your daily walk with God. Mark Hall would be one who would seem to be
living his life purpose for certain, however, he is quick to say that leading youth or
singing hit songs is not his purpose.
“The purpose of my life is to bring glory to God and become more like his son every day.
The way to achieve that goal is to get to know Him and His word,” Mark said. “ The way
I see it, there are no giant decisions you have to make. There is only walking with God
and knowing Him more. On my journey I became a youth pastor and a singer, but that is
not my purpose. The more I get to know Him and walk with Him, he is not going to lead
me off of some cliff,” he said with a simple approach to living your purpose. “If I get
bogged down in what I’m supposed to be doing a year from now, then I will get tripped
up on what I’m supposed to do today. It’s not about what you do; it’s about whose you
are and trusting in Him everyday. Simply put, your purpose and mine is to bring Him
glory every day.”
With their powerful ministry to fans who know their music, it’s easy to realize the
potential impact of a band such as Casting Crowns. Even with the success, their focus is
still on empowering the local church to evangelize the world. “As big as Casting Crowns
may get, a concert can never become anything that can match the work of the local
church. What we do and what magazines and music does simply compliments the church.
If we can show up each week and be transparent about our struggles and fears, share our
weakness and not try to become something we are not, that is what creates an atmosphere
of freedom that is needed for a church to thrive. Too often, people try to act like they’ve
got it all together, I don’t think it bothers the world that we sin, I think it bothers them
that we act like we don’t. If we can just be ourselves and show how awesome God is and
how awesome we are not, then I think that is the type of transparency and genuineness
that would attract people to church.”