Christian Musician Inspired to Work Beyond Church Walls

Christa Shore is a Christian musician eager to lead people to the basics of the Christian faith, and she's beginning outside the walls of the church.

"In the church, a lot of people already have hope," said Shore," but there are people outside that church that are still searching for hope." "I'm driven by a desire to share love with broken people," said Shore. "We all have hurts; we are all broken at certain times of our life. What I want to do with my music is to encourage people to have hope, because I believe there is hope."

The 42-year-old singer-songwriter is the centerpiece of the Evansville-based contemporary Christian band Beyond the Veil. She began her journey into Christian music in the church, serving two area congregations as music director.

But Shore began to realize that God was moving her away from a church staff position into opportunities that would allow her to share this message of hope with believers and nonchurched alike. This unconventional approach, coupled with Shore's honest demeanor, seems to be paying off.

"Come Away," a single song from Beyond the Veil's second studio recording, "Beauty From Ashes," is being played on secular radio station WIKY. "A friend of (Shore) suggested that I listen to the album," said WIKY program director Mark Baker. "The next day, Christa brought the album in herself. We talked a while, and I was impressed by her sincerity. A lot of people hustle records, but she was very genuine in her approach.

"After listening to the album, I realized that (Shore) and her band are incredibly talented people. (The album) is really good. She's got a great voice, and this is great material."

According to Baker, "Come Away" is getting some good response and requests. Baker said that callers to the station seem surprised to learn that the song is by a local contemporary Christian band.

Recently the band performed in Estes Park, Colo., at the Gospel Music Association's (GMA) Seminar in the Rockies, where the song "Carry Me Home" was selected from more than 700 entries as a finalist for GMA's Song of the Year award for unsigned artists.

Shore and her band will celebrate the release of "Beauty From Ashes" Friday with a concert at Crossroads Christian Church, at 10800 Outer Lincoln Ave. The 7 p.m. event is free to the public.