St. James, Delirious? headline Worship Revolution Tour

Concert comes to Roberts Wesleyan College March 16

by Joshua Maloni
Niagara Frontier Publications, March 9, 2007

Rebecca St. James

As a six-time winner of CCM Magazine’s “Favorite Female Artist,” and owner of 17 Top 10 singles and one best-selling book on abstinence, Rebecca St. James is by far the most popular female singer in Christian music. A performer whose passionate praise blends purity and pop rock, the 29-year-old Aussie is not just a celebrity in Gospel circles, she’s an idol.

And it’s really starting to bother her.

“I think one of the things I found difficult doing the music scene is that,” St. James says sighing, “you know, when people see you on an album and on T-shirts and in magazines and stuff, there’s kind of a pedestal that they put you on. And I think that responsibility weighs very heavy.”

“Behind the lights I’m just a simple girl who loves God,” she says.

Fortunately, St. James has found an escape – though not from people, but from the limelight. The singer, a Grammy and Dove award winner, has been leading worship at her church in Tennessee. In that capacity, St. James has found a way to worship God in a more anonymous manner.

“When I lead worship at my church, I’m just one of the team,” she says. “I’m submitted under my pastor; he’s taking the main ministry role in the service. And the focus isn’t on me. I’m just leading worship. And I love it. I just love that it’s really not about me at all.”

As part of her performance last summer at Kingdom Bound, St. James took time during each song to point her finger upward, most notably when receiving accolades from the Six Flags Darien Lake crowd.

“I think one of the things that I’ve tried to do at my shows is really point away from me,” she says.

“Part of that, a big part, is just that I think, we are here on this earth to glorify God and point to Him. But also part of me just really doesn’t like all the attention that I get,” she says laughing. “There’s just something that makes me feel very uncomfortable about it. I’m not saying all of it … people are very kind and affirming and encouraging and that’s lovely. I see their hearts being encouraging to me. But sometimes it can be lonely in the spotlight if people are leaving you there and not allowing you to be a normal person.”

St. James is set to begin a tour dubbed “Worship Revolution.” Though the title may seem a bit ironic given the singer’s aversion to standing out, the show actually reinforces what she’s saying: Its focus is teaching others how to go out and worship on their own.

With that goal in mind, St. James is looking forward to the tour. She says the music of Delirious?, her co-headliner, “is so anointed, and so powerful, and just really moved me to worship.”

Guitarist Stu G. says, “Worship is something that is at the very heart of what we do in Delirious?”

“The revolution side of it kind of comes from that (idea of a) revolution of people trying to go up against the system, if you like,” he says. “There are many systems at work in the world at the minute. We think that a worship, kind of heavenward revolution, is what’s needed.”

In that spirit, Stu G. says the opportunity Delirious? had to spread the Gospel earlier this year in India was “life changing.”

“The culture is so different there,” he says. “There’s so many people. You step out of a nice hotel, two streets away you’re in total poverty.

“The balance of wealth and poverty is crazy there.”

Delirious?, a quintet from Littlehampton, West Sussex, England, toured across 25 countries last year, including America. Stu G. says the band, itself possessor of five Top 20 albums, loves touring in the U.S., but has to pick the right time.

“America’s so huge; we could be there all year,” he says, pointing out shows usually fall around Easter. St. James and Delirious? will perform at Roberts Wesleyan College on Friday, March 16, and continue touring stateside through April 12.

Stu G. says St. James brings “a real great connection with the audience. She’s a great performer; her songs really engage people.”

Delirious? previously toured with St. James in Europe. Speaking of those shows, St. James says, “The flow was great between our two bands. I think the heart is very, very similar.”

“I’m really psyched,” she says. “I’ve loved Delirious? since ‘Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?,’ the first little EP that they put out (on) ‘Live and In the Can (1996).’ ”

Mark Weber, editor of ChristianMusicMonthly.com, says Christian music fans have a lot to look forward to with this tour.

“When Rebecca St. James sings a worship song, and invites the crowd to sing along, it's like a glimpse of heaven,” he says. “Delirious? reminds me a lot of U2. They rock.”

The “Worship Revolution” tour comes to the Cultural Life Center at Roberts Wesleyan College, 2301 Westside Drive, Rochester, on Friday, March 16, at 7 p.m. For more information, or for tickets, call (585) 594-6008 or visit www.roberts.edu/clc.

Delirious?