Family shares the joy of having a personal relationship with Jesus

In 1987, The Crist Family began a part-time music ministry in the Northwest, just outside of Seattle.
“I sang as a solo ministry, and Mom and Dad would give their testimony of how God restored their marriage and our family,” group member Tami Crist Starkel told The Log. “When we began, we really focused our music and ministry around marriage and the family.”
Soon after, Tami’s brother, Rich Crist Jr., joined her in the duet ministry as their parents continued giving their testimony. Not long after, Rich’s wife, Lisa, and the Crist parents began singing with the two, and they traveled and sang together for many years as a part-time quintet.
Today, the group includes male lead vocalist, Rich; his wife, Lisa, who sings alto; their 18-year old daughter, soprano Jackie; Rich’s sister, Tami, female lead vocalist; and a longtime friend, Tom Joyce, bass.
“Our background in gospel music began in the church where we were all very involved,” Rich told The Log. “We grew up in a big church of 6,000 members, and we were a part of every musical production.”
In 2004, God called The Crist Family into full-time ministry, and they left Washington and moved to Tennessee.
“God placed an undeniable call on all three families and so we left our jobs, sold our homes and said goodbye to our extended families and embarked on the greatest adventure of our lives. God has been faithful every step of the way.”
As part of American Gospel Ministries’ free concerts, The Crist Family will make its performance in the area at 6 p.m. May 3 at First Baptist Church, 622 Bayshore Drive in Niceville. A love offering will be taken.
The Crist Family music, a mix of old and new, has a very full and unique sound with seven singers.
“We sing all four part harmony and have a lot of different looks by putting different combinations of duets, trios and quartets together during a concert,” Rich said. “We have something for every age group during a concert, all while staying true to four-part harmony, traditional southern gospel and progressive southern gospel music.”
Like many groups today, The Crist Family was influenced by the music of Bill Gaither and his Homecoming Friends.
“Growing up in the Northwest, we were not exposed to the type of music we sing today, except through Gaither’s events coming to town,” Rich said. “I’ll never forget the first homecoming concert I attended. I just sat with my jaw dropped the entire time, and at the end of the concert I said ‘that is what we need to be singing. I went back to our group and said ‘we are going to start singing a different style of gospel music,’ and we made a move from contemporary Christian music and praise and worship to four-part harmony.”
Rich and Tami write some of the songs for the group. One of Tami’s songs is “Great Beyond,” which the group uses as their closing song.
“It is about heaven and has a majestic up-tempo that gets people on their feet.” Tami said. “It was recorded three years ago on our ‘Worth the Trip’ CD, and it is just one of those songs that fans have come to expect every time.”
Another one of their favorites to sing is an acapella arrangement of the Dottie Rambo classic, “He Looked Beyond My Faults.”
The group traveled almost 200 days last year and performed in 24 states, following the call God has placed on their lives.
“Every place we go is our favorite, because we get to meet people we are going to spend eternity with,” Tom Joyce told The Log. “It is such a blessing to do what we get to do. I am amazed that God would choose to use someone like me to share his love all over the world. I just hope to get to keep singing songs about Jesus and meeting and loving Christians all over the world until Jesus comes back or God takes me home to be with Him.”
The greatest desire of The Crist Family has, and always will be, to strive for musical excellence in ministry and share the peace and joy of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Our prayer before every concert is that if there is someone who has never put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, that God would use us and our music to bring them to a point where they would ask Jesus into their heart,” Rich said. “We also pray that every Christian would leave our concerts filled up and encouraged by our music and testimony.
“We have been called to share the greatest message ever told through what we believe to be the best music in the world,” he said. “We look forward to meeting many new friends when we come to sing for ya’ll. Until then, keep your eyes upon Jesus.”