Charisma Magazine Article

December 1988
By Angela Kiesling

Contemporary Christian music's premier group calls it quits. But that doesn't mean the last chapter has been written.

The sleek, white cruise chip docked in Tampa Bay was waiting like a docile mare while her crew scurried about in last-minute preparation. Tomorrow she would sail for Cancun and Cozumel, carrying her cargo of eager vacationers and Christian entertainers. In many ways it would be like any other Christian cruise-sun and sightseeing by day, laughter and good music by night. Only there was something special about this trip. By the week's end, a family trio of two sisters and one brother would sing their last song together as the group that had changed the sound of Christian music: The 2^nd Chapter of Acts.

In late spring of 1988, the 2^nd Chapter of Acts announced that "a fresh wind of change" was blowing for the group. This meant their on-the-road ministry would soon end. But the word was quickly buzzing that perhaps even more than the concert ministry was coming to a close.

An obvious question would seem to be: Why would they abruptly end their singing ministry on the heels of two very successful Hymns albums and at the peak of their popularity? In response they simply glance at each other, then reply, "This is what we feel God wants us to do."

Right. You're tempted to say. Call it quits. Just like that. But then you remember their remarkable history…

The awe-inspiring story of Annie, Nelly and Matthew Ward dares to be told in superlatives. It is the story of God choosing and using three unlikely-indeed, rather simple-people in a powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit that has turned lives upside down, beginning with their own.

The Ward family was a big, happy clan. Growing up on a farm in North Dakota provided fresh air, room to run and plenty of lazy summer afternoons.

Music had always been a part of family life, and at the tender age of 5, Annie joined her two older sisters in a singing group called the Ward Sisters. Farm co-op meeting and sprawling country picnics were their platforms. The girls would belt out "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" while mother played the piano.

In the early 1960s Walter and Elizabeth Ward moved their brood to Sacramento, California so relatives would be nearby to assist the family as Elizabeth's health deteriorated. She had been diagnosed as having epilepsy, but it turned out to be a brain tumor. In 1968, she died.

Her mother's death sent Annie searching for answers. She dabbled in drugs, Eastern mysticism and "self-realization", but answers eluded her.

"I just hurt so much on the inside that I needed something take away the pain," she remembers, her deep brown eyes reflecting her gentle nature.

A few months after Elizabeth's death, Annie's boyfriend, Buck Herring, became a Christian and shared his new-found faith with her. At first repelled by the idea, within a few weeks the truth of salvation took hold in her life as well, and the couple was married shortly afterward. From the start, their commitment was total. They not only spoke of a God who could change lives, they proved it by allowing it to transform theirs.

Two years later, tragedy struck again-Walter Ward died of leukemia. Of the four younger children still at home, two went to live with an older brother; the other two, Nelly, then 14, and Matthew, then 12-moved in with 24-year-old Annie and her husband, Buck.

"I think we were both numb," says Matthew, whose most striking feature is his shock of long blonde hair. "We were numb to everything that was happening. We just buried Dad and it really didn't matter after that. OK, we'll move. Fine, that sounds good-you know? It really didn't make any difference where we moved at that point."

To make matters worse, the two hardly knew their older sister. Annie had moved out while they were still quite young. And Buck, their new father-figure, was a complete stranger. Adjustments were required of everyone, and often their eyes would meet over the supper table in awkward silence. Then the miracle of music entered the household.

Day after day, Annie would sit at the piano and gaze at the yellowed keys beneath her hands. Nearly half the ivories the old upright were missing, but to her it was a beautiful piano nonetheless.

"Brother Bear", as the piano had been dubbed, had been a gift from Buck their first year of marriage. As a little girl, Annie had always yearned for piano lessons, but in a large family money couldn't be wasted on such things. For weeks after the piano arrived she simply sat on the swivel stool, staring. Later, she summoned the courage to move her fingers cautiously over the keys, playing simple chords and familiar melodies.

One day Annie sat silently before the piano, almost reverently as if she were asking God to help her play. Buck was at work; Nelly and Matthew were still at school. Annie spread her fingers in chord-fashion across the keyboard and began picking out a tune. She allowed the Lord to inspire her. Her hands were creating a melody, and it sounded right!

The words were next. At her protest that "I can't write lyrics!" Buck had told her not to think of it that way. "Just think of it as expressing your heart, sort of like praying at the piano," he had gently urged. And that simple advice was the start of Annie expressing herself ever so intimately to God with words and song. On many days afterward, Annie would smile at the familiar slap of the screen door as Nelly and Matthew arrived home from school. Pulling up two rocking chairs around "Brother Bear", the three of them sang as in the old days when Mother was still alive. Only now, the music had a new yearning in it.

"We were singing to the Lord" says Matthew, his eyes capturing the intensity of that long ago time, "and it was a way of releasing our pain. We had gone through something tragic but we knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel. It was more of a rejoicing in the Lord, a healing process, because we were moving out of a real dark time into the brightness."

"I think it was one of the most enjoyable things in my life," says Annie, nodding in agreement with her brother. "The Lord would give me a song right there on the spot. And now, looking back, I can see how the Holy Spirit healed my heart and was healing their hearts-touching them, mending them and drawing us together to become what He wanted us to be-all through the music He gave during those special times at the piano."

Indeed, those spontaneous sing-alongs were the genesis of what is today known as the 2^nd Chapter of Acts-a family trio marked by tight harmonies and a powerful anointing. But to the three gathered in the living room after school hours, what was happening was just an extension of their private lives, a spiritual catharsis for their suffering.

It was during one such singing session that Nelly says the Lord revealed to them His purpose for their lives.

"He said we were like three small streams, and when we came together we would be a river. God promised He would use that river to go through people's hearts and through their lives. In the same way rushing water uproots things, cleans things out and opens things up, He promised to use us. And that's exactly what He has done."

Buck and Annie led a prayer group in their home during the early ‘70s. This group of family and friends became the first audience for Annie, Nelly and Matthew, who were extremely shy about performing.

"We would sing and people would say, ‘You should come over to our church' or "We have a coffee house ministry and we would love for you to come and sing,' says Annie. "But our answer would be, ‘No thanks, we don't want to sing in front of anybody. This is our little thing and we want it to stay that way.'"

However, it became increasingly difficult to quell the stirring inside each of them that this was what God wanted them to do.

"We were scared to death," laughs Matthew. "We were sure God had made His first mistake!"

Finally persuaded to mount a makeshift stage at a Christian coffee house, they simply sang their songs-avoiding as much as possible the eyes of the 30 or 40 people in the room.

But God wouldn't let them off the hook so easily. Other such engagements came up, and they reluctantly performed again and again on the local concert circuit. Whenever asked, they sang solos at the church the attended at the time. Tom Hollingsworth, who was their choir director at First Assembly of God, North Hollywood, remembers their talent: "Singing was so natural for them. But they were very low-key about it, never pushy, never asking if they could sing in a service-just making themselves available. It was very obvious that the Lord has His hand on their lives."

Church services and coffee houses were their stage-until Barry McGuire showed up.

The big, bearded musician, who had recorded the hit "Eve of Destruction" in the late ‘60s, had been scouting out the right producer for his next album, Seeds. One of the three names he'd been given was Buck Herring, who worked as an audio engineer. McGuire came to the Herring household late one evening in 1971 and began playing some of his songs for Buck. The noise of his feet thumping out the rhythm awakened Matthew and Nelly, who had already gone to bed, and they came sleepy-eyed down the stairs to see what the ruckus was about.

"You know, you ought to hear my family sing," suggested Buck after McGuire finished his songs. "They're really pretty good."

Here we go again, thought McGuire. Another ‘my family can sing real well' session. He couldn't count how many times he'd heard that line before. But propriety at the moment demanded he listen to the brother-sister trio sitting before him.

"Sure, I'd love to," he offered brightly, and the group gathered around the old piano. The music started on the keyboard, or what was left of it-and then the voices joined in.

McGuire had never heard anything like it before. The harmonies-they were crystal clear, almost angelic in sound. And the lyrics, so intimate he felt as if he'd pried into someone's prayer closet.

When the last strains of the song faded into the cool night air, Barry McGuire lifted his bowed head. There were tears in his eyes. And before he left, he asked Annie, Nelly and Matthew to sing background vocals on his upcoming album.

The chance to be recorded brought similar opportunities their way, such as singing background vocals on Jamie Owen's albums. However, the first real recording was not intended to be a "group" record. A friend of Buck's had written a song titled "Jesus Is" and wanted to record it. As it turned out, Matthew was chosen to be the singer and recorded the vocal on his 13^th birthday. Christian performer Pat Boone eventually heard this recording and arranged a contract with MGM Records for the fledgling group which, as yet, had no name.

One day at work, Buck says he heard an almost audible voice say "The 2^nd Chapter of Acts." Not wanting to forget it, he jotted the words down in order to tell Annie and the others that evening.

"When he came home and said, ‘I think the group should be called the 2^nd Chapter of Acts', we all wanted to throw up on the spot!" laughs Annie. "I said, ‘Honey, that's a terrible name. It doesn't let anyone know we're a family'."

"I was afraid people would think it's a play," quips Matthew.

Buck suggested they read Acts chapter two and see what is said.

"So we read it, and it blew our doors off," recalls Annie. "I think that's when we knew this was what the Lord wanted to call us."

As could be expected, there were problems in recording Christian music for a secular record company, and after much frustration and prayer, the group obtained their release from MGM.

In 1974 they recorded their first album for the newly formed Christian label, Myrrh Records. Their legendary recording of "Easter Song" on this album, With Footnotes, combined with three years of national touring with Barry McGuire, established the 2^nd Chapter of Acts as a prominent Christian group. And, due to their Jesus Movement rock ‘n' roll overtones, their songs also unwittingly placed them on the cutting edge of what is now called "contemporary Christian music." But in those days, reminds Matthew, there was no such thing.

The music of the 2^nd Chapter of Acts was in many ways crucial to the spiritual revival of the ‘70s. It helped usher in the age of charismatic praise and worship-and for the first time it told the watching Christian world that it is possible to worship God with rock music. That doesn't mean everyone accepted it outright. They didn't. There were churches that would not host the group.

Even most early detractors will now agree that the word "ministry" best sums up the history of the 2^nd Chapter of Acts. But in the early days of touring, any ministry to the audience was derived solely from their lyrics and the anointing on their singing. The group themselves took some time in mustering up courage to utter a word on stage.

" Barry McGuire was our teacher," says Annie. "He was a living example of how to minister and communicate. Because we didn't dare talk, he talked. He showed us by example the importance of being who you are on stage, who God has called you to be."

Toward the end of their touring schedule with McGuire, the 2^nd Chapter of Acts started to open up a little on stage. But a strange phenomenon greeted them after every song-those faceless people beyond the footlights didn't clap. Instead, the auditorium would grow strangely quiet. The awkward silence unnerved them at first, until they realized what was really happening.

"I think the Spirit was moving in a fresh way," says Matthew. "That's why their mouths were open. And by saying that, it may sound as if we were so incredible that people were just blown away. But that wasn't it at all. We didn't feel that; we've never felt that. It was simply that people sensed the Spirit of God. When you come in contact with that, and you're not used to it on that level in music, your first reaction is almost one of shock."

In her soft-spoken way, Nelly adds, "I believe one of the reasons people didn't clap is because we weren't singing songs about Jesus, we were singing to Him, and therefore they could see Him. It made them fall in love."

Indeed, a 2^nd Chapter concert is not just entertainment, but a spiritual experience. The music of Annie, Nelly and Matthew cuts to the core of the listener; it breaks down barriers and it heals. Few can leave the concert hall with dry eyes-and many find themselves at the altar.

As the 2^nd Chapter of Acts moved into full-time touring, a succession of albums followed-In the Volume of the Book, Mansion Builder, The Roar of Love, Rejoice. But, as always, success took its toll. In 1976, the group hit a crossroads and took a year off to define their call.

As Nelly puts it: "It got to the point where we didn't know if we were the 2^nd Chapter of Acts or the 2^nd Chapter of Acts was us. We were almost becoming a machine-the ministry was taking over the family, instead of being an extension of the family. It was like the tail wagging the dog."

Nelly's husband and concert coordinator Steve Greisen points out another critical reason for the 1976 break: Up to that point Buck and Annie were a surrogate mom and dad for Matthew and Nelly. It was important for these two young adults to stop and evaluate what God was calling them to do, what He was calling them to be personally. Up to that time they had really been helping Buck and Annie fulfill their vision. Was that what God wanted for Nelly and Matthew as well?

"I think as a group-and I came along in 1976-we have always had an understanding of God's call," says Steve. "We've always sensed that God is propelling us forward. But we've had our dark times of learning: ‘What's next? What are we supposed to do?' And those are the times when we've pulled back. In 1983, we took another year off to regain clarity."

Signs and wonders have followed the 2^nd Chapter of Acts throughout their 17-year career. And the stories have come to them by letter, by word of mouth and by direct experience:

-A few years ago God began an in concert healing ministry through Nelly. Several people were healed of cancer, arthritis and other ailments.

-A woman dying of cancer heard "Easter Song" played over the hospital P.A. system and was healed.

-A terminally ill child took Annie's Kids of the Kingdom children's album through the pediatric ward to share with his friends before he died.

-Loren Cunningham of Youth With A Mission says while standing in a Siberian train station, he heard "Easter Song" played over the P.A.

-A woman wrote to say that as her mother lay in a coma dying, she placed headphones playing "Holy, Holy, Holy" (from the Hymns album) on her mother's head. The elderly woman opened her eyes, whispered, "That was beautiful!" and then died peacefully.

There were trying times as well. Record producer Dan Collins and Sparrow Records president Billy Ray Hearn talk about a dramatic change, indeed a maturing in Buck Herring's life over the years. "He blew up at times," says Collins. Hearn adds, "He could be intimidating. If something wasn't just right he'd let you know about it."

Buck acknowledges an early tendency to explode emotionally. If, for example, the piano wasn't tuned exactly according to expectations when the group arrived, the host or the tuner would have an earful. In the early ‘70s Buck had a reputation for at times being difficult.

Then, in 1973, Buck reached a breaking point. "I needed to be delivered," he says. "I would intimidate people. I would build up anger expecting a problem to happen and running through my mind exactly how I would respond even before the problem occurred. When Matthew was younger, I would tell him to clean his room in the morning. On my way home form work that afternoon I would think, he probably hasn't cleaned his room.. Before I got home I was already mad."

Buck recognized this as a family trait and took a spiritual stand against it. During the next few years the blow ups came less frequently. When the piano wasn't tuned when the group arrived, instead of unleashing his wrath, he would send the rest of the group off to dinner, pull out his tuning fork and quietly tune the piano himself. Buck says it's now been four years since his last big blow up. "God delivered me," he says. "It just took some time to walk this one out. But God has been faithful."

When God performs a work in your life-especially when that work spans 17 years-it's easy to become lulled into thinking nothing will change. But He is a God of change, and the "new chapter" 1988 brought was not easy to accept.

Says Annie, "We all felt for a while that changes were coming. Something was stirring. Every year we come together in January and have a family time, praying and seeking God on what we're supposed to do. And we just felt in our hearts that the Lord wanted us to finish our obligations that year and not tour anymore. Basically, because of the things He wanted to do in every one of us He can't do with us all together. Not that being together is bad or wrong, because we love each other. It is hard for us. It's as if it is not right, and yet it is perfectly right."

Steve agrees, and points out that what they're doing is "a classic example of laying down the good thing for the best." He adds, "It's important for us to realize that when God gives a gift, it is His to do with what He wants. It takes a lot of courage to leave something that is good. We don't really know what is ahead."

As far as doing future recordings as the 2^nd Chapter of Acts, Annie, Nelly and Matthew say they don't know whether they will record again.

"For Nelly and I-and I think it's true for all of us-we feel the Lord is saying to just finish the course and be available to let His work be done in us," says Steve.

The concert ministry of the 2^nd Chapter of Acts culminated with a land concert in Houston, Texas, August 12. But their real "swan song" came during the Christian cruise to Mexico August 15-20. Emotions ran high as Annie, Nelly and Matthew performed as the 2^nd Chapter of Acts-the family trio who never really intended to perform-one last time.

In the audience on that cruise were many long time friends, including Dan Collins and Jamie Owens Collins. "It was very emotional," says Jamie. "Annie was trying to keep it together but she ended up crying. I did too. Annie thanked Matthew and Nelly for helping her deliver what God had put on her heart all these years."

Jamie, who became friends with Nelly when they were both 14 and living in the same household for a while, isn't surprised by the group disbanding. But it is nonetheless very emotional. "From the world's point of view what they are doing is crazy," she says. "They are on top. Yet when God says, ‘Now it's all over,' they say, ‘OK.' Their depth of sincerity really impresses me."

To a person, those who have come to know them well over the years accept the decision as a decision from God. "They have always done what they felt God was calling them to do-no matter what the cost," says Sparrow Records president Billy Ray Hearn about the group that once recorded for him. "And it has cost them plenty. They took off a year when everyone said they shouldn't; they went to love offering concert instead of ticketed concerts, and they insisted upon keeping the focus of their music on worship."

Hearn credits the group with setting a standard of integrity and accountability that many contemporary Christian artists today try to follow. "A lot of what Sparrow is today is because of them," says Hearn. "Even today when I have a tough decision to make about the company I call Buck for prayer and council."

Annie, Nelly and Matthew grow quiet as they search for words to capture the impact of this turning point. Finally, Annie speaks for them all: "More than anything else, I think it's important to let people know we recognize that it's been God's faithfulness that's kept us through the years. And we love each other deeply. There is no separation in our hearts at this change. "

"We hope our lives and ministry have been an encouragement to let people know that no matter what they think of themselves, no matter how broken they are or how hopeless their situation is-if God can deal with three broken, shy young people who were willing to do what He wanted, then He can do it with anybody."

Though they may not again sing on stage as a trio or record another album of hymns, the 2nd Chapter of Acts will always be the 2^nd Chapter of Acts-for they were always the same on stage as off. And even in their closing chapter as a group, they showed that it is possible to say yes to God even when the cost is great.