When award-winning singer-songwriter Sara Groves set out to produce a new Christmas album, she wanted to record songs that would inspire reflection on the true meaning of Christmas—that Christ left glory to take up suffering not His own. Groves wound up performing a Christmas concert for prisoners and recording the session live—from behind prison walls. O Holy Night Live—The Prison Show was recorded entirely inside Illinois’s Lincoln Correctional Center.
Recently Groves took time to chat with Inside Out about the experience.
In 2009, Christianity Today gave the nod for Album of the Year to singer-songwriter Sara Groves, whose clarion voice and deep-digging lyrics have won her a loyal fan base. Songs like “I Saw What I Saw” and “When the Saints” have helped inspire a new generation of Christians to pursue social justice. So when Groves set out to produce a new Christmas album on INO Records, she wanted to record songs that would inspire reflection on the true meaning of Christmas—that Christ left glory to take up suffering not His own. At the invitation of an Operation Starting Line partner organization, Groves wound up performing a Christmas concert for prisoners and recording the session live—from behind prison walls. O Holy Night Live—The Prison Show was recorded entirely inside Illinois’s Lincoln Correctional Center.
Recently Groves took time to chat with Inside Out about the experience.
IO: How did you come to record this album inside a prison?
SG: It was an absolute providential unfolding of events. My husband, Troy, and the band and I looked with a clean slate and asked ourselves: What is Christmas? What do we want to say? How do we uniquely reflect on this story that’s been told many, many times? We decided that the story of Christmas is that Jesus entered suffering that was not His own. He left a place of comfort, and then He says to follow Him into suffering that is not our own, to take up other’s burdens and walk with them . . . We have an old family friend, an ex-prisoner. My grandparents used to minister to him. And he says how much it meant to him to be incarcerated and have people leave the comfort of their homes and visit with him and love him. That was the theme of our story. So it made total sense when Hope Shows [an Operation Starting Line partner organization] called us and invited us to perform at Lincoln Correctional Center.
IO: So prison ministry runs in your family?
SG: Years ago my grandparents made a commitment to go to a Federal prison in my hometown twice a week. They felt that their consistent presence was how they could demonstrate Jesus to these men, and so they went faithfully, every Sunday and Thursday for almost 40 years. In 1972, they were giving a Christmas Eve service in a prison. I was three months old, and my mother and father smuggled me into the service. My grandmother was telling the Christmas story. On cue, when she was telling about Jesus’ birth, I started crying. My mom and my dad and I formed a makeshift nativity. It was a magical moment for the men.
Download O Holy Night Live—The Prison Show for free! Go to www.saragroves.com. |
IO: And you’ve been back?
SG: I was privileged to go into prison with my grandparents occasionally over the years growing up, and then to do music there with them in the last ten years. Now they’re in their mid-80s, they had to stop going for health reasons, but it is still in their hearts! . . . I’ve probably been into prison under 15 times, but maybe around there. We’ve been to [the Minnesota Correctional Facility at] Shakopee, because it’s close to where we live. And we’ve done Angel Tree as a family.
IO: What were your hopes or fears for recording at Lincoln Correctional Center?
SG: You learn something new every time you go into a facility. I wondered what this one would be like. Logistically, it’s intense to play music in a prison. But the warden bent over backwards to help us . . . I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it would be a sweet and appreciative and grateful audience. I was just excited to sing with them and give them a respite from their daily routine. And I was a little afraid, too. I wondered if they would like our music or if they would think it was lame.
IO: And what happened?
SG: We were in a gymnasium. It was cold and kind of rainy. We had two shifts of women coming in—500 in all. We got our gear in and went through the checks. The prison officials told us that if one piece of equipment went missing, we’d go on complete lockdown! Once we got in and did our sound check, we met a group of women inmates who work closely with the chaplain there. We met with them for a powerful time of prayer with no reservations. Their hearts are really hurting and aching for the other women that are in with them . . . As the women came in, we played songs. At times, they’re clapping so loud you can’t even hear. It’s an opportunity to cheer and let some steam off, so it was a very energetic crowd. In the times I was sharing, it was just neat because God had given me this window to reflect on what the Good News looks like behind prison walls. I believe the Good News can redeem all things—even prison. So how does it speak to our relationships? It was a very sweet time. We had time to meet and talk to some of the women in between the two services.
IO: Many of our readers have never met an inmate. What was your experience like meeting these women?
SG: There’s no monolithic identity for an inmate. Most people who’ve never been exposed to a prison ministry situation might have this one monolithic character in their minds. There’s every type of person you can imagine in prison: old, young, moms, grandmas. Some who will be there for a few months and some who will be there for a long time.
IO: What was the most special moment of the recording experience for you?
SG: In the middle of the concert, we pretended like our instruments and sound equipment weren’t working. We went down in the middle aisle in the middle of everybody, and the women sang along with us. It felt neat. It’s something that I get to do all the time, but I wondered for them, when was the last time they got to sing together like that?
IO: Was there one song in particular that struck you differently in the context of a prison?
SG: “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” because that song is about being bent low by troubles, but the angels are still hovering low and saying that God has goodwill towards you, and His face is turned towards you. Peace on earth and goodwill towards men is His intention.
IO: What do you hope the inmates took away from that experience?
SG: The community of it felt really right. For those inmates who may not have known Jesus, I think there’s no escaping that sense of Christian fellowship. I love that—when someone who doesn’t understand it gets to experience it. It’s a powerful thing. I hope it was encouraging. One woman had been there for 11 years and said she’d never experienced anything like that there. It was an honor to be able to play and share that. I hope they left thinking about the Good News that night.
IO: And what do you hope that people will take away when they listen to this beautiful album?
SG: I hope when they hear us all singing together that the prisoners are remembered and humanized. There’s an enormous population that’s forgotten, out of sight, and out of mind. I hope that someone would be stirred to learn more about prison ministry, volunteer, or support Prison Fellowship. There’s something special that happens in hearing the room, all of us singing together. I hope that moves hearts. I hope it makes them remember that prisoners are human beings with dreams and hopes.