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IT TAKES MORE THAN A GREAT VOICE AND A GOOD EAR FOR SONGS TO BE AN EFFECTIVE WORSHIP LEADER.
Those are necessary qualities to be sure, but the most important thing is a humble, passionate heart that delights in serving God.
“I have been doing this for 17 years and one thing that I have learned over performing 2700 concerts and leading worship at more than 1900 churches is that nobody really gives a rip what you know on that platform,†Billingsley says with refreshing candor. “What they really want to know is ‘Does he care? Is he real? Does he really believe what he is talking about and singing about?’ I am not the greatest singer in the world and I know I am not the greatest musician, but hopefully what I can deliver is something that is genuine and something that is real. I experienced salvation at six years old. When I was a seventh grader, I felt a real calling on my life and I have never lost that desire to share it.â€
Billingsley’s desire to share the gospel is what propels his busy life. A husband and father of two young sons, Charles not only serves as worship leader at Thomas Road, appearing weekly on their nationally televised “Live from Liberty†TV program, he is also an Artist-in-Residence at Liberty University, the largest evangelical university in the world. Billingsley also serves as senior advisor to more than 600 students in Liberty’s Center for Worship. A former lead vocalist of the veteran group, NewSong, Billingsley continues to be much in demand as a solo artist, performing over a 100 concerts a year, including church dates and numerous conferences.
AN EARLY CALLING
The New Mexico native has known since a young age that he was called to serve God. “In seventh grade, I was at a youth conference in Seattle, Washington when the Continentals came to town and I thought it was the coolest thing ever,†he says with a smile. “That same weekend I felt the tug in my heart to be called to ministry.â€
GOD'S PLAN REVEALED
Though he thought he would become a pastor, God had another idea. “I was in high school when a friend of mine talked me into singing for a Sunday school class,†Billingsley recalls. “It was more of a dare more than anything, but I just did it. I was more into football and wrestling and that sort of thing, but I just got up there and from the very first note I ever sang it just felt comfortable. It felt natural to me. When I went off to college, I still thought I was going to be a preacher but all my opportunities kept coming to sing and not speak. So when I graduated from college, I thought ‘You know what? I guess I will just sing.’â€
Over the course of nearly two decades, God has continually opened doors for Billingsley to use his gifts. He toured as a successful solo artist before joining NewSong for three years during which time he handled lead vocal duties for the group on their Dove Award nominated album “People Get Ready.†Billingsley cherished the experience. “A lot of guys go to seminary to learn, I went into NewSong,†he says. “I learned so much over that three year period and have been using it ever since. They are just great guys.â€
GOING SOLO
He left NewSong in 1996 to resume his solo ministry and Dr. Jerry Falwell invited him to become worship leader at Thomas Road Baptist Church. His professional resume also includes two years as worship leader at Dr. David Jeremiah’s Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego.
FAITH TESTED
After so many vibrant years in music ministry, Billingsley experienced a soul-shaking challenge in 2008. “I was out in California writing songs for this record with Tommy Walker. I kept trying to sing these demos and I just could not sing them,†Billingsley recalls. “I came back and had several more events and was really struggling to sing. I finally went to the doctor and he said ‘No wonder you’re having a hard time singing, you have a polyp on your left vocal cord.’ So for the first time in my life, I was facing the prospect of not being able to sing and that was just the weirdest feeling ever.â€
He traveled to New York for laser surgery, and in the aftermath had to be totally silent for five days. “I could not make a single noise. I could not clear my throat, could not cough or do anything for five days,†he recalls. “It just so happens that a Sunday fell during this five day period. I was carrying around my little board writing on it and I was just going through a really frustrating time wondering when I was going to be able to sing again.â€
SILENT WORSHIP - A MOMENT OF GLORY
On that silent Sunday, unable to lead worship, unable to utter a word, Billingsley decided to take a drive in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains. “It became the single greatest worship experience of my life,†he says, his voice teeming with emotion. “I was asking questions---‘What am I going to do? What if I never sing again?’ and I rediscovered that morning what it means to worship the Lord and I discovered that I could worship God without a note, without a song, and without a voice. God brought this little bend in the road to my life so I could re-focus and I am so thankful for that time. I would not trade it for anything.
The experience has affected not only his spirit of worship, but you can hear it in his singing - in a good way! Coming to grips with that moment of surrender when we realize the only thing left to do is fall into God’s arms is echoed in Billingsley’s emotional delivery on ballads such as "When I Don't Know What to Do." The exuberant joy of renewal is infectious on "You're Worthy Of My Praise." It comes from the soul of a man who has experienced every word he’s singing.
It’s that ability to be transparent in his struggles that endears Billingsley to other believers and prompts people everywhere to seek the peace he’s so obviously found in his relationship with the Lord.
Billingsley has learned through his own experiences, and through watching his brothers and sisters in Christ, that sometimes God speaks loudest in the toughest times. He recalls a friend praying with him before his vocal surgery. “He asked ‘If you are never able to sing again are you still going to love the Lord? Are you still going serve the Lord?’†recalls Billingsley. “That just cut me to the core and I started thinking ‘I have used my voice as my source for a long time and I have to get back to answering that question--who is truly my source?’ It’s the Lord. In the silence is where you learn that stuff,. You cannot learn those things up on the platform singing. You have got to go through the valley sometimes.â€
IN ALL THINGS, JOY
He’s been to the valley and he’s had his share of mountaintop experiences, but these days Charles Billingsley feels like he’s right where he’s supposed to be. “I feel like it has taken me 17 years to really figure out who I am and what I am doing,†he confesses. “I think I have finally settled into the fact that I am a worship leader and what I was made to do is lead people in worship. I am just a worship leader who happens to use his voice as the instrument. I am excited because I feel like I am just getting started.†|
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