Rich Mullins - The World as I Remember It: Through the Eyes of a Ragamuffin

W HEN R ICH M ULLINS WENT HOME TO THE L ORD , he left behind a spiritual and artistic legacy that touched many. On September 19, 1997, Rich and fellow musician Mitch McVicker were traveling southbound on I-39 near Peoria, Illinois, to a benefit concert in Wichita, Kansas. They lost control of their Jeep and flipped. They were thrown onto the road. The driver of a rig swerved to miss the Jeep, but hit Rich.

McVicker, twenty-four, suffered serious head and internal injuries. Rich was dead at forty-one.

Throughout his career, his dogged grip on what was good and true meant Christians from many different denominations found hope and meaning in his songs and ministry.

Richard Wayne Mullins was born October 21, 1955, in Richmond, Indiana. The third of John and Neva Mullins six childrenfour boys and two girlsRich was raised on his parents Indiana farm.

Richs musical training began at an early age. His great grandmother taught him hymns while he learned to play the piano from Mary Kellner. Rich considered Kellner to be one of his greatest musical influences, not only for teaching him how to play and introducing him to the great masters, but also for sparking his passion and imagination about what he was learning. He is said to have written his first song on the piano at age four. As a teenager, he wrote songs while driving a tractor in the fields on his fathers farm.

He graduated from Northeastern High School in 1974. As a student at Cincinnati Bible College, Rich joined Zion Ministries and sang in the pop-vocal quartet Zion. Though he was the only member to pursue music as a vocation, in 1981, the groupthrough a generous grant from Richs uncleindependently produced an album, Behold the Man. The record, sold almost exclusively at Zions concerts and long out of print, featured Rich solo on one song, Heaven in His Eyes. The rest featured either group performances or duets. That same year, the group performed at Nashvilles Koinonia Coffeehouse, and Reunion Records Mike Blanton heard a tape. He soon signed Rich to a publishing deal.

In 1983, Amy Grant recorded Richs Sing Your Praise to the Lord for Age to Age. Within a short time, the song was seemingly absorbed into the American hymnody. Grant continued to champion Rich as a writer, recording Doubly Good to You for Straight Ahead and Love of Another Kind for Unguarded.

Rich signed his first recording contract and released Rich Mullins, his debut on Reunion Records (the label founded by Grants managers) in 1985. The simple cover art indicated his self-deprecating humor, with a cover portrait that included only part of his face and left his name on his T-shirt a tangled mess from behind his folded arms. The albums lyrics portrayed a rare honesty. As Rich sings in A Few Good Men: Show me a someone who knows how to struggle/Who isnt caught in the hold of his luxuries/I just need to see/Someone who was made for trouble/Who could come and help shape our destiny.

With his second record, Pictures in the Sky, Christian music fans began to notice Rich in earnest. Screen Door was an unlikely hit (with its a cappella doo-wop arrangement and catchy hand-clap-finger-snap-knee-slap rhythm) that was very different from usual Christian radio fare. Verge of a Miracle was also a success, full of crisp, shimmery sounds and words full of optimism without resorting to platitudes.

With Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth, Rich learned to express himself in a way that was simpler, yet still had depth. The Other Side of the World was a compelling reminder that the Kingdom of God is built by the least of these. In If I Stand, he used spare instrumentation to underscore his longing to live a life of faith, grace, and peace. Awesome God, a simple song expressing the grandest of truths, had the biggest impact: Churches everywhere incorporated the song into their worship, and almost overnight Rich became one of the biggest names in Christian music. While other artists chose to move closer to the inside of the industry, Rich moved away. Having lived in Nashville since the beginning of his career, he moved to Wichita to take part in the ministry of the Reverend Maurice Howard at Wichitas Central Christian Church.