Christy Nockels-- Dreams are for Sharing
Christy Nockels has long had a huge appreciation for music and for ministry and its role in the kingdom of God. As a worship leader for over 25 years, she’s seen first hand how music can usher people into the presence of God in a powerful way. Whether she’s singing a gentle lullaby or belting out a corporate anthem, Christy’s heart has always been to simply lead people to connect and communicate with the living God.
The daughter of a pastor, born in Texas and raised in Oklahoma, Christy remembers simple beginnings that laid a sure foundation for her life. By the time she was seventeen, Christy was leading worship corporately on a regular basis, mostly thanks to her worship pastor at her church, who believed in her and helped to raise her up. In 1993 - at the Christian Artists Seminar in Estes Park, Colorado, - she met her husband, Nathan, and the two went on to record an independent album called Holy Roar with fellow worship leader and friend, Charlie Hall, under the name Sons & Daughters. The trio had a ground-breaking sound for their time, with hearts to see renewal happen in the Church. The record seeped out and into the hands of Louie Giglio, founder of Passion Conferences. In 1996, he wrote to Christy, Nathan, and Charlie to encourage them that “the songs you are singing are the prayers we are praying” and Giglio invited them to participate in the first ever Passion Conference in Austin, Texas in 1997.
Christy and Nathan eventually moved to Houston, Texas to lead at a weekly gathering of over 3,000 people called “Metro Bible Study” - a ministry to singles held at Houston’s First Baptist Church. Leading here was the gateway for Christy and Nathan being discovered and signed by Rocketown Records, a label formed by longtime Christian artist, Michael W. Smith. The two would form the duo, Watermark and Christy’s voice began gaining a national platform. Christy and Nathan moved to Franklin, TN and over the next ten years recorded five acclaimed albums, including seven number one radio singles, before deciding to lay down their Watermark journey, for the sake of their family.
In 2008, the Nockels family - now a family of five - moved to Atlanta, GA to become a founding family of Passion City Church, where they served on the worship team with friends Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Kristian Stanfill. Christy eventually signed with sixstepsrecords, releasing her solo debut album, Life Light Up, and later released two more solo albums, Into the Glorious as well as her live, worship album Let it Be Jesus. Christy and Nathan spent twenty years altogether serving and traveling worldwide with Passion Conferences. In 2015, Christy and Nathan returned to Franklin, TN to continue raising their family in the place that has always felt most like home.
Christy is now co-owner of Keeper’s Branch Records, with her husband, Nathan. Christy released three albums in just three years after creating their independent label: The Thrill of Hope released in 2016, Be Held; Lullabies for the Beloved in 2018 as well as the instrumental version of that album. Christy’s latest endeavor is her podcast called “The Glorious in the Mundane”, which has exceeded her expectations since it’s beginning in 2016. It has grown in listeners but also in Christy’s heart as a place where she’s learning to use her voice beyond singing. Christy calls Franklin, TN home, with her husband Nathan and their three children, Noah (18), Elliana (16) and Annie Rose (11).
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On the episode:
Producer : Haley King
Engineer : Jackson Carpenter
Co-host : Scott Schimmel
