“Somewhere over the rainbow does God exist?” ­ This workshop explores how the existence of God is proven to us through nature and sensible reason.  

“Follow the yellow brick road.” ­ What are the corporal works of mercy and their implications in manifesting a living faith.  World Vision and or Mercy Corps are presented as options for serving the most destitute and needy.  

“Wicked” ­Explore the Church’s teaching on the origins of evil and why we do the things we know are wrong.  This includes a craft activity on Salvation History.

Concerts, Parish Missions, Keynotes, Workshops and Worship

“Holiness of life ain’t just for your pastor and your grandma!” is the motto of World Vision Artist Associate Greg Walton. Greg’s ministry will give your community a unique and powerful experience.

• Bring hope to the poor! Greg will give your community a unique opportunity to assist in ending world hunger one child at a time through the Christian relief and development organization World Vision.

• Give your community something they may have never seen before! Greg has a unique spiritual perspective as a balanced Roman Catholic Christian artist that can bridge the gaps in the broken body of Christ. Stretch your community’s idea of what it means to be a Christian and further unite the body of Christ in bringing the love of God to the world!


• Get more than just another Christian commercial product. Greg has been mentored by more than one of the pioneers in Christian music, and is able to benefit from their experiences. He has a unique relationship with first-generation Christian-music-veteran John Michael Talbot, founder of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, an ecumenical Catholic-based Christian community of which Greg is a member. Greg also gains special insights from his longtime friend and manager, Greg Menza (DC Talk, Newsboys, The Waiting, Small Town Poets), highly regarded for his Christian ethics through 25 plus years of service in the Christian music industry.

• Hear great music! Greg is a five-time Unity Award (Catholic Grammy) recipient for two of his three nominated contemporary Christian albums, while being hailed as one of the “hardest-working, best-writing modern rock/alternative artists” by Catholic Parent Magazine.

• Experience a veteran performance! Greg is a professional, engaging musician having toured full time in the Christian music mainstream as a supporting member of top charting Dove award nominated bands while headlining his own tours as an independent Christian artist. Greg has performed at nearly 700 events worldwide including Ichthus, Creation Festival, Cornerstone, Kingdom Bound, World Youth Day 2002 (Canada), Song of Songs (Poland), Jubilmusic (Italy), Spandernacht (Germany) and national conventions. Greg has shared the stage with greats in both secular and Christian music including George Jones, John Michael Talbot, Newsboys and Audio Adrenaline, to name a few.

• Bring Christian influence into the hearts and homes of your community. Greg is a top-notch recording artist with Spirit and Song, a division of Oregon Catholic Press, and has three different recording projects available at his events. Give your families the benefit of solid Christian inspiration at home!

• And even more! In addition to concerts, Greg is an ideal choice for parish missions, keynotes, workshops and worship. Greg received college level Christian studies at the University of Illinois U-C, and Catholic Theological Union, Chicago where he completed his certification in Liturgy for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Illinois. Greg currently teaches Theology (Scripture and Apologetics) and directs the music ministry at Father Ryan High School in Nashville, TN. He continues to deepen his studies through his formation with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity (a canonical Catholic community). Greg understands the joys and hardships of family life as a youthful husband of 12 years and tireless father of 6 children.

Greg Walton Q&A

How did you get started in Christian music? When I was in junior high, I witnessed a miraculous occurrence during a difficult time for my family. This reinforced to me the reality of Jesus Christ and His plan of Salvation for the world. Because music has always been a natural expression for me, I decided to write my own Christian rock songs as a way to share my faith with my friends at youth group and parties. Then one night the Lord spoke to me in another mystical experience saying He wanted me to do Christian rock for Him.

You seem to incorporate many different musical styles into your performance. Do you have a favorite? I have my own personal tastes, but in my ministry I believe that I should be all things to all people. I believe it is important to be able to entertain and minister to as many different people as possible. Many of my audiences are made up of entire families ... kids, teenagers and even grandparents.

Explain the difference between ministry and entertainment. Both are ways of communicating to people. Ministry includes presenting the truth of the Gospel, sharing music, scripture and stories which will encourage people in their faith, sharing the Gospel with unbelievers in a way which will encourage them to want to know more about Jesus and hopefully feel comfortable enough to ask the important questions after a concert or perhaps of their friends later on. The performance should be entertaining as well as uplifting so that people will enjoy the evening and want to come closer to God. The songs weave the show together but I also tell stories, some humorous, some more serious .... all with the purpose of communicating about the grace and mercy of God and the abundant life He offers us.

You do some dates with a band, others are solo performances. Do you have a preference? No. I really enjoy both opportunities. Many times, especially if I'm performing for young people, sponsors prefer to have a band. I have several great musicians who work with me. We can go out in almost any combination from a three piece "power trio" to a full show which includes five or six musicians and even a horn section and back-up singers. Sometimes a church will have a local band or their own praise group who learn some of my songs which we'll do together as part of the show. Sometimes the church choir will be included in a performance and that really makes for something special.

That has to be a pretty difficult thing to pull off. Well, it takes some extra work but it really is not as hard as it may seem. Before doing this full time I was a high school music teacher in the Chicago suburbs. I was responsible for 5 school choirs. In addition to my classroom duties, I put on a madrigal dinner, a school musical and a dozen or so choir concerts each year. After that, organizing and working with church choirs and people who love singing for Jesus is relatively painless!

What made you leave your home in Chicago, a secure job and all your friends to move to the Nashville area? For a long time I felt God was calling me to step out on faith and go into full-time ministry. At the time I was making the decision to surrender to that call I met Greg Menza, a guy who lives in the Nashville area and has worked with many fine Christian musicians over the last twenty years. He encouraged me to make the move if I was serious about wanting to do this full time. Greg has worked with dc Talk, Newsboys, Mylon LeFevre and dozens of other Christian artists. He agreed to be my manager if I made the move. That helped give me the confidence that God was leading our family to take our step of faith.

So now all you do is music? Almost. I tour a lot and minister all over the country. I've even been overseas. Still, we're not yet to the point where the music alone pays all the bills.....especially since we are a faith ministry and allow each church we work with to determine what they are able to pay in support of our ministry. To help meet our family's needs I often substitute teach in our local school system when I'm off the road for a time. This not only helps pay the bills but I find it is also a great benefit in that I can really keep in touch with where teenagers are at these days --- especially those who do not attend church. There is a tremendous advantage to this when we do outreach concerts for youth on the fringe.

Is there a great difference between your rock shows and your church concerts? Yes there is. You have to try and reach every audience where they live. My rock concerts feature more electric guitars and the song arrangements are higher energy. At churches, my drummer plays more cultural percussion and I play acoustic guitar and keyboard or I play solo acoustic with some tracks. When we do assembly programs in public schools they don’t want us to emphasize our Christian faith, so we focus on positive values. We talk about having the guts to stand up for what you know is right. We challenge kids to make the most of their opportunities and not allow others sucker them into doing stuff that will ultimately hurt them. At those shows we work in more life-positive cover songs like “I Won't Back Down” by Tom Petty which is the title track on my new album. We play the same songs at a county fair, but we can also do “gospel rock,” a praise set and share our faith.

What is your praise set? Virtually every Christian concert we do includes at least a twenty minute set of contemporary praise music. Some of it is original material from my Spirit Of Fire CD, and the rest is popular praise and worship music familiar to most everyone. When we are playing a church concert I'll consult in advance with the pastor or worship director to determine which songs are most enjoyed by their congregation and try to tailor it to Sunday’s sermon.

How many CDs have you recorded and how do they differ from each other? Our first project was originally titled “The Simple Truth,” which also happened to be the name of my band in Chicago. After it was released someone else put out a CD with that title. Rather than get into a situation over it we decided to change our title to “Stealing Moment” when we did the second pressing. I guess that makes “Simple Truth” a collectors item for some folks! Anyway, that project is sort of a sampler in that it has a couple of rock tunes, some mellow stuff and some folk stuff. “Stealing Moment” was named 2001 Modern Rock/Alternative Album of the Year by the UCMVA. Its first track, Leanin’ On, was named 2001 Modern Rock/Alternative Song of the Year. What's also kind of interesting about this album is that it was recorded in Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys studio. His engineer was a member of my church and he decided to try out Brian's new studio toys on me before taking any risks on the boss's new material.

The next project we did was “Spirit Of Fire.” This is a contemporary praise and worship album. It received two nominations by the UCMVA in the Praise and Worship category. Again there's a variety of musical styles presented but the entire project is meant to foster a sense of praise and an awareness of our awesome God. Most of the songs were written by my good friend, Mike Harrison, who also produced the album. Mike loves the Lord so much and you can't help but know it when you hear these songs. They are an offering to our Lord. Mike is also a really talented musician and it was a great pleasure to record this project with him.

“I Won't Back Down” is the title of my newest modern rock album. This one is meant for youth and all those who are into modern rock. The Tom Petty song really smokes. It's a great song. It's inspiring and it carries a message of importance to all Christians..... stand up for what you believe and don't let the world intimidate you. There are nine of my new songs on this album, most of which are rockers and there's also an interesting piece by Keith Green, whose ministry really had a great influence on me. Speaking of influences, I also had the privilege of spending time with Bob Halligan of Ceili Rain, a great songwriter who helped me tweak some of these new songs. Bob has written huge hits for a wide variety of artists from Kiss and Cher to Rebecca St. James and Eli. He took an interest in my ministry and unselfishly spent hours advising me on how to make each song better. Thanks Bob... you're the man!

Are there any other Greg Walton CDs we can look forward to? We're planning a few more projects. One is called “If I Only Had a Brain” and it will be a collection of remixes and songs I do in concert which most people seem to ask for at the table each night. I’m writing another batch of originals. We’re in the planning faze for a tribute album to all the first generation Gospel rockers and I’d like to do another worship album.

You have another two fold purpose with your ministry. Tell us about your efforts with World Vision. World Vision is the world’s largest, private Christian relief and development organization. The organization has projects in 100 countries, serving over 80 million people. From a Christian foundation, it helps the world’s poor by providing emergency food, clothing, medicine, shelter, and clean water. Most importantly World Vision helps impoverished communities become self-sufficient by helping them set up schools, drilling fresh water wells, teaching better farming techniques and providing micro loans for community/home businesses. In this way, World Vision not only treats the symptoms of world hunger, but it treats the causes as well. World Vision raises funds for its work primarily through child sponsorship. You can sponsor a child in one of World Vision’s projects for $26 a month. World Vision is exceptional. 81% of its revenue goes out to its projects. The remaining 19% is used for the organization’s administrative needs. At every concert, I tell my audience about World Vision and give them an opportunity to sponsor a child. Sponsors receive a picture folder of their child at the concert. World Vision sends them regular updates on their child’s project, and sponsors are able to correspond directly with their child and or his/her family by letter. Sponsors can even make arrangements to visit their child’s project and witness World Vision’s work first hand! Over 32,000 children die everyday from hunger and hunger related diseases. World Vision is a wonderful way to make a difference in the lives of the world’s poor. Next to Jesus, World Vision is the brightest gem of my ministry because it lives like Jesus.

Well, Greg, it appears we're about out of time. Can you sum up your ministry goals for us before going? First off, I believe a lot of Christian bands expect a record label to make them into a successful ministry rather than taking responsibility for that themselves. This is why we see so many bands rise and fall in Christian music. As a result, one of my goals is to have a ministry that is successful with or without a record label. I’m not asking the entertainment system’s permission to do what I’m doing. My accountability comes from God, my family, the Church and the communities I minister to. In addition to having a professional, quality presentation, I hope to build a ministry that forms an ongoing partnership with people's spiritual lives. To do this, I’m writing scripture studies that coincide with my albums. Also, my manager, Greg Menza, has written an awesome daily devotional, called Kingdom Vision. Both these things are available at my shows. I've built my band with musicians who have a heart for worship as well as putting on a rock show. We can lead devotionals and workshops if the event calls for it. I’ve accepted that I may never have a Dove Award, a top 10 single or a gold/platinum album. Overall, I’d like fill a few million empty stomachs, and earn the reputation as one of America’s most sincere, high quality, hard working, hard hitting Christian artists, or at least die trying. My awards are not of this world.