“Freely, Freely” - Carol Owens

1931–

It was a team effort from the start. Carol Owens partnered with her husband, Jimmy, in life and in songwriting. In the 1960s, he was working as a church music minister and an arranger when the two of them decided to write something new.

Understand that Christians were about twenty years behind the times in their musical tastes, maybe more. The rock ’n’ roll revolution of the fifties and sixties was largely ignored by churches. There were moral reasons for this, but it still left young believers in an artistic time warp. For the most part, “modern” church music meant peppy choruses sung at Youth for Christ rallies in the 1940s.

Slowly things began to change with musicals written by Ralph Carmichael, Kurt Kaiser, and others. They were still pretty tame musically, but they had a pulse. Jimmy and Carol Owens joined that group of groundbreaking composers in 1971 with Show Me!

This dramatic musical told a story of evangelism and conversion. It was notable for its honesty. The Owenses had the nerve to criticize the church establishment and its failed attempts at sharing the gospel. Show Me! showed a genuine respect for spiritual seekers. Songs like “Break Down the Walls” were downright prophetic in their challenge to Christians to get out of their holy huddles and show God’s love to outsiders.

A few years later, Jimmy and Carol offered a new musical, Come Together, calling churches to unity and worship. It was the first of its genre, the large-scale “praise musical.” Come Together included Carol’s song “Freely, Freely,” which has been picked up by a number of modern hymnals.

The Owenses went on to write If My People and Heal Our Land, as well as the children’s musical Ants’hillvania. They’ve also thrown their energy into teaching other Christian songwriters, worship leaders, and performers. Their two children are both involved in ministry. Daughter Jamie Owens Collins went on to be a noted singer-songwriter in her own right.

Jimmy and Carol are a team, devoted to helping that larger team, the church, do what God has called us to do. We don’t need to go it alone, drumming up our own talents to try to make a difference. Find your team, and come together to honor God.

Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Philippians 2:2