George Beverly Shea

59
George Beverly Shea bigraphy, stories - American musician

George Beverly Shea : biography

01 February 1909 – 16 April 2013

George Beverly Shea (February 1, 1909 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea was often described as "America’s beloved Gospel singer"Michael Ireland, "America’s ’Beloved Gospel Singer,’ George Beverly Shea, to Celebrate 100th Birthday" ASSIST News Service (30 January 2009); http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09010194.htm . Retrieved 3 February 2009. and was considered "the first international singing ‘star’ of the gospel world," as a consequence of his solos at Billy Graham Crusades and his exposure on radio, records, and television.Melvin L. Butler, "Globalization of Gospel," in Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, ed. W. K. McNeil (Routledge, 2005):139.Don Cusic, The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel Music (Popular, 1990):182.

References in popular culture

Shea and How Great Thou Art are mentioned in Patricia Cornwell’s 1998 best-selling novel Hornet’s Nest.Patricia Cornwell, Hornet’s Nest, Large Print ed. (Berkley Books, 1998):26. There is an allusion to Shea in Brad Whittington’s coming of age novel Living with Fred.Brad Whittington, Living with Fred (B&H Publishing Group, 2005):105. Shea is mentioned in the Christian novel The Peacemakers, the final volume in Jack Cavanaugh’s "American Family Portrait" series.Jack Cavanaugh, The Peacemakers (David C. Cook, 2006):402.

Personal life

Early life and family

George Beverly Shea was born in Winchester, Ontario, Canada, on February 1, 1909, the fourth of eight children of the Rev. Adam Joseph Shea (1872–1946), a Wesleyan Methodist Church—now Wesleyan Church—minister, and his wife, Maude Mary Theodora (Whitney) SheaShea, George Beverly, "How Sweet the Sound", Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, p. 161 (ISBN 0-8423-7042-0) (1881–1971).

Church background

The Shea family served at the Wesleyan Methodist church in Winchester, Ontario, Canada;John Dailey; Decision Magazine, BGEA. Houghton, New York (1917–1921); the Sunnyside Wesleyan Methodist church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1921;"A Brief History of Our Church"; http://www.swc.on.ca/overview/overview_History_swc.phpWesleyan News (8 February 2009); http://www.wesleyan.org/doc/news_r1#article8 at the Willett Memorial Wesleyan Methodist Church at Midler Avenue, Syracuse, New York; and the Jersey City, New Jersey Wesleyan Methodist church during his youth.

Spiritual background

Shea himself has said that he became a Christian at the age of five or six,Jim Dailey, "A Conversation with George Beverly Shea," Decision Magazine (December 2001); http://www.billygraham.org/DMag_Article.asp?ArticleID=100 . Retrieved 10 February 2009. but made a re-dedication to Christ when he was 18: [T]here were times when I needed to rededicate my life to the Lord Jesus. When I was 18, my dad was pastoring a church in Ottawa, and I was feeling not too spiritual. The church was having a "special effort," as they called it, for a week. I remember that on Friday night Dad came down from the pulpit and tenderly placed his hand on my shoulder. He whispered, "I think tonight might be the night, son, when you come back to the Lord." Whatever Dad did or said, I listened to him and respected him. And, yes, that was the night!

Shea accepted Christ again as his Saviour at the Sunnyside Wesleyan Methodist Church in Ottawa, Canada.

Musical background

Shea was taught to play the violin by his father, and the piano and organ by his mother.Encyclopedia of Music in Canada; http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003182 Shea’s baritone voice brought early recognition and provided many opportunities for him to sing in his father’s church."July 2008 Favorite Hymn Story: I’d Rather Have Jesus"; http://www.villagebiblechurchhsv.org/July%2008.html He began singing at religious meetings in the Ottawa Valley.