CHARLOTTE — While Monsignor Patrick Winslow walked the teal carpet beside Jonathan Roumie at ChosenCon on Feb. 20, another famous mainstream Catholic took center stage on the other side of Charlotte at St. Matthew Church in Ballantyne: singer Sarah Kroger.
Kroger, a GMA Dove Award-nominated worship leader, has visited the diocese previously to sing at the 2024 Eucharistic Congress. She has performed at World Youth Day, the National Eucharistic Congress, and the Steubenville Conference and is known for her hit albums including “Bloom,” “Light” and “A New Reality.”
“I have been looking forward to this concert since it was announced,” Shauna Martin, a St. Matthew parishioner, said. “An award-winning performer who I absolutely love coming to our parish, it's really amazing… Her voice melts my heart.”
Martin didn’t miss a beat of her favorite song, “Communion.”
“The song embodies my vision of being with Jesus in His Body and Blood,” Martin said.
Kroger's set featured her most popular songs, such as “Beloved,” and other lesser-known music, such as a new, unreleased vocal called “I Will Live.” She keyed the baby grand while she debuted her new song highlighting her journey to the foot of the Cross.
“It is interesting to look at the Cross and see freedom, but that is exactly what it is... The Cross is the doorway to eternal life,” Kroger told the crowd. “The Cross was a life taken that became a life given, because He made His death into an offering of love. Freedom is surrendering my life at the foot of the Cross.”
Guitarist Simon Dumas took his vocals to the microphone for the first time, singing his new song, which he collaborated on with Matt Maher, the well-known Catholic singer and a dear friend.
The free event drew more than 800 people, young and old, primarily from the diocese, yet some fans traveled to hear their favorite Catholic star.
Nancy Crittenden, a Catholic elementary school teacher from the Diocese of Charleston, drove two hours from the Greenville area.
“I found her on Instagram a few months ago, and I heard a part of her song “Beloved,” and it struck me, and I have followed her ever since,” Crittenden said. “I saw she was touring, and this was so close that I drove here this afternoon. I am loving every bit of it.”
Like a true Kroger aficionado, Crittenden visited the merch stand and purchased Kroger’s new devotional book called “Belovedness” and her newly released children’s book, “My Beloved Child: Words of Love from the Father,” which she plans to read to her students.
Children are not the only ones Kroger’s message of self-love and compassion impacts. Kroger voices her struggles with self-confidence, depression, anxiety, and bullying on podcasts, during interviews and on stage, hoping to inspire tweens, teens and adults to use God’s natural gifts to glorify God’s kingdom.
“If it were up to me, I would hide under a rock and just release my music and never even have to put a face to it,” Kroger said. “But if my witness can help someone else feel that they are not crazy and that they are not the only ones who are wrestling with faith, with identity or depression, and with bullying issues... If I can speak to it and make one person feel less alone, I feel grateful for that opportunity to do that.”
Kutina Francis, a 15-year-old St. Matthew parishioner, is inspired by Kroger and has her playing on repeat on her playlist.
“I love her music. I have no words. I listen to her every day,” Francis said. “I got closer to God this year, and her songs have helped me in my life and my faith journey.”
Throughout her set, Kroger often stopped between songs to uplift the audience with words of encouragement for Lent.
“If we want to grow in awareness with God, we have to slow ourselves down… I don’t know about you, but my life is full of noise and chaos and stress most days,” Kroger said. “Lent is the perfect time to do that, to still the noise as much as possible, to slow the pace… Let go of the distractions that are keeping us from Him and turn our eyes towards Him.”
Kroger, a cradle Catholic, weaves Catholic themes within her contemporary worship genre. She believes music, just like art, is whatever God inspires it to be.
“A lot of people have strong opinions about what Catholic music means… There are a lot of traditional Catholics out there that consider [it to be] chant or liturgical-based Catholic music, and I totally understand that,” Kroger reflected. “But Catholicism is much bigger than that. I think God is much bigger than that when it comes to the labels... Anything to me that speaks to the transcendental beauty, truth, and goodness is a reflection of the Lord and can lead people to the goodness of His heart… Yes, I am Catholic…but Catholic music can mean all kinds of things.”
This night was no exception. Catholics sang every note of “Communion” and her popular hit, “Glory Be,” based on the well-known Catholic prayer, and the night concluded with a Lenten treat, an angelic rendition of “Ave Maria.”
Before singing, she ended in prayer, asking for the intercession of Mary.
“Jesus, will you teach us and invite us into opportunities to surrender to you this season?” Kroger prayed. “To draw closer to You, to say yes to You without hesitation, with no reservation, to give You our lives each and every step this Lent.”
Kroger said she recently went through a season of despair, where it was difficult to feel the presence of God. Many of her songs from her new album, “A New Reality,” reflect that. But just as happens over the 40 days of Lent, the dark night has faded into the morning dew, and that season is gone, with a new one emerging.
“The despair of that season of wrestling with faith is gone,” Kroger said. “I would say I am in a new era of faith. I don’t fully understand what that looks like yet, and what this new prayer life and relationship with God look like.”
And just like many Catholics this Lent, she voiced, “But I am excited to discover what it is, and I feel like the Lord is leading me ever closer to His heart.”
—Lisa M. Geraci. Photos by Lisa M. Geraci and Phillip Budidharma
