Millard says that the praise band involvement marked “the first time I had ever done anything with a band - just a local youth group who played for a Wednesday night service. He accepted the offer and moved at the end of his freshman year of college. Millard‘s youth pastor, who had recently moved from Millard‘s hometown of Greenville, Texas to Lakeland, Florida, invited him to work with the youth praise band. The loss caused him to look for a change and a fresh start. During Millard‘s first semester in college, he was faced with the death of his father to cancer. With the prodding of his choir director, he was soon actively involved. But I broke both my ankles in a high school football game and that ended my career.” Due to the injury, Millard was left with an elective class to fill and reluctantly joined the only available option: choir.

So naturally, that’s what I wanted to do as well. Millard recalls, “My dad and my older brother were both football players. “Although praise & worship band MercyMe was founded in 1994, vocalist Bart Millard says that the group’s birth was a process God began in him during high school.