Recording a Grammy-nominated first album. Songwriting with Michael W. Smith. Touring churches across the country. Getting his homework done? For LEELAND MOORING, this is nothing out of the ordinary. Mooring, the 19-year-old lead singer of Grammy-nominated and Dove-winning Christian rock band Leeland, has been writing and playing music since he was 11, when he felt a spiritual calling toward music while traveling the United States with his evangelist family.

YWJ: Why do we need Christian music?

Leeland Mooring: Our main purpose and our main duty as Christians is to give glory to God with whatever is put in our hands. For us, our gift is music. So what God has placed in our hands we are going to use to glorify Him, and, in the process, pray that we inspire people, believers or nonbelievers, to devote their every breath toward seeking God.

YWJ : Describe the difficulty of keeping your focus on God when faced with fame and popularity.

Mooring: We have a very big support team back at home, includ­ing different ministers whom we respect very much, and our fami­ly, which is heavily involved in our lives. We try not to focus on what people tell us or what people say about us. It’s very encour­aging to hear people compliment our music, but we know if it weren’t for God we wouldn’t be where we are.

YWJ: How did traveling with a family involved in full-time ministry impact your faith?

Mooring: A lot! Being on the road with my family for two years and going from week to week ministering at different churches all across America helped build me, my brother, and my little sister’s faith. Every night we were constantly exposed to the presence of God, and my parents made sure we were always under the ministries of great men and women of God.

YWJ: What ultimately made you decide to make your faith such a big part of your life?

Mooring: Well, having grown up in church, at first faith was a routine. But I realized I had to have something to give. I pur­sued a relationship with God on my own. That is when my faith became very real to me.

YWJ: What advice would you give to students in youth groups who aspire to become professional musicians?

Mooring: Keep practicing and keep praying. God will always be the best songwriter and will always be the best musician. Also, find a mentor of some sort. Someone who has been playing their instru­ment or leading worship or songwriting a lot longer than you have. Be willing to accept critique from people.

YWJ: Your song “Tears of the Saints” talks about how “There are many prodigal sons/On our city streets they run/Searching for shel­ter.” What role do you see this generation playing in creating a renewed social consciousness?

Mooring: Psalms 9:7-9. What better way to show God’s love than helping to raise awareness for the oppressed and people who are facing injustice? There are over 27 million people in slavery today. Over 8,500 people are dying daily of AIDS. There are so many things for the church to be involved in. When the church unites, it is very powerful. Bringing hope and joy back into people’s lives, that is what we want to be involved in. We are starting a nonprofit organization, tearsofthesaints.org, which focuses on some of these issues that I just spoke about. We want to partner with the church to make a difference. What better time for the church to shine with the love of Jesus Christ than today—than now?

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Student journalists Jose Guerrero, Steve Paine, and Jeremiah Wood wrote this article as part of their work for a Point Loma Nazarene University journalism class. For more on Leeland see leelandonline.com.