By Gretchen Crowe
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 2/10/05)

In sixth-grade, when most barely teenage girls doted on makeup tips and the latest Seventeen, Meghan Richardson, a resident of Vienna, pored over frets and chords and taught herself how to strum her dark purple Acoustic Electric Ibanez guitar. Five years later, Richardson, now a junior at Madison High School in Vienna, composes original contemporary Christian songs focusing on the faith that she has, over time, grown to appreciate and to love.

Music runs in Richardson’s family. Her dad plays guitar and serves as the worship leader at Broadlands Community Church in Ashburn. In fact, it was her dad’s ministry that inspired the 16-year-old to first pick up a guitar.

"I saw one of the guys play, and I decided I had to have a guitar for Christmas," she said, sitting comfortably on a couch in her family’s suburban home. "Dad got me started on my chords. I fell in love with it and played it a ton."

Playing Christian praise songs was also a result of Dad’s influence because "it was the only thing he gave me to play," she said.

For about a year Richardson played with her father at worship services without paying attention to the music’s lyrics — to the prayers behind the chords. Musically she was getting it. Spiritually she wasn’t.

"Dad always used to say it wasn’t a show" when they played for worship services, Richardson said, adding that she continuously rolled her eyes when he so often stressed the importance of ministering versus performing.

"My dad always used to say our main job is to make it so other people can worship. I eventually figured out what that meant," Richardson said. "My playing is a gift that I was given, and I should be using it to help others."

Richardson, through what she calls a "very gradual" process, began to slowly understand the meaning behind her father’s words — and behind the words of the songs she was playing.

Even though she had grown up attending religious services, Richardson didn’t think seriously about religion until seventh-grade when she met Lisa, the youth minister at Vienna Presbyterian Church (VPC). Lisa also played the guitar and encouraged Richardson to come back to youth group meetings and play with her. Richardson said that Lisa discovered a way to turn faith and music into a fun package. "She could, in a cool way, mesmerize kids," Richardson said.

In these small ways, Richardson began to associate her passion for music with a passion for prayer.

Now, Richardson said, music is "kind of the way that I pray," adding that before she used her guitar as a tool for prayer, she often had a difficult time praying for longer than 30-second spurts.

"I found that when I was playing, I could really (pray) for longer. I think my guitar and my music really brought me into my faith."

During a retreat with the VPC youth group, Richardson began "feeling" the music more than just playing. From then on Richardson began playing music not just to practice, but to be in a "praise mode."

When she got to high school, Richardson continued her Christian music focus by playing for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Young Life. She even performed a small concert in a friend’s backyard.

"I didn’t start writing my own stuff until last year," Richardson said. "I always wanted to, but I didn’t know how."

Then one day during her sophomore year in high school, while just "fiddling around," Richardson wrote "Be Still," a song focusing on her mom’s favorite Bible verse, Psalm 46:11: "Be still, and know that I am God."

"I wrote it with her in mind," Richardson said, adding that the mother-daughter team even co-wrote the second verse. She also wrote songs any normal 16-year-old girl could relate to: relationships, striving for faith and "songs about just being happy."

The same year, a friend who wanted to take some of Richardson’s music with her to college asked her parents to get time in a recording studio for Richardson. "That’s how I got my first CD," she said, referring to a three-track album of original songs.

Richardson seemed pleased at her friends’ interest in her musical expression of faith. "When my friends hear it, I think their thoughts are provoked," she said. "I want to show people how important this is to me. It helps people understand that I’m open to talking about it."

Richardson’s younger siblings are starting to understand their big sister’s relationship with God that developed through music — especially Jack, who is now in seventh-grade. To Richardson’s youngest sister, 8-year-old Lillian, the understanding is more basic. "She knows I’m singing about God," Richardson said, smiling, "but she just likes to hear me play."