We recently connected with Faith Zimmer and have shared our conversation below.

Faith, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I always knew I wanted to be an artist of some kind. When I was a child I would come home and draw for hours in my room, sing around the house, practice piano and write songs. Art and music are deeply embedded inside me. I went to college at Missouri State University and began as a voice performance major, but something did not feel right about it. I loved singing, but being an opera singer was not my passion. I ended up switching my major to music composition my sophomore year. I was in the Chorale at the school, and our director, Dr. Cameron LaBarr, starting teaching me to write choral music. He allowed me the opportunity to study with great composers like Alice Parker and Dr. John Wykoff. He coached me on the business side of getting commissions and publications, and he personally commissioned me to write for the Missouri State Chorale and the Texas All-State choir. I realized then that I could make this a career, and deep down I knew it was my passion and calling. When I compose, it feels as if God is flowing through me and pouring his music on the page. Now I write for universities, schools, and churches around the country, and write choral music and modern worship music for First and Calvary Church in Springfield, Missouri.

Faith, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Faith Zimmer, and I am a resident composer and worship leader at First and Calvary Church in Springfield, Missouri, as well as a freelance composer, singer/songwriter, poet, and visual artist. I have been pursuing each of these crafts for a long time, and they have each grown in their own way. I have been studying piano since I was five years old, and opera since I was twelve. I grew up writing songs and poetry, singing, drawing and painting, and leading worship. In college I started writing choral music and ended up getting several pieces published through Walton Music. This helped launch my career as a choral composer, and I started getting commissions from choirs all over the country. I also have some poetry published that other composers have set. I graduated from Missouri State University, during which time I was privileged to study with Dr. Cameron LaBarr and Alice Parker. A year after I graduated I had a premiere by the Texas All-State Men’s Chorus, which was the biggest commission I had received. The premiere was incredible, and I felt God was showing me this was what I was meant to do. Then the next month, COVID hit and choirs all over the world shut down. My market suddenly disappeared, so I used the time to study virtually with Dr. John Wykoff and enhance my technique. Slowly, as COVID fades into the past, choirs have begun to seek out commissions again and I have been able to find more work. God also provided for me the position at First and Calvary Church as their worship leader and resident composer. I had led worship for most of my life, and during college I began to get severely burned out. My relationship with God was faltering and I was trying to pour out of a dry well. My senior year of college I had some trials that led me back to the Lord, and I began to experience the Holy Spirit in new and unbelievable ways. At that time, the Lord told me to stop leading worship and to take a break to rest in Him. After I graduated I went to South Africa and did a missionary program called Youth With A Mission. There I became closer to God and began to grow in my identity as a child of God instead of putting my identity in music and my performance. It was the first time in my life I was not known as a singer or musician–I was just me, and that was enough. Praise the Lord! When I came back home I started getting hired to play piano at churches, and after several months I told God I was ready to sing again. Shortly after that, my friend Tyler, the music director at First and Calvary, asked me to come and sing there. Over time, I began to lead their contemporary service and became the resident composer. Now I get to write choral music for the traditional service, as well as modern worship music for the contemporary service. I feel so blessed to get to pursue and create music for both styles, and share the melodies God has given me to lead others in worship.
I also am a singer/songwriter and I perform with a local band called “Adamant Faith,” as well as play in a bluegrass band with my husband. We have music streaming online and also have a plethora music videos. We posted one music video a week for a year and a half straight! (Of course, we made no money off of this, but it was great marketing!) We play some shows around the area, including some collaborative shows with choirs, which are always a blast. This is part of my career that I hope to develop, as far as selling songs to performers or pitching them to movies. We shall see what comes of this!
As far as visual art goes, I sell commissioned oil paintings and hand-woven tapestries. I also created a devotional coloring book that I sell on Etsy, called “Illuminations.” Whenever I make art with my hands, it refills my creative tank. Perhaps it’s because it’s something tangible, whereas music is invisible and only alive for a fleeting moment. A tapestry I can touch and see and allow someone to keep forever. I pray blessings for you in your creative endeavors and hope that you can find great joy in creating with the Creator.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There is a podcast that I LOVE and listen to every week called “The Thriving Christian Artist” by Matt Tommey. It is filled with advice and stories of hundreds of artists who are growing in their careers and seeing God come through in their life and work. Also, the book “Walking On Water” by Madeleine L’Engle is a must read. She tells about her creative process in a way that will make you want to step outside your own box and take your art to unprecedented depths.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding part of being a creative is learning to connect with God and create WITH him. I spent many years creating FOR him, and that is incredibly draining. I am learning now to invite in the Holy Spirit and listen. Zephaniah 3:17 says that God is singing songs over you, so if you are quiet and listen you will hear them. Creating with the creator is the most rewarding thing. Even in visual art, I will ask God for a picture, and sometimes he has me give it to someone. One time I gave a picture of a ship with three windows to a friend, and she said she had a dream about a ship with three windows the night before. I have had several encounters like that, and believe that God uses music and pictures to speak to people. I am just in awe to be a part of it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.faithzimmer.com/#/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faith.morgan.750/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adamantfaith320
• Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/333Illuminations?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Image Credits
Matt Le, Adam Grimes