Mary Tiller-Woods

"There is a holy call and there is a blessed destination, but in between there is the journey."The words are spoken with quiet conviction; with fierce determination by petite, soft-spoken Mary Tiller. "In the Bible, after God calls a person, He takes them from where they are to someplace new. He separates them from everything they know,and they go through a period of humbling. But then their heart is changed and they are elevated to the status of leader, and they are sent out on a mission. My Journey began the day I was born" Raised in nurturing Christian home, Mary doesn't remember a time when she wasn't bathed in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Nor does she remember a time when she wasn't singing. "Outside of the normal musical classes in school, I had no formal training in music", she confides. But I was always singing. My mother sings, my aunts sing. Singing is a huge part of the Black church. You just sing. And in my house the only choice was Gospel music. I grew up on Andre' Crouch, The Hawkins Family, and the Winans." While attending a tiny church in Columbus, Ohio (where she says she was the youth group) Mary joined a citywide youth choir. "We used to have lock-ins where we would study the Bible all night. We learned to pray for one another, and to hold each other accountable, "she remembers. It was that foundation of prayer and fasting that launched Mary Tiller on her Journey. "I used to be an artist," she muses. "Now I am a minister. Not that there is anything wrong with being an artist-Christians need entertainment too. But if you are going to minister to people; if you are going to usher them into the presence of God, they have to trust you. You have to connect with them, and what it takes to connect changes every time. You have to be sensitive enough to figure out how to connect, and brave enough to say whatever you have to say. And sometimes that means revealing something uncomfortable about yourself. I am committed to leading people into the presence of God. I'm not an entertainer anymore. What you need, I can't give you. But I can lead you to the One who can meet all of your needs." There is a line in one of the songs I have written that says, "Every now and then, over and over again, or just when you need to know, I am in your corner." That's God saying, 'On this journey, I'm always right here for you'."