Michael English

News of an extra-marital affair damaged Christian singer Michael English’s career years ago. Now he’s on the road to redemption.
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Christian singer Michael English relishes his second chance
At the height of his fame, Christian music singer Michael English admitted that daytime was a stranger.

"This is awful, but I used to get up and only have a couple of hours of daylight," he said in a recent telephone interview. "It's great to be able to enjoy the day."

Now, the 42-year-old artist wakes up at a once unheard-of hour, 7 a.m., and greets his puffy-eyed, 5-month-old baby girl, Isabella Grace.

Then he eats breakfast with his wife of two years, Marcie.

With all his blessings, English can revel in a life shattered in the '90s after an extra-marital affair shamed the Dove and Grammy Award-winner.

In one of his signature songs, "In Christ Alone," English sings about how he's "been blessed beyond measure / and by his strength alone" he has been able to overcome adversity.

That song's message describes how thankful English is for his second chance.

"I just love to sing," he said in a recent telephone interview. "For a long time there I didn't know if I ever would again, but God gave me another chance and I will not mess it up this time. If it kills me, I won't mess it up this time. I promised God I wouldn't."

So is this the best time of his life?

"Absolutely," English said. "There's no other way to look at it now. I just wake up in a good mood. My life is so different. It's like I'm a new person. It really is.

"It's almost like I've just changed bodies. I haven't, though, since I've still got the same aches and pains that come along with this body."

English is focusing on that aching body a bit more these days. For a few weeks now, he's been on the Atkins diet and has lost almost 20 pounds.

"It's the only one I think I can do because I've gained so much weight over the years," he said. "I figure it's about time. I've got a new record coming out so I've got to get in shape."

That forthcoming record will feature a diverse selection of songs, English said.

"The people who still know who I am know that I can do anything from a Southern gospel song to a contemporary song, or even a pop song," he said. "I've always done a collage of styles. I decided on this record that I wanted to try different styles, so I did.

"I even went as far as putting Mike + the Mechanics' 'The Living Years' on there."

English will sing a couple of the new tunes when he performs Friday at Christ United Methodist Church. The artist said he enjoys playing churches because he grew up singing in church. It's his "comfort zone."

But English is probably most comfortable at home, singing to his baby.

"I sing to her to put her to sleep," he said. "She loves music. This child was around music all through the pregnancy. My concerts can be kind of loud sometimes, so I'm sure she's heard her fill."

Isabella's teething these days, so instead of putting her to bed in pain, he rocks her into content slumber.

His favorite lullabies to sing to her are "Hush Little Baby" and "Jesus Loves Me."

He loves being a father, but English admitted he was worried about his wife returning to work.

"My wife is going to work for the first time on Monday, so I'm going to be staying home with the baby," he said. "I'm going to need all the prayers I can get."

Matt Gleason 581-8473
matt.gleason@tulsaworld.com





- Tulsa World

January 6, 2006

As resumes go, Michael English has an interesting one. On one page there are the awards and achievements that are commiserate with a voice like his. On another page are the well-documented records of his failures and brokenness. The sad inadequacy of resumes is they can’t possibly tell the whole story. Their arrangement of a few facts fall far short of conveying something as large and complicated as the truth. Often, and tragically so, people are only exposed to a story like Michael’s through secondary sources and unofficial resumes. They are left to piece together these insufficient facts into a story and ultimately an assessment.



Luke 15 tells the story of a man who had two sons. We know the boys as “the prodigal son” and the elder “brother.” If the institutional church of that day would have gone to their home to choose one of the sons for ministry, I wonder how they would have made their choice. Two young men: one, incredibly healthy but possessing a messed-up resume; the other, incredibly unhealthy with a spotless record. Could the church of their day have been discerning enough to look beyond historical fact for present truth? If so, their choice would have been an under-handed pitch. They would have found in the younger son, the prodigal, a “wounded healer” who had learned in the far country and hog pen things that, ironically, neither he nor his elder brother ever learned at home. But, if their written or unwritten laws disqualified people with broken pasts, their choice, again, would have been an easy and obvious one. The elder brother would have been their only option. And only God knows what the results would have been, but we can surely guess.



Having pastored Michael now for some three years, I’m grateful to say he has been and is presently on a very healthy road of recovery. What a tragedy it would be for us to have enjoyed his gifts and ministry when his heart and life were far from home, and now that he has come home to his own heart, the home of his Father, for us not to enjoy those same gifts. Michael has so much more to give now than just his magnificent voice – he has a story to tell. A story that frankly he needs to tell for his own healing. A story that we need to hear for ours.

Sincerely,

Pastor Stan Mitchell
- Pastor Stan Mitchell

Michael English


What a difference a decade has made for Michael English.
Ten years ago, the North Carolina-born recording artist was the leper of gospel music - scorned, exiled from the industry, and branded with a scarlet letter "A" for the adulterous affair that had so suddenly shattered his once-stellar career.

Today, English has become the industry's prodigal son. Not only has he begun recording again, he has even won a few Dove Awards - quite ironic, considering he had just won four Doves (including gospel music's top award, Artist of the Year) when the news of his extramarital affair made headlines in May 1994.

English has a new recording due out in a couple of months, and he's performing a few shows a month - an indication that he and his music ministry are being accepted again. Tonight, for example, he'll perform at Trindale Community Church in Archdale.

However, just like in the biblical account of the prodigal son, not everyone has been so quick to embrace English and welcome him back into the fold. Radio stations have scratched his songs from their playlists, Christian bookstores still refuse to sell his music, and some critics have been very vocal in their opposition to English's return to Christian music.

"Some people are gonna accept me no matter what, and there are some who are not gonna accept me no matter what," English said during a telephone interview from his home in Nashville, Tenn.

"I've kinda gotten past the whole thing of wondering when and how (I'll be accepted). I'm just doing what I know how to do anymore, and that's sing. My voice is still as good as it's ever been, so I might as well still sing, because I think that's what God wants me to do."

Officials at Trindale Community Church are well-aware of the controversy that still surrounds English, but they say if he has confessed and asked for forgiveness - which he has - then he should be welcomed with open arms, not open pews.

"To me, this says that no matter who we are, even though we might fall, all we have to do is look up to God and He picks us back up - and I know that has happened with Michael," said Paula Clodfelter, director of musical productions.

"Michael's going to be a blessing to us, and I want us to be a blessing to him, too, by showing him he's loved and forgiven."

The past decade has been a long, difficult journey for English. Four years ago, even as he was beginning to find acceptance within Christian music, he was charged with 12 counts of illegally obtaining prescription painkillers, and subsequently confessed an addiction to hydrocodone, a painkiller similar to codeine. (He pleaded guilty to the charges and was placed on probation for three years.)

"I learned it can happen to anybody," English said of his ordeal. "I've met pastors' wives who've dealt with it. People come up to me all the time - it's an epidemic."

English said he became addicted to hydrocodone after taking some pills when he had the flu. The pills were some he had in his medicine cabinet, left over from an operation he had in 1996.

"You start realizing, 'Things are better when I'm on these pills,'" English recalled. "And they don't take away just the pain in your joints, but also the pain in your mind and heart, too. It's just synthetic, like all the other drugs, but it'll get you. You try to stop, but your body still wants it, still calls for it, still needs it."

English said undergoing detoxification and rehabilitation was "the toughest thing I've ever gone through."

Now, though, English tries to take that experience and use it to minister to others who may be struggling with addictions. He draws an analogy between himself and an experienced auto mechanic.

"I want somebody to work on my car who's been under the hood before," English said. "If you haven't been under the hood before and gotten your fingernails all dirty, I don't want you working on my car."

Overcoming an addiction - or any sin problem, for that matter - "requires a person who knows what you're feeling," English said. "I want to be that person for people, and entertain them at the same time, and make God smile every once in a while."

For his part, English has a lot to smile about these days. He has remarried - he and his wife Marcie just celebrated their second anniversary about three weeks ago - and there's a new English in the household, Isabella Grace, born May 28.

"I was lying in bed last night, and I'm the happiest I've been in my whole life," English said. "I have someone I love, and we were looking at our baby on the monitor. She was sleeping soundly, and she was just so beautiful. And I realized how lucky I am, after all I've been through."

On top of his family life, English is excited about his new CD, which he hopes will be released on Curb Records within the next couple of months.

And he chuckles a little as he mentions one of his favorite songs on the CD.

It's called "Pr - High Point Enterprise