Rebecca St. James continuously pours out herself in helping the Christian community as she currently plans to release her fourth book, “SHE,” which will be published by Tyndale House in October. The title originates from the acronym “Safe, Heatlhy, and Empowered,” and is the topic that St. James says will redefine feminism in throughout the world.
St. James whether on the stage or off, has always been an active figure in the Christian music scene. At the GMA Dove Awards, besides from aiding to host the event, she interviewed backstage artists at commercial breaks. The past-year was one of the most defining years for the 26-year old artist. Major events for St. James include taking on a major role as Maggie, a modern-day Mary Magdalene in "Hero! The Rock Opera," voicing the character Hope the Angel in the Veggie Tales cartoon "An Easter Carol," performing with the Newsboys and Jeremy Camp on the Adoration tour, leading a Bible study at the White House and issuing one of the year's best praise and worship albums, "Live Worship: Blessed Be Your Name."
With her contributions, St. James demonstrates an act of worship that is not just sung in her Gospel songs.
In conversation regarding her book, St. James states that the book talks of "becoming a safe, healthy, empowered woman of God. We look at subjects we struggle with as women today, beauty in our culture, and we talk about boundaries, because a lot of women are juggling so much that they don't know where to start. They are overwhelmed. We talk about mentoring -- women speaking into the lives of younger women.
"We see it as promoting the new feminism," she continues. "The old feminism was about gender equality, and this is about gender quality. The old feminism was about freedom for women, and this is about freedom in God for us to be all that we were created to be in him. So we are kind of redefining feminism."
St. James emphasizes personal relationship with God, revealing the reason how she can actively participate and take many public responsibilities in sharing the Gospel.
"Having my time with God each day is definitely something that keeps me filled up and able to have something to give. If I didn't have that, I feel like I would go crazy," says St. James, an Australian who now lives outside Nashville.
St. James thanks her family who gave her much support and revealing the value of having a mentor. Evie Tornquist, who was the contemporary Christian music scene's poster girl in the late '70s/early '80s before Amy Grant, had much influence on the teenage artist and her development in becoming one of the most influential international Christian artists today.
One of the previous books on the subject “Wait for Me” talked of sexual abstinence and purity and topped the Christian Booksellers Association chart. When artists promote other messages regarding sexual purity in their music, St. James holds steadfastly attracting much media attention.
"When I went to Norway when we were doing a European tour, I got two major newspaper interviews there," she says. "The reason why they were so interested in me was not because I was this U.S. artist coming to Norway and a rock musician, but because I was speaking about virginity and waiting."
St. James will return to the United States after her European tour to work on her next album which will include themes of celebration and challenge.
"It's a celebration and a challenge, because I'm enjoying this season of life ... but I want to be moving and growing and going deeper in my work with God and deeper as an artist. I want to evolve quite a bit on this album. I want to go back more to my rock roots and kind of push the boundaries a little bit musically on this album. I'm very excited about where it's going to go."