E. Martene Craig, '56
Nickname: "Songbird"
Birthday: March 8
Birthplace: The farm house at Mt. Ephraim Train Station, Ohio
Current home: La Verne, Cali.
Marital status: Single
Occupation
"I have served over 25 years as Minister of Music in three churches (small, medium and large), developing extensive graded choral and instrumental programs in each. Having established a School of Fine Arts in the church setting, I went on to found and administrate ARISE Academy of the Arts, a training ground for the discovery and development of the expressive gifts in children, youth and adults.
"I serve as a clinician, choral and instrumental director and consultant to churches and organizations interested in ministering through the arts. I also serve as a columnist for music publications, guest director and music festival adjudicator."
Favorite MBI memory
"My favorite memories are singing 'Great is Thy Faithfulness' in Torrey-Gray Auditorium with over 1,000 fellow students and sitting under the ministry of Dr. Alan Redpath at The Moody Church where he preached on Hebrews 12:1-2. It was there that the Lord called me to make Him not only the Savior of my life but the Lord of my life. I literally ran forward at the invitation and totally surrendered my life to Christian service; and I also felt the call to be baptized by immersion. One Sunday evening I was baptized at The Moody Church by Dr. Redpath. What an awesome experience to be baptized by this great man of God."
Favorite Moody prof
"There are so many, but two that God used in a very profound way in my life were Dr. Kenneth Wiest (Bible) and Robert Carbaugh (music)."
Other schools attended
"I received most of my music education at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio. I am a graduate of California State University at Fullerton, and I am ordained by the Evangelical Church Alliance."
I've never been able to
Swim or sing as high as Sandi Patty. "In heaven I will have a glorified voice and I will be able to sing even higher."
People who knew me in high school thought I was ...
"Going to South America as a missionary and marry a rumba dancer (1953 high school class prophecy)."
A book I would recommend
The Church Unleashed by Frank Tillapaugh.
I knew I was grown-up when
"I came all by myself, by train, to the big city of Chicago. I will never forget being dropped off by a taxi at the arch at MBI. Walking through that arch and into this school started a glorious journey that was to touch my life in so many ways."
The worst time in my life
"Was when my brother was tragically drowned, at the age of 30; and when I was told that I had breast cancer and would have to go on a year of chemotherapy. (I am now a 27-year cancer survivor. Praise God!)"
My most humbling experience
Receiving the Ray DeVries Music Ministry Award at MUSICalifornia in San Diego in 2005, following in the footsteps of former recipients such as: Ralph Carmichael, Bill and Gloria Gaither, John W. Peterson, Jack Hayford, Don Moen, Andrae Crouch, Tom Fettke, Camp Kirkland and Carol Cymbala. This Lifetime Achievement Award was established to recognize the work of those who have had significant impact and influence on the music and worship ministry of the church.
Salvation experience
"When I was a junior in high school, we were seated in alphabetical order, and the girl seated in front of me began praying for her classmates. I was one of them. She reached out to me by befriending me and inviting me to Bible studies. She and two other girls began a prayer meeting before school. As a result, many came to Christ, including myself. She helped me to see that I needed a personal relationship with Christ and that I needed to accept Him into my life. I had 'churchianity' and not Christianity. It was the latter part of my junior year that I gave my heart to Christ."
Three words that best describe me
energetic, dedicated, innovative