Dr. Naima Johnston shares how she overcame many obstacles to respond to her call to sing. Her new book Called To Sing: 13 Mistakes To Avoid When Starting In Music Ministry addresses issues that many artists fail to recognize as potential problems that can stunt the growth of their ministries.
Attempted suicide at 14. Sexually assaulted as a teenager. Told she wasn’t good enough to sing at 18. Struggled with eating disorders in college. Abused by live in boyfriend at 22. Saved by grace at 24. Broken-hearted and desolate at 30.
These are some of the tribulations that Dr. Naima Johnston faced throughout her life. In her early 30s, after she left her position as the Associate Director of Student Life at Wright State University to pursue a career in Christian music, she found herself confused, financially bankrupt, emotionally drained, and doubting the calling of God.
After a serious year of reflection, soul searching and surrender, Dr. Johnston decided to rebuild her ministry with great enthusiasm and faith. Today she is a full-time minister and recording artist, and is free by the love of Christ. She shares her experiences in her book Called To Sing: 13 Mistakes To Avoid When Starting In Music Ministry. Geared towards independent Christian artists and those contemplating a career in Christian music, this book addresses issues that many artists fail to recognize as potential problems that can stunt the growth and development of their ministries.
As a minister, Christian recording artist and the CEO of Broken Box Ministries, Dr. Johnston uses her extensive personal experience as a “failure” to assist others who are building a music ministry. Here’s what she had to share with Dream in Soul and aspiring artists about following your call to sing:
Dream in Soul: How did you begin in Christian music, and how would you describe your style of music?
Dr. Johnston: I always wanted to be a singer, from the time I was a little girl. But as I got older I was discouraged from pursuing that dream. Not by my parents, they were always great. But professionals and music teachers and I never thought I was good enough. I went to college and dropped out of the music program because I had several teachers who were not very supportive. I began to pursue a career in Higher Education Administration, I thought if I can’t sing I’ll be a university president! But God had other plans. One of my best friends got married in Jamaica and I was sitting on the beach studying for exams since I was working on my PhD at the time, I told the Lord, this is really not what I want to do. And He spoke back and said, “Good, cause this is not what I called you to do!” So I spent the next two years trying to figure out how to launch in Christian music ministry and wow, what a journey it’s been! I left my job two years after that with no clue as to what I was doing!
My musical style is really interesting. My ministry team and I finally came up with a name for it. We call it “Urbs-spirational Worship.” The best way to describe it would be if Nicole Nordeman and CeCe Winans were sisters and Martha Munizzi was their cousin, I’d be the middle child!
DS: Why did you decide to write this book, and what do you hope readers take from it?
Dr. Johnston: Artists and music ministers would always ask me how I got started in music ministry and how could I afford to do it fulltime. So many people were sending me emails and calling and wanted to spend hours talking about their music ministries and how to launch. I loved being a resource but it was taking up so much time… I had made so many mistakes when I started in music ministry, so many costly mistakes. I wanted to share my testimony so that others wouldn’t make those mistakes. My hope is that readers will avoid those mistakes and save themselves tons of heartache, financial loss and spiritual depression.