CELTIC WORSHIP
Moya Brennan: Her Prince,
Her Peace, and Her Praise
By David Kithcart
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– It’s been said that she sings with the voice of an angel.
Moya Brennan first came into the public eye as lead singer for Clannad, the
world-renowned Irish Celtic group. Made up of her uncles and brothers, Clannad
began their music career in a pub owned by Moya’s father, Leo, in their
hometown of Donegal, Ireland.
"I know that it was a difficult thing for him to do because my father never
drank nor smoked in his life," says Moya. "His only trade was music, and so
his form of work was entertaining. He knew that if he hadn’t bought the
pub, he would just end up playing in somebody else’s pub or at weddings
or whatever. For us it was a stage. We used to get up on stage and perform.
We’d do any kind of music, whether it was pop music or traditional music."
From their successful performances at the pub, the Brennans formed the musical
group Clannad. The name comes from the Gaelic word for family. They soon gained
international acclaim.
"I started to live a different kind of life and very much lapsed in relating
to God, even though every time I’d go home, I’d go to church," Moya
says. "My grandparents would always encourage us in that way. I know that
they were always praying for us."
Moya’s lifestyle was now conflicting with her Catholic upbringing.
Says
Moya, "I just got very disillusioned, and I wanted something more in my life.
I wanted, I suppose, peace, even though I didn’t know that’s what
it was that I wanted. There was something missing from my life. I’d go
in to churches and I’d sit at the back and I’d just talk to God.
What I noticed was that I was getting encouragement from somewhere, and I
was getting a bit more confident, but it was probably within the year
of me wanting God in my life that I met Tim."
Tim Jarvis was working in London as a photographer when he got the call to
work on a photo session for Clannad.
"When I met Tim," Moya explains, "I honestly have to say that it was love
at first sight. That’s what happened. I remember we had an argument about
reading our stars."
Tim recalls the day he met Moya and their heated discussion.
"It’s something that somebody had never questioned in her before with
things like horoscopes, tarot cards, and things, which I suppose I had been
brought up to be immensely suspicious of and had continued to feel that they
really should be avoided at any cost," he says.
Their relationship blossomed, but because of his strong Christian commitment,
Tim had some reservations about Moya.
"What am I actually doing pursuing this relationship with her, with somebody
who doesn’t share my faith, who isn’t a Christian?" Tim asked himself.
"I was madly in love with her. I’d fallen in love with her despite everything
else. I wanted her to share what I had."
Moya says they became best friends.
"We talked. We started to pray together. I knew it was God gently coming
into my life," she says.
Adds Tim, "The Lord really convicted both of us that if it was right and
His plan was for us to be together forever, that it should never be based
on any physical attraction or sexual attraction."
"As our Christian life developed, we had to take steps to be serious about
it, one being that it didn’t make any sense for us not to do anything
else but be celibate until we got married," says Moya.
"You know one way or the other whether there is something deeper there,"
says Tim. "For us there was."
 On
January 12, 1991, Tim Jarvis and Moya Brennan became husband and wife. They
have been blessed with two children, Aisling and Paul. Moya’s recording
ventures have also been blessed as she has gone solo in her music career.
Her concert tours continue to draw fans of Clannad who are now following Moya’s
music as she continues to follow Christ.
"There are a lot of people who come up to me and say they can connect with
certain songs," says Moya. "It’s just so lovely that they look at me
and say, 'It means so much to me. It’s gotten me through such a bad time,
a hard time.' I just encourage them and say, 'Look where I’m at. You
just have to believe. Have faith and pray.' "
Tim has drawn on his own musical roots and has collaborated with Moya on
various album tracts.
"I really praise the Lord for that because it’s the way I feel at the
moment, something that’s really been bubbling under there for a long
time," says Tim.
Moya and Tim also minister with the worship team at their home church in
Dublin.
Moya admits there is a difference between being a part of a worship team
and performing on stage. "It’s easier to do," she says with a laugh.
"In the worship group, it’s just so 'on.' I can just let go and feel
fully there. It just feels so good to be in God’s presence with fellow
Christians and directly worshipping the Lord."
 Moya
says that the relationship she now has with Jesus Christ has given her the
missing element she had been searching for in her life.
"The peace in my life and just the happiness in my life is just wonderful,
absolutely wonderful," she says. "I knew that there was more to life than
just what was in my life at the time, but I didn’t know what. I just
felt very empty. I needed somebody to fill it, and God was there. Jesus is
there. He’s there waiting for you to ask Him. Obviously, He heard my
prayers, but I had no idea how He was going to answer my prayers and still
is answering prayers. It is just amazing how God knows, realizing how much
He sorted out for you well beforehand and how fantastic it is by asking Him."
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