Madeleine, 19, is in charge of not only imagination, but also philosophy and principle. She loves reading, writing poetry, editing her website and mini-magazine The Lavender Quill, and scouring used bookstores for beautiful copies of the classics.
Instruments: violin, keyboard, vocals
Favorite foods: freshly baked sourdough bread; chocolate ice cream with toasted walnuts
Favorite authors: Charlotte Bronte, Andrew Peterson, Jennifer A. Nielson
If I had an afternoon to myself, I would…. read a good book outside under a tree.
Madeleine, Chief Imagination Officer
Sophia, age 17, is in charge of beauty and is also our stage manager. She loves drawing, sewing, calligraphy, makeup, hairstyling, and learning graphic design of all sorts.
Instruments: violin, harp, guitar, vocals
Favorite foods: coffee, apple crisp, chicken salad sandwich, spaghetti
Favorite authors: Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Jonathan Auxier
If I had an afternoon to myself, I would….spend it completing a creative project with coffee at hand, and Andrew Peterson playing in the background.
Sophia, Chief Beauty Officer
William, age 15, injects the entire band with the energy (and humor) needed to practice, rehearse, and perform. He is also learning the tech and sound side of the band, no small task. He loves cracking us all up with Calvin and Hobbes quotations and working in his workshop.
Instruments: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals
Favorite foods: pizza, tacos, chocolate chip pancakes, and cheeseburgers
Favorite authors: J.R.R. Tolkien, N.D. Wilson, Trenton Lee Stewart, Will Thomas
If I had an afternoon to myself, I would….play games with my sisters, work on projects, and practice in the shooting range in our backyard.
William, Chief Energy Officer
Annaliese, Chief Discipline Officer
Annaliese, age 11, is in charge of ensuring schedules are followed and details are attended to with precision and care. When she’s not checking off to-do lists in her bullet journal, she is reading, playing outside, riding her bike, and playing with her siblings.
Instruments: violin, mandolin, vocals
Favorite foods: tacos, ice cream, and cheeseburgers
Favorite authors: Beverly Cleary, Arnold Lobel, Roald Dahl, Lemony Snicket
If I had an afternoon to myself, I would….read a book, play games with my siblings, or play outside.
Allison, Chief Creative Officer, Band Creator, Childhood Curator, Classical Educator & Bread Baker
Allison has spent 19+ years of her life studying the formation of imagination and working it out on a daily basis amidst the brew-haha of raising and educating four children. Mostly this has looked like thousands of hours of good literature and music, endless free play outdoors, and the ever-character-building habits of training four children to keep a home tidy and efficient. Her endless fount of ideas (most of which never see the light of day) mean that the children are used to big visions, disciplined efforts, and repentant hearts when it all falls apart. Her vision for Rooted is Grace is entrenched in the belief that the Kingdom of God is at hand and that Christian families are called to be tangible reflections of this theological truth. Orthodoxy + orthopraxy = family culture.
She is firmly committed to the principle that Christians are people of the Word and thus ought to be people of words. Poetry, literature, music — all of these form the very foundations of our homes and imaginations for what the future ought to be, and likewise trigger the longing (C.S. Lewis’ concept of sehnsucht) for our ultimate, eternal home. Twin truths undergird what language and music can accomplish: Augustine’s understanding that the human heart must be trained to have rightly ordered affections and Luther’s claim that next to the Word of God, music is the most powerful thing in shaping a human heart.
Her vision for Rooted in Grace is to weave together a magical, formative experience for affections to be shaped, loves to be revived, and minds to be moved to action.
Favorite authors: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, John Calvin, C.S. Lewis, Elizabeth Goudge, St. Augustine, Charlotte Bronte, Wendell Berry, Leif Enger, Dorothy L. Sayers
Christopher, Chief Financier & and One-Man Stage Crew
Chris’ title above is apt but understated. He works harder than any man we know to provide the lessons, coaching, instruments, gear, and opportunities for our shows to take flight. While he is largely behind the scenes at any Rooted in Grace show, his heart is 100% invested in the calling God has placed on his family.
Favorite authors: David McCullough, Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis
