U.S. Vice President Mike Pence Presents Award to Joni Eareckson Tada During Gettys’ Christmas Concert

Photo, L-R: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence, Ken Tada, Joni Eareckson Tada, Kristyn and Keith Getty

Washington, D.C. (Dec. 16, 2019) — Vice President of the United States Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence joined Keith and Kristyn Getty on Saturday evening at the sold-out Sing! An Irish Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center to present the inaugural “Sing!-Lifetime Achievement Award” to Joni Eareckson Tada.

The “Sing!” movement began as an outgrowth of Keith and Kristyn Getty’s works as modern hymn writers and launched as a conference in 2017, which is now the largest Worship Conference in North America.

As part of the movement, the “Sing” award has been launched to celebrate individuals who have significantly influenced the world through sung worship.

Joni Eareckson Tada has understood this mission and embodies how singing affects us as individuals, as families, as churches, and as communities.

Through her singing, integrated into her life and her work, particularly with the disabled community, she has affected countless individuals and strengthened families and improved people’s lives. She has challenged the church as a whole and has been an advocate to the culture on every level—government, the arts, and to the neediest people groups, including some of the most dangerous parts of our world.

But even beyond her work, Joni, at heart, is someone who sings infectiously to her Lord as part of everyday life.

As the leadership at Getty Music talked to many of the church leaders, Bible teachers, artists, worship leaders and participants from over one hundred countries who have been a part of the first three Sing! Conferences, there was no one who had more profoundly influenced people than Joni Tada.

Keith and Kristyn Getty state, “No one has inspired us more in how singing beautifully and critically binds life and faith together than Joni Eareckson Tada. From growing up in Northern Ireland loving her story and listening to her albums as a family, to then having the privilege of meeting her, working with her, and calling her a friend, [she] has profoundly shaped so much of how we understand the gift of singing is to all of us.

“Her very real love for the Lord has anchored the song of her heart and voice we all enjoy and want to join. She embodies life, life in all its fullness, and is the model to the next generation of those who are leading church music.”

The Sing! An Irish Christmas tour will be making stops at the Chicago Symphony Center, New York City’s Carnegie Hall, and other locations before culminating in Nashville, Tennessee.

On Friday, December 20th, “Sing@ Live at the Grand Ole Opry House!” will air on TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) at 5pmPT/8pmET and 8pm PT/ 11pm ET. A special showing in the UK on Christmas Day will air at 5:00 pm GMT.

Photo by Regis Vogt Photography