Jimmy Owens obit

 

Christian Music Pioneer Jimmy Owens Has Passed Away

He was not on the list.

Christian music pioneer Jimmy Owens passed away peacefully in his home on Sunday. He was 93.

Owens was a composer who published over 250 recorded songs, including a dozen musicals. An acclaimed songwriter who also founded the now-defunct School of Music Ministry International, he and his wife Carol gained some acclaim when their children’s album Ants’hillvania was nominated for a Grammy award in 1981. Other well-known projects include the musicals The Witness, Come Together, and If My People, a sample of the latter which can be seen below.

All the music from the hundreds of songs that flowed from his pen and spread across the nations for the past 93 years was simply a prelude to the new song of praise he is singing to his Savior . . . bursting from his soul at the moment his soul was birthed from his weary body . . . an eternal melody that he has never heard before . . . but is so deeply familiar.

We will see him again someday, resplendent, glorious, eternal. The Bible promises, “The man who does the will of God will live forever” (1 John 2:17). I think my dad was the man God had in mind when he told John to write those words.

immy and Carol Owens were an American husband and wife songwriting and author team. They are best known for the Christian children's album, Ants'hillvania, which was nominated for the 23rd annual Grammy Award for Best Children's Album in 1981.

Jimmy and Carol have been married since 1954. Both of their children are in ministry: Jamie Owens Collins is a musician, songwriter and speaker. Buddy Owens is an author and a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Jimmy and Carol received the Christian Artists Music Achievement Award in 1986. Jimmy was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in 2001. Their God Songs: How to Write and Select Songs for Worship, co-authored by Paul Baloche, was given the WorshipMusic.com Book of the Year Award in 2005.

The Owens have worked with many singers and songwriters, either individually or together, including: Randy Stonehill, Pat Boone, Jack Hayford, Andraé Crouch, Annie Herring, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, The Imperials, Larnelle Harris and more.

Jimmy Owens died on November 26, 2023, at the age of 93