Victoria Louise "Vicky" Beeching (born 17 July 1979) is an English musician and religious commentator. She is best known for her work in the American

contemporary worship music Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are fr ...

genre, and has been described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as "arguably the most influential Christian of her generation" due to her Twitter following and appearances on BBC's ''

Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...

''.

Musical career

Beeching's mother, who leads musical worship at her church, taught Beeching to play the piano and guitar when she was young. Beeching began writing songs at the age of 10, and leading worship music in church youth services in her early teens. From 1997 to 2001, she attended Oxford

Vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

Church, where she also led worship music during services. At Vineyard, she learned more about music writing from

Brian Doerksen Brian Robert Doerksen is a Canadian Contemporary Christian music, Christian singer-songwriter and worship leader from Abbotsford, British Columbia. Early life Doerksen was a member at a local Mennonite Brethren church in British Columbia and gr ...

and

Brenton Brown Brenton Gifford Brown Work ID No. 884337863 ISWC No. T9126089325 (born 1 July 1973) is a dual South African and American Christian musician and worship leader. The title track "Everlasting God" on his solo album, ''Everlasting God'' was given a ...

. Beeching moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

around 2002 for her music career. In December 2002, she released the ''Shelter EP'' through

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

UK and was featured on various compilation albums. She disclosed in a 2003 interview that she had recently quit her job as a Management Consultant so that she could focus on worship music full-time. Beeching signed with

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...

and released a 2005 EP, titled ''The Journey''. Her first full-length Sparrow album, ''Yesterday, Today & Forever'', was released on 27 December 2005. Her second full-length studio album, ''Painting the Invisible'', was produced by

Ed Cash Edmond Martin Cash (born August 6, 1971) is a producer, songwriter, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. AllMusic/ref> He was named the "Producer of the Year" at the Gospel Music Awards for four consecutive years (2004–2007) and gains recogn ...

and Nathan Nockels and released on 3 April 2007. Beeching wrote most of the album's material, although a few tracks include songwriting from

Matthew West Matthew Joseph West (born April 25, 1977) is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has released five studio albums and is known for his songs "More", "You Are Everything", and " The Motions". He was nomin ...

and Joy Williams. Several of the songs for the album were written on

Keith Green Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter in the contemporary Christian music genre, who was originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. His most notable songs are " There ...

's old piano, at the invitation of her mentor and friend, Melody Green. Hoping for a less conservative environment than Nashville, Beeching moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

in 2008 and began performing in churches there. Her third studio album "Eternity Invades" released in 2010, was recorded in San Diego. It features a song co-written with Steve Fee, "Glory To God Forever". Beeching was a worship leader at the

Spring Harvest Spring Harvest is an inter-denominational evangelical conference and gathering in the United Kingdom that started in 1979. The festival arose in the late 1970s at a time when evangelicalism was growing in the UK and there was uncertainty as to ...

Christian festival from 2010 to 2012, leading worship in the 'Big Top' at

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

and participating in the Spring Harvest Theme Group.

Media presence

Beeching's

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

, which enjoyed some popularity, covered difficult Christian issues such as the role of women in the Church. Her blog was the Winner for Best Blog in the 2011 Christian New Media Awards. Beeching began speaking out in favour of gay marriage beginning in December 2013. Her blog posts on support for same-sex marriage were widely read and received a mixed response - many LGBT Christians expressed their gratitude and shared their own stories of faith and sexuality, but some of her social media followers expressed disapproval, even 'quite vitriolic and quite personal' criticism. However, in response to the discussions she'd started in the church about sexuality, she received a nomination for the 2014

National Diversity Awards The National Diversity Awards is an awards ceremony which honours positive role models, entrepreneurs and community organisations across several different strands within the equality and diversity sector. It is held annually in various venues ac ...

in the category of "Positive Role Model Race, Faith & Religion". (She did not end up on the shortlist for that year.) In August 2014, Beeching announced she is a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. In November 2014, she was awarded third place in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

s 2014 Rainbow List (a feature highlighting influential LGBT persons). As of mid-2015, Beeching is a regular

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

commentator on issues related to

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

, women,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, music and social media. In June 2018, she published "Undivided", a memoir about her faith and sexuality, with

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. Beeching also enjoys a large

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

following (over 50,000 people in August 2014 and over 64,000 as of June 2017).

Personal life and education

Beeching grew up in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, where she attended the youth group at St. Mary Bredin Anglican church. She was enrolled in

Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School is a single-sex voluntary controlled grammar school in Canterbury, Kent, England. The school originated in the Middle Ages as an educational foundation for children in Canterbury, emerging as a separate schoo ...

from ages 11 to 18, and in her early teens she found it extremely difficult to reconcile her conservative Christian faith with her attraction to her peers at school. She moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1997 to attend the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where she obtained a BA in 2000 and an MA in 2001, both in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. In 2009 she was diagnosed with linear scleroderma morphea, for which she underwent 18 months of chemotherapy. Beeching moved to central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in December 2012. As of February 2013, she was pursuing a PhD in the Department of Theology and Religion at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

, with religion, technology, "online connectivity," and ethics as her topics of focus. In June 2014, Beeching announced that she had changed her PhD focus topic to

Christianity and sexuality The views of the various different religions and religious believers regarding human sexuality range widely among and within them, from giving sex and sexuality a rather negative connotation to believing that sex is the highest expression of th ...

. Shortly after she announced her sexual orientation, an interviewer wrote that her new PhD focus is specifically Christianity and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, she continues to identify as an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christian who is member to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Since the publication of her memoir, Beeching has received an onslaught of vitriol via social media. As a result, she has taken regular breaks from social media. In May 2019, Beeching tweeted that she had moved to the Kent coast due to expensive rent in London and because of her health conditions.

Honours

In June 2017, Beeching was awarded the

Cranmer Award for Worship The Lambeth Awards are awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition to the Lambeth degrees, there are a number of non-academic awards. Before 2016, these awards consisted of the Lambeth Cross, the Canterbury Cross, and the Cross of St Augu ...

by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

"for outstanding contributions to contemporary worship music".

Works

Discography

* ''Shelter'' EP (2002) *''The Journey'' EP (2005) *''Yesterday, Today & Forever'' (2005) *''Painting the Invisible'' (2007) *''Eternity Invades'' (2010)

Compilation appearances

* ''The People's Album'' - (1997, Soul Survivor) - "Search Me O God" (lyrics by Beeching, sung by Beth Redman) * ''

Hungry Hunger is a sense, sensation that motivates the consumption of food. The sensation of hunger typically manifests after only a few hours without eating and is generally considered to be unpleasant. Satiety occurs between 5 and 20 minutes after ea ...

'' - (1999, Vineyard UK) - "There's No One Like Our God" (later re-recorded for "Yesterday, Today & Forever") * ''Surrender'' - (2000, Vineyard UK) - "At All Times" (later re-recorded for "Painting the Invisible") and "All That I Need" * ''Holy'' - (2002, Vineyard UK) - "Awesome God" (later re-recorded as "Majesty and Mystery (Awesome God)" for "Yesterday, Today & Forever") and "Above All Else" (later re-recorded and featured in other albums) * ''Anthem of the Free'' - (2003, Soul Survivor) - "Yesterday Today And Forever" (later featured in other albums) * ''Festival Manchester'' (2003, Kingsway) - "Nothing is impossible" (later re-recorded for "Yesterday, Today & Forever") * ''Here I Am To Worship - Vol. 1'' (2004, EMICMG) - "Yesterday, Today, And Forever" * ''Precious'' (2004) - "Extravagant Worship" (originally from "Shelter" EP but re-recorded for this album) * ''Here I Am To Worship Vol 2'' (2005, EMICMG) - "Stronger Than The Storm" (later featured in "Yesterday, Today, & Forever") * ''Here I Am To Worship 3'' (2005) - "Above All Else" (featured in "Yesterday, Today, & Forever") * ''Help Me Hold On'' - UK worship (2005, Vital) - "Above All Else" * ''Almighty Sound'' by Johnny Parks (2006,

Survivor Records Survivor Records is a British Christian Music record label and is a sub-ministry of Kingsway Communications. The label launched in 1997 as a medium by which to publish music associated with the Soul Survivor (charity), Soul Survivor events. One ...

) - "Season of Singing" * '' WOW Worship Aqua'' (2006, Provident) - "Yesterday, Today And Forever" * ''The Ultimate Collection - Worship'' (2006) - ''Yesterday, Today And Forever'' * ''Dancing Generation'' (2006, Soul Survivor) - ''Yesterday, Today And Forever'' (previously featured on ''Anthem of the Free'') * ''Survivor: 10 Years'' (2007, Soul Survivor) - ''Yesterday Today And Forever''

Books

* ''Undivided: Coming Out, Becoming Whole and Living Free from Shame.'' HarperCollins 2018. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beeching, Vicky 1979 births Living people Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford British performers of Christian music Christian music songwriters British lesbian musicians Lesbian singers LGBT Anglicans English LGBT singers English LGBT songwriters Lesbian songwriters Alumni of Durham University People from Canterbury Evangelical Anglicans English Anglicans 21st-century English women musicians LGBT Christians