The band began when David Crowder, from
Waco, Texas, realized that almost half of the students at
Baylor University were not attending church, which he found surprising since it is a
Christian university. He and
Chris Seay started
University Baptist Church in
1995 while he was still a student. Crowder led
worship there and continued to do so throughout the year. The church's congregation grew, as did the band's lineup.
Crowder began writing songs to incorporate into the worship times at the church and eventually the church released an
independent CD,
Pour Over Me, followed by
All I Can Say in
1999. These CDs brought the band to a wider audience and invitations to festivals and events followed. The band was signed to
sixstepsrecords/
Sparrow Records and has released six more albums to date (see
discography). The band tours the
United States continuously, but make it back to their home church in
Waco, Texas, almost every Sunday.
Kyle Lake, the former
University Baptist Church pastor and longtime friend of the band, has had a strong influence on the band's music in terms of content and inspiration both during his life and after his tragic death.
