Grammy award-winning artist and best-selling author Rebecca St. James has kept busy since her teenage breakout as a major artist in the Christian music industry. Now in her 30s, she is adding a new credential to her already expansive resume: film. St. James visited Regent University’s School of Communication & the Arts to talk with the Regent community about her testimony, career path and latest film, Sarah’s Choice.

“In your art, I encourage you to bring humanity and heart to the table, which is what people will connect with,” St. James said. “Be strong enough to be vulnerable.”

She recalled her first concert performance as a teenager in Perth, Australia. St. James felt so nervous and weak that she lay on the floor and prayed to God for strength. “He gave me the strength, and the theme for my life has since been, ‘inadequate without God,'” said St. James.

St. James explained that her biggest career goal is to serve God and impact the world for Him through her talents. Just over the past several years, she said, her heart was “ignited” for film, an industry that she felt compelled to enter.

“It is a call to be a light in Hollywood,” St. James said. She encouraged students who aspire toward a career in the media to maintain “intentional community,” which St. James described as vital for survival in the industry.

Her film Sarah’s Choice, released in November 2009, is about a 20-something career woman who unexpectedly finds herself pregnant out of wedlock. When word gets out about her “condition,” she is encouraged by many to have an abortion. The film explores both sides of the abortion issue through the eyes of Sarah.

St. James, who plays the role of Sarah, explained that throughout the movie, her character faces a tremendous amount of pressure, fear and pain. St. James said that she desired to bring an authenticity to the role, hoping that viewers would be able to grasp the film’s message of God’s love, forgiveness and redemption.

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