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When the women in Point of Grace kicked off a 40-city tour in early October, they chose not to take their smooth pop harmonies into large arenas. They chose, instead, to bring their show to churches and auditoriums where the crowds are much, much smaller.

Why?

Are people not showing up to see 'em?

Are record sales dropping?

Is their popularity slipping?

Hardly.

With 15 consecutive chart-topping radio hits, Point of Grace remains as popular as ever. POG's newest and fourth release, Steady On (Word), which hit stores in August, is another winner.

And the group has certainly had success with big-time touring. Their popular 60-city tour with 4Him, which ended earlier this year, gave Point of Grace the opportunity to sing their up-beat tunes of faith and hope to more than 500,000 people.

So why did Point of Grace decide smaller is better?

"We really loved going on tour with 4Him," says POG's Shelley Breen. "But the big auditoriums just didn't seem to fit our personalities. We wanted to share our hearts with people in an intimate setting. It's hard to do that when the front row is 20 feet away."

"And 10 feet below!" adds Terry Jones with a laugh.

For Point of Grace, being close and in touch with the audience is extremely important.

"When I sing, I want to see people's eyes," says Denise Jones. "I want to see their responses. When I talk to them about things that are important to me, I want to be able to talk directly to them, friend to friend."

"When we formed the group seven years ago, we sang mostly in churches," says Heather Floyd. "And that's where we're most comfortable. That setting seems more natural and real for us."

Even so, when a group gets as popular as Point of Grace, it just makes sense to think big—and pack out major arenas, right?

"We're not saying there's anything wrong with singing in large places," explains Heather. "Many groups do it and do it well. I think 4Him is great in a large auditorium. But it's just not the right place for us."

"As far as I'm concerned," says Terry, "big auditoriums and big concert settings are intimidating. It's like this huge thing. It kind of makes us into such a big deal. I don't feel like we're a big deal. I hope I never feel like we're a big deal!

"We just want to sing our songs to people who enjoy our music. We want to remind them of God's love for them. We want to share our struggles and our joys. We want to have a nice, casual evening with people we really care about."

1998 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail clmag@CampusLife.net

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