Garrard serves part-time as a children’s minister and full-time entertaining, inspiring and educating people through music and magic.
The popular performer will be featured at two upcoming Kentucky Baptist Convention events: the Creative Ministries Festivals and the 50-plus Adult Living Celebrations.
Garrard has been blending music and magic to present a Christian message to audiences throughout the United States for more than 30 years.
Garrard credits his father with teaching him a few magic tricks as a young boy. He fell in love with the sleight of hand methods and has been learning tricks ever since, eventually joining the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
“I realized early on I could use magic to share my faith. (Magic) wasn’t a vocational goal early on, but I realized people were paying attention,” Garrard said. “Magic instantly makes you an interesting person.”
Garrard began to see a way to use his skill as a magician to fulfill his call to ministry. Two role models inspired Garrard: Christian comedian Grady Nutt and Andre Kole, a magician with Campus Crusade for Christ.
“Both of these men were using their gifts and abilities to point people to God, and I decided that is what I wanted to do,” Garrard said.
His act has grown to include stage magic, close-up tricks with cards and coins, and even large-scale illusions.
Letting music speak for him
Music is an important element to his routine. He finds music that speaks to him or expresses some truth then uses magic to express on stage what he feels when he hears the music.
“Sometimes it might be a spiritual truth or might be something fun or romantic, but the music and magic come when I link them together.”
He said that when he is on stage he might not be able to speak freely, so instead he uses music to speak for him.
Garrard often prays to God for guidance as he develops ideas and routines to represent Him well. “Then I end up working on a routine and think, ‘That was a really good idea, how did I come up with that?’”
Despite the Christian message that infuses Garrard’s act, he notes that some Christians are uncomfortable with his use of magic.
“There is nothing funny going on here, yet I recognize that magic means different things to different people,” Garrard said.
He said that no matter where he is he tries to use some element of his act to gently point people toward God.
“That is easy to pick up on watching me,” he said.
Through his unique ministry, Garrard has been able to share the truth of the gospel with people of all ages.
“St. Matthews Baptist Church has been great about giving me the freedom to explore my magic, but in doing so I have found another part of God’s will for my life, which is working with children,” he said.
Varied ministry messages
He doesn’t use magic all the time, but often enough that it stays fresh and the kids are always looking forward to it.
“Sometimes I use it strictly as an attention getting device and sometimes just for fun. Other times, I use it with some trick and truth hooked together in a children’s sermon or in speaking to a group for an illustration,” explains Garrard.
He sometimes leads a “Keeping the Magic in Marriage” seminar and often performs in churches to help with stewardship and capital campaign programs.
“Money and magic go together, and there are a lot of tricks that are money-themed. I really believe that part of trusting God with your life is trusting Him with your money,” he said, “and I think I can help churches with this in a fun way.”
Garrard will perform at the KBC Creative Ministries Festivals, March 4-5 at St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, and March 11-12 at Hillvue Heights Church in Bowling Green.
The 50-plus Adult Living Celebrations are scheduled for April 5 at Southside Baptist Church in Princeton, April 7 at Burlington Baptist Church, April 12 at First Baptist Church of Brandenburg, and April 14 at Sand Spring Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg.
For more information about the events, visit www.kybaptist.org. To learn more about Garrard’s magic ministry, visit www.davidgarrardmagic.com.
Western Recorder issue date: March 1, 2005
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