Chris Tomlin Marriage

An interview with Chris Tomlin…

You’re married!
I am (laughs).

Tell me about Lauren. How did you meet her?
I met Lauren when I moved here to Atlanta, a friend of mine set me up with her. It’s been two years now since I met her and we dated for about nine or ten months. I was like some guys where I was draggin’ my feet and she was like, Peace out. That wakes you up. It took me a while, though, to figure that out. We got back together earlier this year. She has a real heart, an amazing heart for people. She’ll be the best thing I ever did. I know that.

So how did you officially pop the question?
Oh, yeah. You’ll love this. I took her to Guatemala; it’s an easy flight from Atlanta, just three hours. I made up this huge story. I said the President of Guatemala had contacted our management. They’re doing this week of celebration and they want me to do God of the City. And I want you to go with me. And she says, Ah, that sounds great. And so we went.

Of course all that was made up. I don’t know any of those people. We went down there and had this nice little set up in Antigua, which is right outside of Guatemala City. It’s this beautiful town with old world ruins everywhere. I set up at this restaurant where she thought we were going to meet the President. We walked in the back room — which was all set for her — and she is in shock. She was panicking because she couldn’t remember his name (laughs) and how to say his name in Spanish.

That’s hilarious.
Yeah, it’s great. (laughs)

Sounds like complex planning.
Oh, my gosh, there were at least three different groups on the plane going on missions to Guatemala. They were one by one coming up and saying, Hey, aren’t you Chris Tomlin? Hey, can I take a picture of you?’ What are you doing in Guatemala? Everybody on the plane knew me.

(laughs) This is the worst flight I could have chosen because I’m trying to keep this a secret. But it all worked out.

Once you start the little lie it just keeps multiplying, doesn’t it?
Oh, yeah, I had to keep adding all kinds of details. For example, because the date didn’t work out at first, I said, Well, it turns out the celebration is week-long. And so I’m making stuff up left and right. It was pretty fun.

Tell me about the new album.
The record’s called And If Our God is For Us. I’m so excited about what that means for people and what that statement has meant for us over this last year. The new song, Of Course I Will Follow, is coming off the heels of Our God which has been an absolute juggernaut of a song, not only with radio, but with the church. That song has been powerful. And I can’t wait for people to hear all these new songs coming as well.

So what’s different about this CD?
Well, you’ll definitely hear a good taste of where we’re going musically. It’s very different. People have commented a lot about that. The best comment so far has been, the music is Chris Tomlin, but it’s cool. (laughs) The music is beat driven, not so organic. And it’s fun. I’m really excited for this new season of music.