Biography
Shellie Jacobs is a multi-faceted artist. Superb and powerful in concert, Shellie is also a gifted speaker. She weaves together song and message with authentic ease, and her unique gift of transparency allows her to reach out to each person in the audience and create intimate moments, even in large auditoriums and churches. Along with parish missions and concerts, she holds workshops focusing on relationship and community, ministering to those experiencing the pain and loss of loved ones due to death and divorce.
Shellie established herself early on as a successful popular singer, and received glowing reviews from publications across the country, including Las Vegas Sun: "Shellie is marked for greatness up with the finest singers of our time, yet she possesses an inspired style uniquely her own." The Columbus Dispatch offered this perspective: "Shellie's stage presence and comedic charm are without fault, all a wonderful spin-off of grinding discipline. From tender ballads, through bouncing bluegrass, from Broadway classics to Contemporary Christian favorites, or while gifting her audience with ancient chants of her Byzentine Catholic heritage, Shellie's phrasing and impeccable sense of timing makes even familiar tunes sound fresh and new! And there is even more in the warmth and bubbling personality give Shellie's performances the intimate atmosphere of a happy family gathering...And that is His obvious Presence."
Interviews and appearances on EWTN's Global Radio Network and "Backstage" television program exposed Shellie to a worldwide audience. Her voice and music can be heard on many EWTN series. She has written and produced several radio and television programs on the Eastern Catholic expression. Shellie's singing and speaking voice can also be heard on various PBS productions.
Shellie was featured at the 2003 Unity Awards held at Hartke Auditorium in Washington on the campus of Catholic University and is a member of the Catholic Association of Music founded by John Michael Talbot. She was one of the featured artists on the "Franciscan and Friends Music Mission Tour" to Trinidad and Barbados during September 2005, and will continue onto the second leg of that tour visiting Barbados, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines during October 2006. The work of this tour is to help the Living Waters Community, a Catholic lay ministry of the West Indies working with the needy, through funds raised by concerts. Ministry events will take place at high-security prisons, orphanages, schools, and drug rehab centers.
Shellie's CD Echoes From the Catacombs,a creative adaptation of a collection of Byzantine Melkite Catholic hymns, captures one of the favorite chapters in her extraordinarily rich and varied musical career. This work opened the door to visit the "Living Stones" of the Holy Land, where she visited the West Bank area to sing and speak to the "forgotten faithful" in the villages of Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Ibilin. In Jerusalem she was asked by the Worldwide Council of Churches and the Gospel Music Association to represent the Catholic of the United States in an international evening of praise and worship offered in conjunction with the Jerusalem 3000 Celebration. This event drew thousands together to pray for peace in Jerusalem and throughout the world, and remains one of the highlights of her career.
Shellie studied at the North Coast Family Foundation, completing an intensive three year program in the area of biblical counseling. This program was offered in conjunction with Colorado Christian University, under the direction of well-knows author Larry Crabb. Shellie brings these skills when working with the North American Conference for Separated and Divorced Catholics (NACSDC) at the international level, and has appeared since 1998 at the annual International Conference held at the Notre Dame University. Shellie remains the Music/Arts Coordinator of St. Patrick's Catholic Church and School in Jacksonville, Florida, where she works with the music ministry, youth, and drama teams.
