It’s almost time for the first-ever Mega Tour with Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe and Bethel Music.
The tour kicks off Aug. 13 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and will make 13 total stops in amphitheaters across the country including Michigan, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas (two stops), North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama (three stops) and Florida, with the final show taking place Sept. 3 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Traveling and singing with Jobe will be her husband, Cody Carnes, also a best-selling contemporary Christian artist.
“This tour is special,” Carnes said. “These worship leaders that are coming together have never been together like this before. We love these collaborative nights … where it’s a bunch of friends. Obviously, there will be a lot of songs that have been very impactful in the Church.
“It’s going to be such a strong night of worship.”
Bringing the family along
Jobe and Carnes, who co-wrote the popular worship song “The Blessing,” will be traveling with their 2- and 5-year-old sons.
“We’ve chosen to do this as a family,” Jobe said. “And there’s so much beauty that outweighs how uncomfortable and not-glamorous it can be sometimes — (like) to be on a bus and not get a shower because they ran out of water. But those are minor.”
The couple have performed all over the world and love the worship experiences with those from other cultures.
“We love getting to see and lead people in worship and closer to the heart of God, reminding all of us in the room, ‘God is for you. He loves you. He’s with you. He’s a healer. He’s a father. He’s a Savior. He’s a friend.’ It’s our favorite thing to walk away from a night and be able to know that people connected with God and connected with the love of God more than anything,” Jobe said.
“I love the power of what happens when people sing songs of hope and Scripture and truth about the Word of God,” she said, noting she started traveling with her parents at age 5 during their days of singing in churches and venues across the country. “I started realizing it actually shifts an atmosphere to invite the presence of God to fill a room. I started loving that.”
Musical upbringing
Carnes, who also grew up in a musical family, added, “He gives us peace; He gives us rest — the peace that passes all understanding and the rest that doesn’t make sense. We can be so rested and have peace in the midst of a chaotic world. There’s a lot of hope in that.”
Carnes’ father was a professional musician who encouraged him to start playing drums at age two. He started performing with his father at 10, and leading worship for his youth group at 15.
Early on, each experienced a good deal of stress and anxiety, worrying that they wouldn’t be able to make music into a career, but they said if they could go back, they would surrender, give God everything and trust.
“Everything I feel like I’m doing now is beyond what I dreamed when I was a kid,” Carnes said. “And I dreamed a lot. I dreamed big. But I have done some things in this early part of my life that are mind-blowing to me.”
Jobe and Carnes met at a church in Dallas. At the time Jobe already was touring but needed to make some changes and asked Carnes if he would join her band. They quickly became best friends, but it was five years before they started dating.
They spent their first anniversary on tour with Matt Redman in England, and now they rely on Psalm 27:14 and Matthew 11:28 to help them get through the demands of recording, touring and raising two boys.
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