Karen Lafferty

LAFFERTY, Karen Louise. b. Alamogordo, New Mexico, 29 February 1948. Born into a Southern Baptist home, Lafferty was an oboist in the New Mexico All-state Symphony Orchestra, and graduated from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales (BMEd, 1970). Moving to California in 1970, she joined Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, while earning a living as a singer in night-clubs and hotel lounges. She felt called to be a full-time musician for Christ, and gave up a lucrative career: it was at a time of great financial hardship that she wrote ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God’*, her most widely published work. She was influenced by the music of then young ‘Jesus Movement’, and recorded...