Today, touring and recording consume much of Chris’ time. But he’s also made time for his life in Austin. Part of that is Austin Stone Community Church, which he helped found. “One of the values of our family record company, sixsteps, is being in a local church.  That’s been a strong value for us, so we’re not just out there traveling around doing our concerts, but not really being connected and accountable. It’s been important to me to be leading [worship] at a church as well.”

By 2002, Chris was already traveling hard with his band, but he says the timing was right. “In Austin, the opportunity for the kingdom of God is so open – it’s so ripe. And we wanted to plant a church that was downtown and pull from the University [of Texas],” which enrolls nearly 50,000 students. “We barely knew what we were doing at all, but it continues to grow like crazy. It’s on a top 100 list of fastest growing churches in America. We want to be accountable and not just going, but leading when we can,” he says.

His schedule’s a bit more complicated now than in 2002, so the church added another worship pastor with whom Chris trades off leading. But he says the church body of 1,500 or more packed into Austin High School keeps him “grounded in the right way.” However, it’s also been a challenge.

“Austin, in general, has such an aversion to anything like Christian values and the Scripture. The really vocal people in Austin are really speaking out against that; it’s a very free-spirit, hippie, liberal city. ‘Knowledge is king. We’ve been enlightened.’ But, you know, on the University of Texas’ tower, it says, ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free [John 8:32],” which he takes as a sign that all is not lost.  

“It’s definitely not a God-forsaken place, but it is a party town,” he says. “Jesus would love to hang out in Austin. There are so many down and out and a huge homeless population and lots of people who’ve been burned by religion. That’s why we want to be there. [It’s] wonderful to come to church on Sunday and see the different faces and different races. ... We feel like we’re doing something special here.”

Chris may be able to live a normal life in Austin more easily than he might in Christian music-centric Nashville. “On a typical day, I love to work out. Usually at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning, I like to go to the gym or go play tennis – find some buddies to play. Go get lunch or dinner with friends and talk about life over chips and salsa and Tex-Mex and iced tea. I love to be outside, love to be active. I’m not good at being inside,” he says.

“I have a chocolate Lab named Lucky that hangs out with me when I’m at home. You’ll find me driving around town in my Ford F-150 truck. I love to go hear music.” And Austin – dubbed “The Live Music Capital of the World” – is conveniently home to a lot of it. He cites blues and rock artists Seth Walker and John D. Graham, whom Chris describes as an older rocker who “plays like he just got his guitar, like he’s 16. It’s the loudest guitar in the world. Those guys play with so much passion. … I love to see that. There are always good singer/songwriters coming through here.”