Not only is he an award-winning jazz saxophonist, he is just as happy playing classical clarinet or rock drums. If pressed, he can even strum out a few worship choruses on the guitar too. Richard’s life is filled with the joy of music, yet he gladly admits that it ranks a poor second to his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Richard was brought up in an Anglican church but it wasn’t until his late teens that he came to faith. The year was 1993.

“When I was 19, I first saw that Jesus had a claim on my life and that I was someone whose heart was given over to all kinds of things other than him,” Richard says.

“For the first time I knew that he was the only one who could provide the forgiveness that I desperately needed.”

It’s tempting to assume Richard Maegraith’s faith journey has been all about the music, but there’s more to the story than that.

The father of four was a member of the Royal Australian Air Force from 2002 to 2007 and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a corporal, he was able to share the gospel with many work colleagues in the context of working with the RAAF band.

After completing his RAAF service, he believed the Lord wanted him to study theology so as to be better equipped to be a musician in the secular world.

“The message from the Lord was clear: ‘be my witness to musicians and artists, pastoring and sharing the gospel, by being where they are, being who you are, for my glory’,” Richard says.

He went to Moore College and then Sydney Missionary and Bible College and was appointed as a “jazz catechist” by the Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen to reach out to musicians at St Andrew’s Cathedral and lead a Bible study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Richard’s eclectic background melds Christian ministry and the music scene, which for many are incompatible as oil and water. Artists are often on the fringes of church life or disenfranchised by institutional religion altogether.

“Music is such an incredible gift from God – yet so many musos [are] either angry towards God and his church, or [see] no relevance. It’s cool to be an atheist,” he says.

After many years of reaching out to musicians through one-to-one discipleship, Richard and his wife Ali started the “the Muso Hang” in their home in 2007. It was a mix of a music jam, a party and a church service. Crowds of sometimes 30 or 40 would snuggle up in a lounge room around a double bass and a drum kit. Christ was proclaimed in a familiar and relaxed atmosphere.

From there, they planted the Freedom of the Artist Church in Marrickville. This was a community of believers seeking to use music creatively in worship and to arouse the curiosity of local musicians. “I always knew that I needed Jesus,” says a Sydney bass player, “but I’ve now realised what that actually means.”

Richard always had a sense that God was directing him towards evangelism. “From 1993 when I became a follower of Jesus to the present, I have sought to share the hope that I have in Jesus with any secular music colleague (and anyone else) who has enquired about my faith,” Richard says.

From next year Richard and Ali plan to take their four boys across the world to Berlin as workers with European Christian Mission. They will be church planting among immigrants, artists and others, using the experiences of the last few years, to connect with the lost and broken.

From a teenager who first realised that Jesus was his Lord to now, where he is preparing his own children for life as missionary kids, Richard says he is humbled every day to know that God wants to use even him for his wonderful purposes in his world.

“God in his love comes to us in our brokenness, so that we can be available to share Jesus with others who are broken too.”