Drew Marshall
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| Drew Marshall | |
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| Birth name | Drew Marshall |
| Born | November 30, 1966. Richmond Hill, Ontario |
| Show | The Drew Marshall Show |
| Station(s) | JOY 1250 |
| Time slot | Saturdays 1:00-5:00pm |
| Style | Talk Radio |
| Country | Canada |
| Website | www.drewmarshall.ca |
Drew Marshall (born November 30, 1966) is the host of "The Drew Marshall Show", Canada's most listened to spiritual talkback radio show. Marshall's show airs on CJYE (AM), a Southern Ontario Christian Radio Station.
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[edit] Biography
Drew Marshall was raised in Richmond Hill, Ontario by his adoptive parents Grant & Leone Marshall. He grew up living in the home of the family business Marshall Funeral Home. Struggling through his early years, kicked out of 4 schools and dropping out of high school at age 17, Drew left Ontario and moved to California. Marshall worked for four years at Hume Lake California before returning to Ontario where he became the Program Director at Teen Ranch Canada. Marshall pursued a career in football and tried out for the NFL as well as the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Ottawa Roughriders. He also trained for a career as a fire fighter.
In 1997 Marshall and his wife packed up nine bags of cloths and their two children, Joshua and Jessica, and flew to the Blue Mountains of Australia. Marshall joined the Pastoral Team at Glenbrook Baptist Church where he was responsible for the development of a contemporary, post-modern style of service, and the provision of practical Pastoral Counselling. Marshall stayed at the Glenbrook church for 5 years before deciding to leave the ministry and move back to Canada.
[edit] Education
Marshall, a high school drop out, has studied at Humber College, Sheridan College, Tyndale University College & Seminary and Morling College in Sydney, Australia. His areas of study range from Theology & Counseling to Anatomy & Physiology.
[edit] Radio
After moving back to Canada in 2003, Marshall approached the studios of JOY 1250 with the idea of hosting a "Spiritual Talkback Radio Show". Accepting a Saturday afternoon time slot, Marshall began to build a non-conventional approach to Christian radio touting himself as the voice of "Messy Spirituality". A radio program for those frustrated with church culture, Marshall has interviewed numerous celebrities including B.B. King, Kathy Lee Gifford, Chuck Norris, Alice Cooper, Prime Minister Stephen Harper[1], Randy Travis, Candace Cameron and the longest ever recorded interview with James Brown[2] before the singers death on December 25, 2006.[3] The Drew Marshall Show's format includes interviews with celebrities and everyday people with messy spiritual journeys as well as live talkback segments, all of which makes it unique to Christian radio in Canada.
Marshall's show, often controversial, deals with subjects and people on the fringe of Christian culture. A self proclaimed iconoclast, he challenges many of the traditions of the modern church and chooses to interview those outside the walls of Christendom, such as the High Priest of the Wiccan (Wicca) Church of Canada, ex-porn stars/producers, and the leader of Canada's Morman polygamist colony.
Marshall was interviewed by 100 Huntley Street, Canada's longest running Christian television show, (January 29, 2007) but was taken off air and deleted from Huntley's web archives due to the controversy some of his comments created. He was quoted as telling the hosts, Ronald and Ann Mainse, "You guys are the Ken & Barbie of Christian television...the sign of a good church is how many ugly people there are". He also stated that he likes to "find those with holy hand-grenades up their butts and pull the pin" and expressed his displeasure with "Cheesy Jesus TV, where straight guys design the sets".[4] Marshall retains a friendly relationship with the hosts of Huntley Street.
In June of 2007, Marshall advertised in the Toronto Star newspaper that he would pay someone $500.00 to go to church with him. Inspired by the book Jim & Casper go to Church[5] and Hemant Mehta's book I Sold My Soul on Ebay.[6] Marshall was looking to create dialogue about how outsiders view the church. Two University students, "Sabrina the Witch" & "Taylor the Agnostic" were chosen to survey five Churches in Southern Ontario; Orangeville Baptist, Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, The Prayer Palace, Sanctuary in Toronto and The Meeting House. During this experiment both Sabrina and Taylor wrote about their experiences at the different churches on Marshall's blog, entitled Hoof Hearted.[7] This began an interactive dialogue between the listeners of the show and the two paid outsiders.
In January of 2008 Marshall hosted the world's first Preacher Idol Contest. He asked people to "step out of the pew and into the pulpit". Individuals were asked to send in 10-minute videos of themselves, preaching to non-churched people. The videos were placed on YouTube and GodTube for audiences to view and vote on. The top three finalists of Preacher Idol were offered $2000.00 in theological training and books and the opportunity to preach at one of Southern Ontario's mainstream churches.[8][9] Marshall ran into problems again when the majority of the churches he contacted were not willing to have the finalists preach at their church or even tell their congregations about the contest. The Churches did not like the use of the word Idol and did not approve of preaching as a contest.
[edit] Listening Audience
Marshall's radio show broadcasts live to Southern Ontario and over 100 countries listen online via live streaming and audio archives.
[edit] Television & Radio Appearances
100 Huntley Street (January 29, 2007.)
Q107.1 Calgary, The God Guy
Listen Up TV (June 19, 2007.)
Good News Sports (www.goodnewssports.ca)
Tal Prince Live (Sirius Radio 161) April 6, 2008.
[edit] Speaking Engagements
Canadain Church Press, May 1, 2008.[1] "Christian Radio Host Tells Media Not to 'Tame' God"
Canadian Association of Broadcaster's Annual Conference, Vancouver - Guest Panelist "The Societal Impact of Talk Radio"
Write Canada's Annual Writer's Conference - Guest Faculty "Authors...You can write but can you survive an interview?"
Youth For Christ Regional Conference 2008.
Master of Ceremonies for Kingfest outdoor music festival.
[edit] References
- ^ The Walrus >> Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons >> Canada Religion Politics
- ^ James Brown Interview (http://drewmarshall.ca/mrjamesbrown.html) (January 7, 2006).
- ^ New York Times, James Brown Godfather of Soul Dies at Age 73, John Pareles, (December 26, 2006).(http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/arts/music/26brown.html?_r=1&ex=1191729600&en=cada8b8d18f4ecda&ei=5087&excamp=GGGNjamesbrown&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id=GN-S-E-GG-NA-S-james_brown&oref=slogin).
- ^ 100 Huntley Street Interview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WraKM3IzxW0) (January 29, 2007).
- ^ Jim & Casper Go to Church, Barna Books, (March 15, 2007).
- ^ I Sold My Soul on EBay, Waterbrook Press, (April 17, 2007).
- ^ www.drewmarshall.ca/blog.html
- ^ GuelphMercury.com - News - The good word
- ^ TheRecord.com - faith - Rockwood evangelizer wins Preacher Idol 2008 competition
