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Nelly (Ward) Greisen was born on December 11, 1955. She joined her older sister, Annie Herring, and younger brother, Matthew Ward, to form the Jesus Music group 2nd Chapter of Acts. The group began singing together in 1970, and disbanded in 1988. Nelly then turned her attention to being a full-time mother to her 2 sons, and to supporting her husband, Steve Greisen, in his video business.

Early years

Nelly Greisen was born in North Dakota, the eighth of nine children born to Walter and Kathrine “Elizabeth” Ward. Because of her mother’s deteriorating health, Nelly’s family moved to Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento, California, when she was 7, to be closer to relatives. Her mother eventually passed away in 1968, as the result of an operation on a benign brain tumor. Her father died only two years later, to the day, in 1970, from leukemia. Nelly was then 14 years old. When she was orphaned, Nelly and her younger brother, 12-year-old Matthew, went to live with their older sister, Annie Herring, and her new husband, a record producer by the name of Buck Herring. Buck and Annie had been praying for her younger siblings for quite a while, so for the two children to come live with the couple was “a foregone conclusion”. However, there was still some conflict as the two families tried to merge, especially as Buck and Matthew tended not to see eye-to-eye on things, and Nelly’s compassionate heart sided with her brother against their new “father”. These relationships have, by and large, since been healed and restored.

Career years

Soon after Nelly and Matthew came to live with the Herrings, the three siblings began singing together around Annie’s battered upright piano. Annie usually sang lead, Matthew harmonized, and Nelly found the missing notes between the two. Although she rarely sang lead, Nelly’s harmonies tended to be more complicated than her brother’s. From time to time, Nelly would also add to the lyrics of the songs that Annie or Matthew wrote. The three continued in these roles throughout their career as a music group, although they each also took a turn at singing lead; “spelling” each other during concerts. Some of the group’s best loved songs, including “Mountain Tops” and “Make My Life a Prayer to You” were performed with Nelly singing lead. One of Nelly’s special roles in the group was to speak out during a concert when she sensed that the Lord was healing a certain type of illness, or that He was touching people in a certain way. Sometimes people would come up to her after the concert and tell her that the Lord had healed them; other times, no one would testify to the fact that they had been healed, although they might approach her about it many years after their healing.

Personal life

In 1976, while touring with Jimmy and Carol Owens as part of one of their musicals, If My People, Nelly met a young singer by the name of Steve Greisen. The two were married in 1978. In the next few years, 2 sons, Andrew and Jesse, were born to the Greisens. They moved from California to Texas in 1981, and then to Colorado Springs in 1983.

Nelly has never embarked on a solo musical career. Instead, she prefers to support her husband, doing some singing for his video production business, but not as a solo artist. Nelly and Steve currently live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, not far from her brother, Matthew.

Notes

1. Encyclopedia of American gospel music By W. K. McNeil
2. Rewind: Second Chapter of Acts CCMmagazine.com
3. My 2nd Chapter: The Matthew Ward Story by Matthew Ward
4. My 2nd Chapter: The Matthew Ward Story by Matthew Ward
5. The Frame Never Outdid the Picture: The 2nd Chapter of Acts Story by 2nd Chapter of Acts
6. The Frame Never Outdid the Picture: The 2nd Chapter of Acts Story by 2nd Chapter of Acts
7. My 2nd Chapter: The Matthew Ward Story by Matthew Ward
8. 2nd Chapter of Acts by Editors of Misplaced Pages
9. My 2nd Chapter: The Matthew Ward Story by Matthew Ward
10. The Frame Never Outdid the Picture: The 2nd Chapter of Acts Story by 2nd Chapter of Acts
11. The Frame Never Outdid the Picture: The 2nd Chapter of Acts Story by 2nd Chapter of Acts
12. Rewind: Second Chapter of Acts CCMmagazine.com
13. Rewind: Second Chapter of Acts CCMmagazine.com
14. My 2nd Chapter: The Matthew Ward Story by Matthew Ward

References

McNeil, W.K. (2005). Encyclopedia of American gospel music. New York: Routledge. p. 332. ISBN 978-0415941792. Retrieved December 17, 2009.

Donaldson, Devlin. "Rewind: 2nd Chapter of Acts". CCM Magazine. Nashville, TN. Retrieved December 17, 2009.

Ward, Matthew (2006). My 2nd Chapter: The Matthew Ward Story. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press. ISBN 1-4000-7080-5.

"The Frame Never Outdid the Picture: The 2nd Chapter of Acts Story". Retrieved December 17, 2009.

Editors of Misplaced Pages. "2nd Chapter of Acts". Retrieved December 17, 2009. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)

• Performers of Christian music