Profile archives

Profile: Tina Luce

Tina Luce “The Lord ministers through broken vessels.’” Wesley United Methodist Church Salem, MA, USA

Tina Luce ushers people into God's presence through music and worship.

"I tend to trust people who minister with a limp more than those who don’t."

Tina Luce, worship leader at Wesley United Methodist Church in Salem, Mass., has been blind since birth but her faith has taught her not to run from “dark room experiences.”

She was born with retinopathy of prematurity, an eye condition caused by too much oxygen.

From a very early age she was drawn to music.

At nine months old, when music was playing, she would crawl to the speakers and place her head on them. She learned to play the keyboard at age 4 and graduated to a piano at 12. She took four years of voice in high school and got a bachelor of music degree from Westminister Choir College.

“The Lord has always drawn me through his music,” she says. “When I was in 8th grade I went to music camp at Camp Pathfinder, which was near Cooperstown, NY. And that’s really where I found out I could sing.”

A near fatal car crash in 1997 led her to take a leave of absence from her position as a junior high music teach to accept a position at Wesley.

“I was in a near fatal car crash and needed to take a year’s leave of absence from my teaching position, at which time the pastor at Wesley approached me and wondered if perhaps I would consider using my gifts in the worship leadership position.”

She describes herself as a “broken vessel.”

“I believe that the Lord ministers through broken vessels powerfully. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have the faith that either on this side of eternity or the other he can touch my eyes at any point that he wants to.”

“I really feel that the call on my life is to encourage, to exhort people to have a real, living, active relationship with the Lord because he is a real and a living and an active God. We need an experiential revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives, not just a lot of college knowledge or head knowledge or seminary knowledge.”

“I really feel that the call on my life is to encourage, to exhort people to have a real, living, active relationship with the Lord because he is a real and a living and an active God.”
–Tina Luce

Luce writes most of the music she plays and sings in worship services and in workshops.

“I have a song for all seasons,” she says. “I can sing a song of outcry if I’m disappointed or confused about something … I can sing a song of joy and gratitude when I’m able to bless his name … I can sing in the midst of circumstances that just don’t make sense.”

She believes God has a specific purpose for her life. “I do feel that God has called me for a specific purpose, but truth to tell I’m still trying to discern what that purpose is. At the moment, God is calling me to bloom where I’m planted and work here as a worship leader."

“The church family for me is also the proving ground. They polish me. They pray for me. And they position me for that which the Lord is calling me to.

“I would just encourage folks not to run from the dark room experiences, to embrace him in everything and to keep singing through all seasons. Just find a song for all seasons. Don’t lose your song.”

The following people contributed to this Profile:
Audio story by Mike Hickcox; print story by Kathy Gilbert; videography by Dan Seminatore, Ocean One Productions.

UMC.org Profiles are produced by Pam Price, 615-742-5405.

Tina's Spiritual Gifts