There are only a handful of artists whose careers have become impossible to separate from the story of Christian music itself. CeCe Winans is one of those artists.
When I sat down with CeCe recently, she had just learned that her latest project, Hymns, had become her 11th No. 1 Gospel album on the Billboard charts. The accomplishment is remarkable, but if you’ve spent any time listening to CeCe talk about this season of her life, you’ll quickly realize chart positions aren’t what excite her most.
What excites her is the next generation.
Listening to Hymns feels like opening a family photo album. The songs immediately transport me back to church pews, grandparents singing beside me, and the faith foundations laid long before I understood their significance. Those songs have carried generations of believers, and now CeCe is introducing them to a new audience.
What surprised me most is that Hymns almost never became an album at all.
“We hadn’t planned on putting out an album or record,” CeCe told me. “I just wanted to connect the next generation, your generation, to the hymns.”
Her original idea was simple. “I was just going to… sit with the piano like if I was at home just singing it by myself.” But her team saw something bigger.
“They were like, ‘Well, if you’re going to do that for content, why don’t we just put it in a record?'”
We’re living through a fascinating moment in the Church. Many younger believers are rediscovering traditions, liturgy, and foundations that previous generations sometimes took for granted. There is a growing hunger for depth, for roots, and for timeless truths. Hymns fit naturally into that conversation.
As our discussion continued, one word kept surfacing: generations.
It’s become a central theme not only in CeCe’s ministry but in her understanding of why God has positioned her where she is today.
“I am a strong woman of faith because of those who went before me,” she said. “Because of my mom and my grandma and all the saints.”
She described a church culture where older believers invested intentionally in younger people.
“It used to be a time where everybody would help raise your children in church. And it was a beautiful thing.”
Now, she sees herself carrying that responsibility.
“Life goes on and you realize, ‘Oh okay, it’s your turn. You’re the mother of the church now.'”
That’s not a title she takes lightly.
“This wind that God has given me… is all about the next generation, the generations coming after me. That word [generations] is really huge in my life right now because I think that has everything to do with why I’m still here.”
What struck me throughout our conversation wasn’t simply her passion for ministry. It was how much joy she finds in it.
“I’m enjoying it,” she said. “I enjoy making disciples. I enjoy pouring into the next generation.”
That mission extends far beyond music.
This July, CeCe will host the fifth annual Generations Live Conference in Nashville, a gathering designed to bring women of all ages together for worship, teaching, mentorship, and encouragement. The conference is another expression of the vision God has placed on her heart.
“I wanted to create an environment, a safe place that women could come and intermingle with all ages.”
And importantly, she doesn’t see mentorship as a one-way street.
“The younger don’t just benefit from the older, but the older benefit from the younger as well… I count it an honor and a privilege to be able to have this platform that people can come to and know that they’re going to hear the Word of God and experience the Spirit of God.”
And in classic CeCe fashion, she quickly redirects the focus away from herself and back toward spiritual growth.
“When you experience the Word of God and the Spirit of God, transformation happens.”
The conference will be followed closely by the release of her new 50-day devotional, Faith for Generations, which she sees as a natural continuation of what happens inside the conference walls. “You can have an incredible experience, but Jesus told us to make disciples.”
She wants women to leave Nashville with tools to continue growing long after the event ends. Her answer is community, discipleship, and staying rooted in God’s Word.
“We need each other.”
After decades at the top of Christian and Gospel music, countless awards, sold-out venues, and a legacy few artists will ever match, CeCe Winans remains remarkably focused on the same thing she’s always been focused on: Jesus.
“There’s nothing but the grace of God. I really can’t take any credit for anything because of His kindness and His mercy.”
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