Stephen M. Tefft
Born May 28, 1969, Stephen Michael Tefft was raised in the Cathedral neighborhood and was taught three very important lessons: Life isn’t fair. Give your gifts back to God. The meek shall inherit the earth—he’s still waiting on that last one.
As he grew, he never did anything half-way. He loved art, music, and basketball. In art and music he had a natural gift. Basketball took some effort. He spent hours working on his ball-handling skills outside of practice so that he could give more to the team.
As an altar server, he was the one called when another server couldn’t make it. He did it without complaint, he did it well, and he could be trusted. He made it a point to earn people’s trust.
After earning awards in art and music, and assisting his team in taking the State Championship his junior year, Stephen decided not to go on to college. After graduation from Cathedral High School, he left home, got a job at a local insurance firm, and settled into life after school. He never stopped learning. He just didn’t feel the need to pay someone to tell him what he should be learning.
Before long he became involved with a religious group whose motto was: “All Saints, All Brothers and Sisters!” That spoke to him on a number of levels because he had always believed the ultimate goal was Heaven, and this group seemed to have their eye on the prize! As he became familiar with the group, he was also teaching himself to play guitar.
At one gathering a young man named James brought his guitar as well and told Stephen he should write music, and they should start a band. Thus at the tender age of 20, Stephen had been singing in the Cathedral choir for twelve years (beginning in the children’s choir at age eight, moving up the ranks, and singing in the adult choir at 18), cantering Mass for five years, and playing guitar for two years. Stephen and James did indeed form a band called The Lost Sheep, and they played open-mic nights and went street-singing in the Old Market for a couple of years before life changed a little bit.
Stephen’s sister Jen was the next one to inspire him on the path. Growing up, the pair made up stories together and put on plays and skits for their parents and siblings. It was only natural that they would someday they write together professionally. Together they wrote sketches that retold Bible stories for religious groups, and they enlisted the help of their friends and children in the community to perform them. This impromptu theater troop was christened the Penquin Players.
During this time Stephen formed his second band, Background Noise, adding Jen’s writing and vocals to the mix. The music was edgier than his Sheep stuff, marking the changes in his life and the changes in the band line-up. While lacking whimsy, it grew a little darker and a little deeper.
Along the way he was given a book of prayers written by Italian Bishop William Giaquinta. Stephen’s prayer life and, subsequently, his music grew in depth by leaps and bounds. He made it his mission to write songs that were either adapted from or inspired by each and every prayer.
In 1999 Cor Sanctum (Latin for “Holy Heart”) was born. Although the line-up has changed over the years, his mission has remained. He has two completed CDs and another one written and yet to be recorded of Bishop Giaquinta-inspired music alone.
Other spiritual exercises he set for himself included: writing Mass settings in English, Latin, and Spanish; writing songs for each of the Mysteries of the Rosary; writing songs for each of the lessons in the Baltimore Catechism; and turning the prayers of Bishop Giaquinta into a hymnal appropriate for Mass.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t published a single song. He made it his overall mission to bridge the gap between the orthodox chant and the contemporary and many times superficial hymns of today. His music had orthodox language and depth while incorporating contemporary accompaniment. As of yet no one has been interested in bridges. He was too orthodox for the contemporary music publishers and too contemporary for the orthodox music publishers. And yet, of his over 985 original songs, 80 percent are religious with Catholic Apologetic emphasis.
In 2005 Cor Sanctum was chosen from 600 other bands worldwide to perform in Germany for World Youth Day. It was the first World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI, and it marked a turning point for the band. It was time to make the music more than just recreational listening. It was time to use it to build a culture of holiness. Many of Stephen’s songs offer explanations to difficult concepts. The Eucharist, for example, has Its own CD. If the music was presented in other ways, it could be used as teaching tools, spiritual aid, and as an alternative to what is now playing over the airways. The new motto for the website is: “Further the music, further the faith!” And Stephen means to do just that, one song at a time.
Hi! My name is Jennifer Gaddie. I am a vocalist for Cor Sanctum,
occasionally playing tambourine and shaker, under duress…
I used to be Jen Mincher and I was born in Amarillo, TX February 15th,
1973. From there, I traveled all over the western part of the globe,
spending twelve years in Germany (I went to Kindergarten in a little
village near Wurtzburg and graduated from Kaiserslautern American High
School in 1991). When we weren’t traveling back and forth from
Germany to the great USA, we lived in Albuquerque, Syracuse, Colorado
Springs, Oklahoma City, Sumtner and of course, I am currently residing
in Omaha with my husband, Greg. I received my bachelor of science in
nursing from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, in May
of 1995. Hello to all my sisters in the Servants of the Eucharistic
Heart of Jesus!
Mercy Hospital on Labor and Delivery for a few years until moving on
to the Pope Paul Vi Institute November 1997. I earned my certification as a “Creighton Model Fertility Care Practitioner” and continued working for Dr. Hilgers at the institute until March 2003.
mom for passing on that talent! I was in Kaiserslautern’s Red Raider
Chorale for my four years of high school, two of those years chosen
for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) Honor Choir,
performing in Bad Kissingen, Germany. I did not do much performance
singing during college; nursing students do not have much of a social
life. When I moved to Omaha, I joined the parish choir at St.
Margaret Mary’s and sang with them for three years. Cor Sanctum then became a “small group” at Margaret Mary’s; when that began, my time with
the choir ended. Our family moved to St. Peter’s in November ‘04; I joined the choir in time to sing for Christmas and remain to this day. I joined The Voices of Omaha in 2005, so I get to sing Handel’s Messiah every fall! I am also a founding member of Fr. Damien Cook’s band, Fisheaters, a group that sings praise and worship music, including some of Stephen’s. Singing in groups so diverse has been quite a blessing and has added greatly to my experience as a vocalist.
I love my Catholic faith and it gives me great joy to share with
others the talents that God gave me. I thank God for introducing me to Stephen (in February ‘96); having music as such a huge part of my life colors everything I do in vibrant hues! I don’t know how I could live without it!
of Mary – I place my trust in you!
Rick Smith
Hi! My name is Rick Smith. I am the drummer/percussionist for Cor Sanctum. Although I mainly play drums, I also sing a bit during our concerts and Steve is trying to get me to sing more often on our studio work as well. In fact, I will most likely be singing on our next CD. That alone should be worth the cost of a CD. When it comes to singing, I am really very not terrible.
I was born in Tulsa, Okla. on February 11th, 1956. I was raised a Southern Baptist and remained so until I converted to Cat holism on April 28, 1995. I can now honestly say I have never felt more at home or loved than I do in the Catholic Church. Before I go on I should tell you at least the Readers Digest version of my conversion. I had been living in Fort Collins, Colorado when I joined the Wyoming Air National. (The Colorado Air National Guard did not have any openings in communication and I lived about one hour from both Denver and Cheyenne Wyoming.) I was pretty active with the Baptist church in Brighton. (I lived there for a short while when I first moved to Colorado) When I say I was active, I mean I went to both Sunday morning and evening services, the Wednesday service and whenever the church had a service I was there. As I would discover later in life, I was very religious but not very spiritual in my faith. I took what was supposed to be a three-month temporary duty (TDY) to Offutt AFB and then got a seven-month extension. I didn’t see much need to start going to church in Omaha because I wasn’t going to be here very long. Well God had different plans. I got married in 1990, separated in 1993 and divorced in early 1995. So from about the middle of 1989 until I started RCIA classes in fall of 1994, I didn’t so much as set foot inside a church of any kind. I still refer to that time as my wandering in the desert. Then in the fall of 1994 I felt that God was calling me back into communion with him. I tried to resist at first. I worked with a lady who was Catholic and I spent a lot of time trying to shake her faith rather than build up my own faith. Finally I said to her if the Catholics were smart they would have a class I could take to help me decide if the Catholic Church was where I belonged. Well as it turns out there is a class called Rite for Christian Initiation for Adults or RCIA. From the first moment I met Fr. Toney I knew I had to have whatever he had and if that meant being Catholic then that is what I wanted. I was confirmed on April 28, 1995 and have been very active both religiously and spiritually ever since.
I spent the better part of the first 30 years of my life in Tulsa. I joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard in 1977 and after being laid off from my drafting job decided to take advantage of the opportunities with the guard and took the first of three assignments to Albuquerque, New Mexico starting in 1984. I then transferred to the New Mexico Air National Guard in 1985. From there I traveled several places with the guard and finally ended up in Colorado. I got out of the guard for a couple of years and then rejoined again in 1988 with the Wyoming Air National Guard. That enlistment got me an assignment to Offutt AFB in Bellevue, Nebraska and I have been here ever since. I got out of the guard again and then joined again in 2000 with the Nebraska Air National Guard. I have now gotten out of the guard completely and for the last time.
I received my bachelor degree in broadcast communications from the University of Nebraska in Omaha in spring of 2005. I do not have a long history of music. I was playing the bongos with a friend of mine for a youth group we were involved with, but that ended after about six months when the Priest that was supporting our efforts was re-assigned to another parish a couple of hours from Omaha. I met up with Cor Sanctum members, Jennifer Gaddie and Steve Tefft at a Mass-n-Munch at St. Margaret Mary’s. I found out during the introductions that I had known Jen’s in-laws through another group I belong to called Christians Encounter Christ (CEC), for a number of years. Small world, eh? After talking to Steve and Jen I was invited to play the drums with them and have been doing so since Jan. 2002. I am currently a parishioner of St. Peter Catholic Church in Omaha.
Mike Buell
My name is Mike Buell and I’m originally from the great state of New Jersey. Born in 1957, I attended Holy Spirit School in Asbury Park (where I was a career Altar Boy) and Saint Rose High School in Belmar (where I learned to play guitar). I have a sister and two brothers (one of whom works for Bruce Springsteen).
Upon graduation from high school, I attended Monmouth College in N.J., where I received a B.S. in Physics, and was commissioned an officer in the Air Force from the Rutgers AFROTC program. The Air Force then sent me to Penn State University, where I received a B.S. in Meteorology, and later to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, where I received a M.S. in Meteorology. I worked 23 years on active duty as a meteorologist, retiring in Jan 2002. I continue to work as a civil service meteorologist for the Air Force at Offutt AFB, NE.
I currently live in Bellevue, NE with my wife Donna and kids Allison, Michael, James, Patrick and Emily. In addition to my musical interests, I am an Assistant Scoutmaster with Catholic Homeschool Boy Scout Troop 319, a member of the Knights of Columbus (4th Degree), and a baseball coach for two of my kid’s teams.
Now, back to my musical interests. As mentioned above, I learned to play the guitar while I was in high school. I immediately joined the high school folk group and played at school Masses. I continued playing guitar in church folk groups at all the bases I was stationed at (worldwide) for 23+ years. Some groups were small (just two of us) and some were huge (40 or so). The group I played in at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, VA (somewhat progressive) recorded a couple of CDs to raise money for the church. My interest in playing guitar really peaked when I met Stephen about 5 years ago. I heard Stephen and Cor Sanctum perform at various retreats and Pro Sanctity events and was really captivated with the originality and prayerfulness of his music and lyrics. After talking with Stephen, he invited me to join Cor Sanctum at a Pro Sanctity-sponsored New Years Eve Mass and I’ve been playing rhythm guitar with the band ever since. I also play guitar for the Fisheaters Catholic Praise Band which adds another dimension to my opportunity to musically glorify God. I feel absolutely honored to be a member of Cor Sanctum and to perform music with Stephen Tefft, who is one of the finest Catholic songwriters/musicians I know.
Dominic Garaycochea
Hi,
I’m Dominic Garaycochea and I am the bass guitarist for Cor sanctum.
I’m 15 years old, and I grew up in Ann Arbor Michigan I was greatly influenced by my guitar teacher Chuck Swanagon, and I’ve been playing the guitar since I was ten years old, and I’ve loved Every minute of it!
I recently started playing the bass guitar about a year ago for the band, and I love it.
I hope to play bass for Cor sanctum for many years to come.
John’s Bio
Hello!
My name is John Flaherty. I was born in Grand Island, NE on June 25th, 1974. I have one older sister and two younger brothers. Involvement in the Arts seems to be a family tradition of sorts: My folks have been involved with Grand Island Little Theater (GILT) since before they married. In fact, not only did they meet by means of a GILT production, but I’m told that I was on stage before birth. What is it about those chorus girls, anyway?! *grins*
Anyway, I followed suit, playing Ben Rogers in Tom Sawyer, a dwarf in Snow White, and my acting with GILT ended with The Music Man in 1988. Until then, I’d also been involved with Children’s Choir at church and Honor Choir through the GI Public Schools. I had also begun playing clarinet around 5th grade, and I’d be involved with both Band and Choir all the way through high school. My interest in drama and the arts remained steady, but after singing soprano for The Music Man, I was down to alto that fall, then tenor the next summer. Even then, the music director wasn’t certain that I wouldn’t keep going down to bass. My voice remained steady at tenor, but I’d already moved on to other things by then. I was able to join the Adult Choir at church during my last two years of high school though. (I still remember the tenor part for portions of Mass of Creation.)
Two of my best years of my life came during my first two years of college. I attended CCC Platte Campus and thoroughly enjoyed singing tenor for the Platte Campus Chorale. (Boy, do I miss those years!) After graduating from there, I began school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I participated in the choir at the Newman Center for a year, but between a busy ROTC schedule, a full course load of study, and spiritual struggles, I didn’t have much time for the arts, though interestingly, I did develop a stronger taste for classical music.
After three years in Lincoln, I graduated with a B.S. in Meteorology and began duty in the Air Force. During my first few years of college, I had bought a guitar and had toyed with it a little, but nothing really came of it. I WAS quite interested in watching others play though; I’ve always been a fan of Peter, Paul, and Mary, John Denver, and several other artists. And, while Jimi Hendrix is a VERY different style, I still enjoyed watching someone play his version of the Star Spangled Banner on electric guitar!
I had been involved in choir on and off during my years on duty; duty requirements often kept me from being involved as much as I wanted, but I still managed to participate in the combined choirs for Christmas.
Another Chorale member had brought a tape of Chant with him during my second year of college; around spring 2007, I asked about Gregorian Chant at a local bookstore, learned that of a local church that used it, and joined the choir at St Peters church that weekend.
I’ve since become involved with Fisheaters and CorSanctum too. Precisely what I’ll be doing long term remains to be seen. I had taken some piano lessons a few years ago and I’m taking organ lessons now; eventually I may learn to play a bass. For the moment though, I’ve begun learning more about an acoustic guitar and I’m focusing on operating a sound board for CorSanctum or working the lights and computer lyrics for Fisheaters.
I’m hoping to remain involved with both for some time to come, though we’ll see what happens. I’ll appreciate any prayers you’d care to offer as I discern where God Almighty is leading me.
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