Maryanne J. George: Songwriter, Worship Leader, and InterVarsity Alumna

Not only is Maryanne J. George is a five time GRAMMY award-winning recording artist, songwriter, musician, and worship leader, she's also an InterVarsity alumna! Recently, Jon Steele sat down with MJ on the InterVarsity World Changers podcast. Below is a summary of their chat, but you can listen to the whole conversation here or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Growing up in a Christian home, Maryanne J. George always knew she would be involved in a campus ministry. When she started attending St. John’s University in Queens, New York, she joined the InterVarsity chapter there.  

Maryanne described her first experience with InterVarsity as “mind-blowing.” Her previous church experience had been predominantly South Indian, and InterVarsity was the first time she was exposed to the diversity of the Church and the beauty of each culture in the body of Christ. 

After one year, Maryanne transferred to CUNY York College, a commuter heavy-campus, and noticed there wasn’t an InterVarsity presence there. York College had such a large Muslim population, that Maryanne could hear Muslim students praying from the lobby even when she was on the fourth floor of the same building. She found the faith of Muslim students commendable and wanted a similar space for Christians on campus.  

“I want to one day sing worship songs and have the entire school hear it,” Maryanne thought as she felt God challenging her to start something on her own campus. 

Because she lived in Long Island at the time, Maryanne occasionally dropped in for InterVarsity events at Adelphi University. She was able to connect with long-time staff members, Jason and Sophia Gaboury, and expressed to them her desire to see InterVarsity at York College.  

“I just don’t see God there,” she remembers telling Sophia.  

“I encourage you to ask the Lord to open your eyes to see how he’s moving on your campus,” Sophia told her. “Because he already is, you just don’t know it.” 

During Maryanne’s senior year, Sophia partnered with her to jumpstart InterVarsity at York College. They prayed throughout the year that more students would join and by the time they attended Basileia, an annual InterVarsity retreat in the New York/New Jersey region, 10 new students from York College joined them!  

“So much of my faith was built in that time,” Maryanne said.  

Through InterVarsity, Maryanne gained beautiful friendships, leadership experiences, and she learned to love her campus well. This, combined with her passion for mental health, inspired her to pursue a master's in clinical mental health counseling. Later, she joined Maverick City Music, a Christian worship music collective, as a vocalist.  

Maryanne’s counseling experience gave her valuable skills that she carried into her role in Maverick City and other musical spaces. During songwriting sessions, for example, she knew how to actively listen to others and ask the kinds of questions that helped people understand what they wanted to communicate through their music.  She still uses InterVarsity’s manuscript Bible study method to help her write her own songs, observing passages of Scripture, interpreting them in her own way, and applying them to her music. 

InterVarsity also changed her understanding of what it means to be missional. Instead of seeing missions as just acts of going overseas and serving in cross-cultural contexts, Maryanne sees herself as a missionary each time she enters an arena to worship God. 

“Music has the potential to change the human condition,” Maryanne said. “Infuse it with something as powerful as Jesus, and you really have the ability to change the world.” 

Each day Maryanne feels God calling her into deeper acts of love. She knows the world is in desperate need of a love that doesn’t make sense — Christ’s love for us — and that once people experience this love, their lives can change forever. She’s seen God use Maverick City’s music to communicate this life-changing love to countless people all over the globe.  

Long before her time with Maverick City, her 2021 solo album, or her 2023 Grammy Award wins, God moved in Maryanne’s life through InterVarsity, shaping her to be a leader, an artist, and a world changer. 

InterVarsity is grateful and excited to have Maryanne serving as a worship leader at our Ambition 25 conference, happening later this week. You can stream register for the Ambition livestream experience here.  

We want to continue helping InterVarsity alumni by equipping you with key resources for post-college life and being developed as a world changer through our Alumni Newsletter. If you’re an InterVarsity alumnus like Maryanne, sign up to today to receive the Alumni Newsletter.