MercyMe frontman Bart Millard revealed in a July 6 Instagram post that his mother, Adele Millard, passed away and has gone to be “with Jesus.”
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“My sweet mom went to be with Jesus this morning around 5:30 am. Thankful my brother and I were with her,” he wrote. “Even more thankful she’s now with so many that have been cheering her on from Heaven. She’s now a bigger part of my future than of my past.”
Millard concluded the message with a touching and straightforward note to his mother: “I love you, mom.”
Fans might remember that MercyMe’s megahit song “I Can Only Imagine,” as well as the 2018 film by the same name, centered on Millard’s harrowing personal story.
The movie offered raw details about the abuse he faced and the struggles he endured growing up, including his mother leaving him with his volatile father.
Millard made peace with his mother years before her death, though, and his mom even reconnected with his father, Arthur, and became friends with him before his death.
“I Can Only Imagine” shows how Arthur came to accept Christ and change his life — something Millard and his mom later witnessed in its full beauty and form.
The singer’s reconciliation with his parents is one of the most potent contemporary testaments to faith and forgiveness, which caused the film to resonate with many.
“My mom is a very huge part of my life now, and when I was watching the movie, I was really scared because I didn’t really realize how much of a victim she really was,” Millard told The Christian Post in a past interview. “She feared for her life, and she had to get out.”
He was initially nervous about how his mom would receive her depiction in “I Can Only Imagine,” but said she felt it was accurate to what unfolded.
As for Millard’s dad, Arthur, the singer once told Faithwire that, before his dad’s conversion, he was certain he would never change. Yet the story behind the song and the movie is predicated upon a stunning transformation — a story that continues to inspire audiences.
“You can’t appreciate the redemption story without knowing how much of a monster [my dad] was,” Millard said. “If you would ask me, ‘who is the one person God couldn’t reach?’ I would have said my Dad a hundred times out of a hundred. But here we are, this crazy redemption story.”
Pray for Millard and his family as they navigate the loss of his mom.
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