Gospel Singer Sandi Patti Gives a Message With Her Performing

For Sandi Patti, music is much more than a means of personal satisfaction: It’s her way to get across something she truly believes in.

“I love music. It’s always been a wonderful way to express what’s inside of me,” says the 34-year-old five-time Grammy winning gospel singer, whose “Another Time . . . Another Place” won a 1990 Grammy for Best Pop Gospel album. “I believe in the message very much. It’s a message that I have centered my life around, that Jesus Christ is very central in my life.”

Patti, a native of Anderson, Ind., who appears Tuesday at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and Wednesday-Thursday at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, feels that her music should have a dual purpose. “One is to encourage people,” she says. “I have good and not-so-good days, and on those (latter ones), sometimes a phrase I read or hear taps into something inside of me to hang in there and put one foot in front of the other. People need that sometimes.

“Also I would want my music to challenge people to a deeper commitment to the Lord, either by encouraging them, for example, to regularly attend church or get involved with a group that fosters Christian values, which I see as really more in terms of thinking of the other person first.”

In her life, Patti--who has four children with her husband/manager, John Helvering--feels that she can best express these values by her commitment to her children. “Being a mom, and being there for my kids, like packing their lunches or being at home when they come back from school is very important to me,” says the singer who’s been a pro for more than 10 years. “I can’t always because of our traveling schedule (Patti and Helvering usually go on the road together) but I try to be home when I can.”