The Willis family has been in and out of the spotlight for decades, but lately, they appear to be the new TLC darlings.
The family of 14—that’s 12 children—travel and perform as the stars of The Willis Family, on The Learning Channel.
While many outlets compare the large family to the Duggars, the Willises maintain their independence.
“A lot of people compare us to (to the Duggars),” daughter Jennifer Willis says. ” … We actually don’t know that much about them. We just try to be ourselves and we do what we do and try to not make too many comparisons.”
They firmly believe in using their music to glorify God, but it may not be as overt as expected.
“It is only natural that some of the songs we write end up with a clear Christian message. Others songs have a more subtle influence,” they write on their website. “The tricky thing is that we really try and keep religion separate from our business. One cannot serve God and money. Each Christian artist wrestles with how to best do this. We probably will come out with a Christian album at some point, but until then, here are some of our Christian songs. We hope they are a blessing to other Christians like us.”
The Christian influence is steeped in decades of church tradition.
The family patriarch, Toby Willis—the son of Rev. Duane Scott Willis—lost six siblings in a fiery car crash in 1994.
“We had faith before, and we had faith afterwards; there’s nobody else to turn to. People of faith [in the Bible] went through hard times, even worse than we went through. Just because you have faith in God, it doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen,” Toby Willis tells the Washington Times.
Now, though, the family is focused on pursuing God and music.
While TLC has the Duggars off the air, will you tune into The Willis Family? Sound off!
