Personal Life
Stephen Christian was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Christian attended Winter Haven High School along with bandmates Deon Rexroat and Joseph Milligan. Following the completion of high school, the three formed the band SaGoh 24/7, which eventually transformed into Anberlin. Christian's younger brother Paul was an influence on some of the band's music. He is a graduate from University of Central Florida and the Florida State University College of Law, with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Christian currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Christian co-founded Faceless International along with his two friends, Seth Cain and Sarah Freeman. Faceless, a non-profit organization focused on fighting human trafficking and modern day slavery, "aims to defend the plight of exploited people worldwide who have gone faceless and unknown for far too long". The group organizes and undertakes humanitarian trips to areas in need, both internationally and domestically.
Christian's father worked with a non-profit organization called American Medical Relief that supplied medical equipment to third world countries, so he was exposed to humanitarianism at a young age. In an interview with myMag, Christian recalls going to Mexico with his father and seeing people living in garbage dumps and sifting through to find pieces of metal to scrap for food. Christian's father had plans to set up a hospital in the dump, and that is where Christian said the first seed was planted. Christian's involvement with American Medical Relief and other non-profit organizations made him want to take action. He attended college for it with plans to work for Habitat for Humanity or UNICEF, but Anberlin was signed a month after he graduated. Christian's experiences with humanitarian efforts were inspiration for several of the bands' songs.
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