Point of Grace is an all-female Contemporary Christian music group. The trio consists of Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, and Leigh Cappillino. The group started out as a quartet in 1991, with original members Breen and Jones, as well as Terry Jones and Heather Payne. In November 2003, Terry Jones decided she needed to spend more time with her family after giving birth to her third child, and left the group, with Cappillino joining in March 2004 for their 2004 release I Choose You. In June 2008, Payne announced her retirement from the group, in order to spend more time with her husband and four children.
Point of Grace began work on their new album in late 1997/early 1998. Brown Bannister, who had previously worked with Steven Curtis Chapman and Amy Grant was brought on to handle production duties. He brought an exciting twist to the girls' music. They were looking for a more progressive, live band sound for this album, and sure enough, there was less programming than their previous efforts. Chris Eaton was also brought along to handle the vocal production for the album, and the results pleased the girls, as the vocal arrangements were far more intricate than before. It would be interesting to apply these vocal arrangements on a live show setting, and on their one-off concert dates in the spring and summer of 1998, the girls previewed some of the new songs, such as Jesus Is , Steady On and Better Days. They took a pause in the middle of recording for Terry to give birth to her first child in April.
After the single He Sends His Love became Point of Grace's 24th consecutive No. 1, Word Records decided to look into the record books to see if the girls had broken a record. Sure enough, the band Alabama had 21 consecutive No. 1s, and since the girls had broken the record, Word decided to release 24, a commemorative album featuring the group's 24 No. 1 hits as well as a new song, Day By Day , which eventually went No. 1 as well. Along with the album, they released their very first DVD, entitled 7, which contained the videos to Jesus Will Still Be There , Dying To Reach You , Gather At The River , Keep The Candle Burning , Circle Of Friends , Steady On , and Begin With Me . They also wrote a book, Keep The Candle Burning, which contained reflections on each of their hits. The girls spent the remainder of 2003 doing one-off shows, Girls of Grace concerts and appeared on Michael W. Smith's Christmastime Tour.
In November 2003, Terry Jones announced she would be retiring from Point of Grace. She was finding it harder and harder to handle a full-time music career and being a full-time wife and mother to her family. After much prayer, she wrote a letter which was posted on the group's official website, along with a letter from Heather, Shelley and Denise. They made it clear that they had no intentions of carrying on as a trio, and called upon band leader Dana Cappillino's wife Leigh, to join her husband on tour. Terry's last tour with the group was the 2003 Christmastime Tour with Michael W. Smith, and her last concert was in Little Rock, Arkansas, on February 28, 2004. Leigh had been officially on board since January 1, 2004, but her first concert was in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 12, 2004.
