Craig Aven is an ordinary guy with an extraordinary voice and songwriting ability. Knowing and experiencing God is his deepest desire, and his passion to see others do the same is evident in his singing and writing. Every song aims to help others find hope and healing in Jesus. At four years old, he started traveling the country with his parents and two brothers and never stopped. He has performed and led worship in India, Belize, and The Philippines, and has spent many summers in Mexico organizing praise and worship events for Back2Back Ministries. In 2005, he founded Mercy Street Ministries with the desire to train and equip artists to be excellent on the stage by being genuine worshippers behind the curtain. Mercy Street Ministries continues to grow and is now led by his dear friend and co-writer T.W. Hale in Nashville, TN.

After recording a simple video from his iPhone of a song he wrote after his wife’s second miscarriage, mothers, fathers, and friend’s all over the world have found healing. Over 7 million grieving hearts have been moved as it continues to circulate on social media. After singing at 5 funerals in just as many months, two of them for children under five, Craig wrote The Sweetest Gift and uploaded it to help those grieving the loss of loved ones during the holidays. It has now been shared nearly 2 million times and viewed by close to 100 million people. Sony recording artists, The Piano Guys, just released their own arrangement of the song on their latest Christmas album, Christmas Together, which quickly became an Amazon best-seller.

Craig and Tess have four children and live in Central Florida. Together they serve in full-time ministry.