The 5-year-old daughter of Grammy-winning Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman was killed Wednesday afternoon after being struck by an SUV driven by her teenage brother in the family’s driveway in Franklin, Tenn.
Maria Sue was the youngest of Chapman’s six children and one of three adopted by Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth.
In 1997 the couple’s biological daughter began encouraging her parents to consider adoption. The Chapmans eventually adopted three girls from China and began Shaohannah’s Hope, a ministry that financially assists thousands of couples in adoption.
“Shaohannah’s Hope exists to enable children living without the love and hope of an earthly family to be adopted into ‘covenant homes,’” Chapman and his wife state on their Web site. “These families can provide not only the love and support needed for this life, but also provide a child with the knowledge of God’s plan for his or her eternal life with a forever family called the body of Christ.”
Chapman, 45, recently released a book titled Cinderella: The Love of a Daddy and His Princess. His single “Cinderella”—a song about a father-daughter relationship—has soared up the charts.
Chapman has been awarded numerous musical accolades during his career—five Grammys, 54 Dove Awards and 44 No. 1 singles in Christian music.
The visitation will be held May 23 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the memorial service will be May 24 at 11 a.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church located at 2323 Old Hickory Blvd., Nashville, Tenn.
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