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Shirley’s father moved out when she was 5 years old, leaving her mother alone to raise four children and try to make it
a Christian home. Her mother made sure her children stayed active in church. Shirley asked Jesus Christ into her
heart when she was 9 and started using her gift of singing about God whenever she was invited to share. It became
evident to Shirley during her years in high school that this gift was much more than that: it was a calling.
While attending North Phoenix Baptist Church, Shirley received many invitations to sing for a number of large churches
across the country, including: First Baptist-Houston; Prestonwood Baptist in Dallas; Two Rivers Baptist in Nashville;
Travis Avenue Baptist in Fort Worth, TX. She’s also performed for national television audiences on Swan's Place,
starring comedian Dennis Swanberg, and Gary McSpadden's Gospel Jubilee, taped at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO.
Shirley met her husband, Martin Coleman, in 1989 when she was invited to be the featured soloist for the Texas State
Singles Conference in San Antonio. With Shirley living in Arizona and Martin living in Texas, they fell in love over
the phone and she soon made a move to Texas and they were married nine months later. Their new life together took off
with the two of them working in corporate America, and then the children started coming. After their third and final
child, Shirley left work to become a full-time homemaker.
Marriage and motherhood have filled her life in so many ways. However, 15 years later, Shirley heard a loud knock at the door. She began to realize God was still waiting for her to answer His call to full-time ministry. God has given Shirley a heart for women and the challenges they face. Shirley loves being in a room filled with women, young or old, from all walks of life. Shirley believes the Lord has brought her through many struggles so that she can be an encouragement to women as she shares her story of faith and restoration.
Shirley had a very painful relationship with her father and after he was diagnosed with cancer, she had to choose to
forgive him in order to minister to him. She has experienced incredible grace and mercy from the hand of her heavenly
Father through painful past decisions. She has learned what it means to have total dependence on Him while searching
for answers and emotional healing after a gunman entered her church and killed seven people, wounding seven more, at the
precise moment Shirley was driving around outside, looking for a place to park. One of those precious people killed was
Sydney Browning, a personal friend she had known since college.
Through the adventures of married life, corporate life, motherhood, family life, and now living with a 15-, 12- and
7-year-old, God has taught Shirley how to laugh, love, trust, praise and watch for His hand in all things. Listening
to Shirley share is like a conversation with a dear friend, in that it makes you want to kick your shoes off, curl up on
the couch and stay a while. Shirley has the gift to captivate a congregation with her voice and draw them in to worship
God in spirit and in truth. Those who hear her have their hopes lifted and their hearts filled. May you be blessed to
hear her soon.