Performances and workshops in almost 40 nations, about 30 films... Invite the Swingles to inspire your audience! Mobile users, our index is on the line below...
Click below to find out more about the Global Hymn Sing and to see our Facebook Live Hymn Sing:
This service is available for download free on iTunes, where you can also subscribe to our podcast. Search for "Westchester Chapel" on the iTunes Store.
Keith and Kristyn Getty have invited the world to a Global Hymn Sing this Sunday, February 25, 2018.
The hymn they've chosen is "Jesus Will Reign," which Eric Liddell led a crowd in singing just before boarding the train which started his trek to China. His Olympic gold and bronze medals, not to mention his world record in the 400m, opened up many prestigious offers in Europe and the U.S. But he left it all behind to serve the Chinese as a teacher, track coach, and missionary for the rest of his short life. I've been portraying Liddell since 2004 in my one-man play Beyond the Chariots, and I planned to dramatize Liddell singing "Jesus Shall Reign" in a follow-up film to Chariots of Fire, but we were beat to the finish line. I just found out about the Global Hymn Sing, so I thought the best way to dramatize him leading that hymn, given the short time constraint, would be to portray him reflecting on that event at a point of his life that gives us a peek into the life he sacrificially chose. Here's our Facebook Live Hymn Sing with the video we created:
Recording of the Facebook Live Hymn Sing
Here's the Facebook Live Hymn Sing we did earlier today. I didn't figure out how to switch back and forth between our camera and the video, so I just prerecorded our opening and closing comments and just put it into a single video. That turned out to be great because Joyce had lunch with a friend after church and she missed the train that would have brought her here on time! The bummer was that I didn't realize it would take the audio from my computer mic, so you could hear me typing up where people were from and singing along with myself! LOL! So here's the straight video with much better sound!
The lithograph on the wall behind us was given to me by Eric's middlest daughter, Heather, while she was speaking after one of my Off-Broadway performances of Beyond the Chariots. The story behind that lithograph is told in the play, which you can watch at www.RichDrama.com/BtC .
We've had 215 people watch so far from at least the following: England, Malaysia, Czech Republic, Germany, OR, SC, TX, MA, MD, NY, GA, TN, CO, KY, MI.
Find out more about the Global Hymn Sing at www.RichDrama.com/EricLiddellHymnSing
Posted by Rich Swingle on Sunday, February 25, 2018
Keith and Kristyn Getty have invited the world to a Global Hymn Sing this coming Sunday, February 25, 2018. The hymn they've chosen is "Jesus Will Reign," which Eric Liddell led a crowd in singing just before boarding the train which started his trek to China. His Olympic gold and bronze medals, not to mention his world record in the 400m, opened up many prestigious offers in Europe and the U.S. But he left it all behind to serve the Chinese as a teacher, track coach, and missionary for the rest of his short life. I planned to dramatize Liddell singing "Jesus Shall Reign" in a follow-up film to Chariots of Fire, but we were beat to the finish line (www.RichDrama.com/OnWingsOfEagles). I just found out about the Global Hymn Sing, but my schedule happens to be free this Sunday, so if anyone is interested in booking Beyond the Chariots, my 1-man play on Eric Liddell's post-Olympics missions, I'd be delighted to work that moment and the hymn into the play on Sunday or anytime: www.RichDrama.com/BeyondTheChariots. If it's too late to add the full play, I'd be happy to add a brief moment of Eric Liddell saying farewell to fans, and answering a mocking press, by leading the hymn.
Billy Graham went to be with the Lord this morning. The effect he's had on our planet is immeasurable, and much is available elsewhere about that enormous impact. But I've been reflecting on all the ways he's impacted my own life:
My connections to Billy Graham began long before I was born. After my grandfather passed away in 1942 my grandma was left with two little girls, two months (my future mother) and two years old. Some church ladies thought Billy might make a great new father, so they arranged a dinner so they could meet. George Beverly Shea was there, too, so it was nothing private. Billy, working on his second degree at Wheaton College, already knew of his call to be an evangelist, and Grandma knew she was called to be a missionary, so nothing came of it. She did meet him after one of his crusades, and he was glad she’d served as a missionary to Kenya, and he remembered that she had two little girls.
He was a co-founder of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, so I manned phones when he had a crusade in Boston while I was a student there. It was a very impactful experience for me. He also popped into a chapel, but I was off campus that day. Here's a brief but beautiful tribute to Billy Graham by my advisor at Gordon-Conwell: A Tribute to Billy Graham.
Our performances of Henry Box Brown went miraculously well! Though Joyce had already seen it five times, she got up at 3:30 am, after going to bed after midnight, to be an on-site intercessor for our performance for students. She prayed over all 3,000 chairs, and the students, representing more than a dozen public schools were remarkably well-behaved. The Q and A was rich, deep and long! I pointed out that Scripture was used to support slavery, but slavery was mentioned in Scripture because it was a man-made institution that needed to be addressed. God commanded in Exodus 21:2, "In the seventh year your slave shall go free." When I said, "The Lord never intended for the lifelong ownership of a fellow human being," they burst into applause! It may have been the first time some of them heard that Scripture.
The Geneva gown I'm wearing in this photo was my grandfather's PhD robe. During the Reformation Protestants refrained from wearing liturgical garments, and since most of them were scholars they wore their scholarly robes, which turned into the liturgical garments of the Protestant clergy.
Grandpa was a pastor, missionary, and history professor. He's one of the people who inspired me to do historical plays that minister in 29 nations so far: www.CliffMillerPhD.Blogspot.com
Another reason I'm excited to be a part of Henry Box Brown is that I've been performing my own one-man play about an abolitionist since 1995. A Clear Leading tells the story of John Woolman, a Quaker who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War.
Two prayers of my heart from twenty years ago were answered!
I heard about the Christian Cultural Center, the largest church in New York City and one of the largest independent churches in the US, shortly after moving here in 1993. As I started to develop my own one-man plays it was on my heart to perform there some day.
I play James Smith, an historical abolitionist, in Henry Box Brown, a musical that tells the story of a slave who ships himself in a box from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia and freedom in 1849.
Though it's not one of my one-man plays, this musical is answering my prayer of two decades, because we'll be performing at CCC three times:
February 11, 8 AM and 10:30 AM
20-minute version
Directions at www.CCCInfo.org, where you can live-stream the 10:30 AM Eastern service.
February 14, 7 PM
20-minute version streamed www.CCCInfo.org
February 17, 6 PM
20-minute version streamed www.CCCInfo.org
Hope you can see this miraculous production online!
The other 2-decade-old prayer that was answered was working with Tony Award-winner, Ben Harney. He wrote a sketch in which I played Jesus for the Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, in the mid-90s. My prayer to work with him was answered, as he stepped in as director.
The performances went miraculously well! Though Joyce had already seen it five times, she got up at 3:30 am, after going to bed after midnight, to be an on-site intercessor for our performance for students. She prayed over all 3,000 chairs, and the students, representing more than a dozen public schools were remarkably well-behaved. The Q and A was rich, deep and long! I pointed out that Scripture was used to support slavery, but slavery was mentioned in Scripture because it was a man-made institution that needed to be addressed. God commanded in Exodus 21:2, "In the seventh year your slave shall go free." When I said, "The Lord never intended for the lifelong ownership of a fellow human being," they burst into applause! It may have been the first time some of them heard that Scripture.
The Geneva gown I'm wearing in this photo was my grandfather's PhD robe. During the Reformation Protestants refrained from wearing liturgical garments, and since most of them were scholars they wore their scholarly robes, which turned into the liturgical garments of the Protestant clergy.
Grandpa was a pastor, missionary, and history professor. He's one of the people who inspired me to do historical plays that have ministered in 29 nations so far: www.CliffMillerPhD.Blogspot.com.
As Trevor the Treasure Seeker I answer some of the questions raised by some of the children in our cast:
Another reason I'm excited to be a part of Henry Box Brown is that I've been performing my own one-man play about an abolitionist since 1995. A Clear Leading tells the story of John Woolman, a Quaker who spoke against slavery a century before our Civil War.
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