new church life: september/october 2015
But more than knowing all these teachings, they had made them part of
their lives, which is what faith is really all about. And so they are examples to
us all.
Amazing grace, indeed.
(BMH)
saving grace: the musical
A musical version of Amazing Grace – the story of John Newton, former slave
trader turned clergyman and abolitionist – opened on Broadway in New York
in mid-July. It has an amazing connection to Bryn Athyn and the Glencairn
Museum.
The production was the dream 10 years ago of Christopher Smith – not
the well-known New Church minister, but then a part-time policeman in
Bryn Athyn Borough. He was also a gifted film maker who helped produce the
Glencairn Museum and Cairnwood Estate videos with Glencairn Curator Ed
Gyllenhaal that are still a highlight of visitor tours.
Smith went on to do police work in nearby Bucks County – always with
Amazing Grace churning in his mind – as if, he says, “by Divine providence.”
He hadn’t even heard of Newton until he was killing time in a library in 1997
and randomly picked up a biography of him. Something clicked. Immediately
he saw the drama in the story and the power in the hymn.
We all know the opening words: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but
now I see.” Smith dramatizes Newton seeing himself a “wretch” as a slave trader
and how he was redeemed by embracing the cause of abolition and turning to
the Lord.
Smith envisioned a noble musical out of all this, but had no training in
how to go about it – writing the lyrics, the music or the “book” for such a
production. But he persevered – with the help of friends and a computer that
helped him put music to his words.
The result is not perfect in the eyes of critics, but commendable and
inspirational. Smith also benefits from timing he could not have envisioned
10 years ago, with the nation reeling from racial tensions and in need of an
uplifting, unifying message.
The show tried out in Chicago, where it went through inevitable revisions.
“The industry didn’t know how people would respond,” Smith was quoted as
saying. “ 'WBv