Texas theater company uses story to share the gospel

Across the country, Christian theater companies—including nationally recognized productions such as Sight & Sound Theatres—use live performance to present stories rooted in Scripture and faith.

Jayme McGhan, executive artistic director of A.D. Players, a prominent, professional Christian resident theater company in Houston, shared how theater is ministry and why the stage is such an effective platform for communicating biblical truth.

Where it started

Founded in 1967 by actress and playwright Jeannette Clift George, A.D. Players has spent decades producing plays and programs that uphold human and spiritual values. The company stages its productions at the George Theater, a 440-seat proscenium theater in Houston’s Galleria area, and offers drama classes for children, teenagers, and adults.

For McGhan, joining the A.D Players was a call to ministry. He came to the Players from higher education—having served as a professor, department chair, school director, and dean at five universities across the country.

While serving as dean of Houston Baptist University (now Houston Christian University), he was commissioned to write a play about Apollo 8’s historic Christmas Eve 1968 lunar orbit, during which the astronauts read the opening passages of the Book of Genesis. That commission led to his connection with the Players.

“I’ve been a believer since I was 13 years old. I didn’t grow up in a church-going home, but God hit me like a ton of bricks through miraculous means when I was a teenager. And shortly after that, he put it on my heart that my work on this Earth is to be a storyteller that would glorify him,” McGhan said.

“A.D. Players is a dream for me … because it allows me to do exactly what he’s asked of me. It allows me to marry my faith with my craft and to serve others and love others through exceptional storytelling on the stage.”

How theater communicates the gospel

Theater, McGhan explained, is no substitute for church fellowship, but it offers a unique sense of unity through a shared narrative.

“To be clear, we’re not a church. We’re members of the church … who happen to be pretty good at making theatre. And to be in fellowship with hundreds of other fellow travelers while experiencing a shared narrative told on stage by live actors is about as powerful an experience as you can get.”

Through the sharing of these stories, McGhan said, audiences are moved to something beyond themselves, a shared sense of greater purpose. In a world divided by technology, theater fosters real unity and love, a reflection of principles Jesus expressed in the gospel.

“Theatre, at its very core, is simply the sharing of stories that move us towards something greater than ourselves. It’s a mimicry of our reality for a greater purpose. In a heavily digitized world where every fool has a platform that divides, theatre has the unique ability to gather and bolster unity and love,” McGhan said.

“I think that’s pretty well in-line with what Jesus asks of us—love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, and spirit, and love your neighbor as yourself. We try to do exactly that at A.D. Players. And when we fail … we repent, turn, and start again.”

Art’s unique ability to reflect Christ

According to McGhan, the arts uniquely reflect Christ because God is the ultimate Creator and supreme Storyteller. He created humanity in his image, equipping us with creativity to mirror his character, steward his creation, and glorify him through the distinct gifts and talents he has entrusted to each of us.

McGhan also explained how the arts embody God’s grand narrative by portraying the choices, conflicts, and redemptive possibilities that define the human experience.

“If you think about story as a series of intersecting choices that move characters in and out of both conflict and harmony, you start to see that grand narrative come to life in full. Every choice we make stacks on to previous choices and informs future choices. And those choices can go awry very quickly … for both ourselves and for others.”

This form of storytelling, McGhan said, has roots in ancient Greek culture. The Greeks, whose religion was pantheistic, embraced the concept of hamartia, a Greek word meaning “to miss the mark” or “to err.” In Greek tragedy, hamartia often described the error or fatal mistake that led to a hero’s downfall. The same Greek noun, hamartia (ἁμαρτία), appears approximately 173 times in the New Testament, where it is the standard term for “sin.”

“The Greeks … dramatized it frequently on their stages, specifically in tragedies, giving a glimpse into the brokenness of humanity. We call that sin. Every major society that’s ever existed has recognized that brokenness—even if they also desperately try to hide it,” McGhan said.

Art offers a unique way to point people toward Christ by reflecting humanity’s brokenness, sin, and need for redemption. McGhan argued Christian artists have the privilege and opportunity to direct audiences to the Creator, who alone can make people whole.

“As Christians, we understand that the only escape from our shattered selves is through the salvific grace of Jesus. And so, when we explore that brokenness, that sin, that painful way of living, we have the opportunity to point towards the One who can make us whole once more, the One who has re-united us with our Creator through his sacrifice. And what a blessing, privilege, and responsibility that is.”

Removing barriers through story

McGhan pointed to storytelling as a distinct way people can engage with questions of faith and meaning, emphasizing how art’s narrative power can transcend cultural, personal, and intellectual barriers to create shared spaces of reflection and connection.

“There’s a reason Jesus used parables and allegory when speaking to the crowds. Story, when utilized to its full potential, doesn’t tell people what to think. It gives a framework,” McGhan said, explaining why people may sometimes be more receptive to encountering God through stories as opposed to direct explanations.

Because stories pose questions, it allows the receiver to consider “both what and how to think in the here and now,” McGhan explained.

“[Story] demands that you consider the implications of the narrative through your own personal lens. And what happens after that? Change. The paradigm alters. A new way of thinking and living takes its place. That is the heart of repentance. And story drives it all.”

Story not only removes barriers by creating space for reflection and personal engagement; it also has the power to make the message of the gospel more accessible to diverse audiences.

That same commitment to accessibility is reflected in A.D. Players’ “Arts for All initiative,” which seeks to ensure individuals of all abilities have the opportunity to experience the transformative power of storytelling and the arts.

Through the program, A.D. Players increases audience accessibility through the use of live closed captioning, accessible seating and listening devices, relaxed performances, veteran outreach, and more. The theater also partners with nonprofit organizations like GiGi’s playhouse, working with teens and adults with disabilities through games, performance, and storytelling.

The initiative is what brought McGhan to A.D. Players. As the father of a daughter with Down syndrome, he understood the importance of accessibility in the arts.

“My daughter, Lydia, was born with Down syndrome five years ago. She underwent open heart surgery at four months old to repair two holes in her heart. At that same time, A.D. Players came knocking on my door,” he said.

At the time, McGhan was a theater professor in Georgia. His initial response when asked to consider the candidacy was an emphatic “no.” But after learning the Arts for All program would be central to the work at A.D. Players, he felt called by God to step into the ministry.

“Here was a place that my daughter would be welcome. Here was a place that she would feel at home. Where people would acknowledge her as fearfully and wonderfully made by her God. And that did it for me,” he said.

McGhan recalled watching a deaf, blind child with Down syndrome during a relaxed performance of The Sound of Music. Because of his disabilities, he was unable to experience the play in a traditional way, placing his hands on the front of the stage to feel the music.

“I watched him for a solid 10 minutes as the show began. I wasn’t terribly concerned with what was happening on stage. Instead, I focused on the joy that spread across his face. And tears began to pour down my own,” McGhan said.

“When the actor playing Maria came down stage and grabbed his hand and sang to him, I openly sobbed. …  I walked out of that theatre that day praising God for his goodness. And I still think that if that’s the only good thing that ever comes out of A.D. Players, … it would have all been worth it.”

A mission to reach unbelievers in community

Per A.D. Players’ bylaws, board members and senior leadership are required to profess an active Christian faith, while contract artists and staff are not. The practice has remained since the theater’s founding 60 years ago as part of founder Jeanette Clift George’s mission.

“Her vision was a professional theatre company that brought both believer artists and nonbeliever artists into the same room to make incredible art together, trusting that the Holy Spirit would edify those who know Jesus and would speak to those who do not,” McGhan said.

He said that approach has allowed believers and nonbelievers alike to feel welcome in a Christ-centered artistic community. The theater continues to uphold its Christian identity while collaborating with those who may not share its beliefs.

“What that’s done for our standing in the theatre community is astounding,” McGhan said. “We are a Christian theatre company where secular folks actually want to work. It doesn’t matter who you are, you are welcome.”

At the same time, McGhan said the theater remains “unapologetically Christian” and is clear about its beliefs. “We don’t celebrate sin. We don’t affirm brokenness. Instead, we take Paul’s statement of ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst sinner of all’ very seriously.”

Reflecting on a conversation with an unbelieving audience member who was moved by a production of Neal Morse’s Christian musical Brother Andrew, McGhan said the theater’s mission is to plant seeds.

“After the show, I saw him again in the lobby and said, ‘Well, worth the trip?’ He put two thumbs up and said, ‘I have a lot to think about.’ Then he gave me a hug and walked out of the theatre. That was it. I didn’t need to hear anything else. The confirmation of the Spirit was palpable. I trust that the seeds planted that day will grow. That’s what we do—plant seeds and trust.”