Sacred Stages: A Church, A Theatre, and A Story tells the unique and inspiring story of the relationship between the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple—Chicago's oldest Christian congregation—and Silk Road Rising, a theatre company founded in response to 9/11.
A shared commitment to storytelling, racial and economic justice, and LGBTQ inclusion characterizes this profound partnership between a religious community and a secular theatre.
Includes interviews with:
Rev. Philip Blackwell, Malik Gillani, Cheryl Hamada, Jann Ingmire, Jamil Khoury, Rev. Claude King, Michael Leech, Jonni Miklos, Adriana Sevahn Nichols, Megha Ralapati, David Rhee, and Brenda Russell
Directed, Edited, and Produced by
Directors of Photography
Digital Imaging Technician
Script Consultant
Production Managers
Music Composer
Photographers and Videographers
Archival footage, b-roll clips, and still photos courtesy of Silk Road Rising. Archival photos of the Chicago Temple courtesy of the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple and Bailey Edward Architecture.
All other images courtesy of the public domain.
April 25, 2014 | Mennonite Church of Normal, Normal, Illinois
May 4, 2014 | Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
May 18, 2014 | Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
May 21, 2014 | University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
May 27, 2014 | Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
June 1, 2014 | Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
February 4, 2015 | Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
July 15, 2016 | The University of Chicago Startalk Program, hosted at Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
October 13, 2016 | Al-Nour Mosque, Hamburg, Germany
March 31, 2017 | Religion Communicators Council Conference, hosted at St. James Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois
September 26, 2019 | The University of Chicago Divinity School, hosted at Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois
September 22, 2021 | The University of Chicago Divinity School, hosted online by Silk Road Rising, Chicago, Illinois