Pageant Documentary Available on YouTube
For 95 years, the sound of chimes ringing through Church Farm School’s Chapel of the Atonement has accompanied Little Brother’s humble gift of a coin for the Christ Child as part of the annual Christmas Pageant. Preceded by an array of characters – knights, artists, kings, queens and misers among them – who believe abundance will cause the church’s long-silent chimes to ring, it is instead Little Brother’s altruistic present, on behalf of his older sibling Pedro, that most represents the spirit of the season.
In 1924, Church Farm School’s founder, the Rev. Charles Wesley Shreiner, adapted Raymond MacDonald Alden’s popular 1909 story, “Why the Chimes Rang,” for the school’s own Christmas Pageant. Pageant, as it is simply known, is performed as a pantomime with students adorned in period dress as both male and female characters. The Headmaster serves as narrator, with faculty and staff toiling for months behind the scenes as directors, set decorators, costumers, organists and choir conductors.
Guests to Pageant – many who have attended for generations with their families - play the part of a church congregation, participating in the recitation of prayers and the singing of hymns and holiday music. A local highlight of the Christmas season, Pageant draws hundreds of friends, alumni, current and former faculty each year over its December weekend run.
Church Farm School, founded in 1918 and located on 150 bucolic acres in Exton, serves approximately 180 young men in grades 9-12 each year through its college preparatory boarding and day program. The second weekend in December would typically serve as “Pageant Weekend,” with performances on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. Due to the pandemic, Church Farm School instead is releasing a new documentary, “Why the Chimes Rang: A History of the CFS Christmas Pageant” on its YouTube channel on Friday, December 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Viewers can comment and share their own Pageant memories in real-time. After the YouTube premiere, the documentary will be available to watch any time on-demand.
This “love letter” to Pageant is Church Farm School’s way of honoring the many people who have brought Alden’s narrative to life for the past 95 years, as well as the legion of supporters of the school who, like the procession of characters in the story, give gifts both large and small that help sustain Church Farm School’s mission of providing an exemplary education at a reasonable cost to deserving young men.
Watch the documentary on our YouTube channel today: youtube.com/churchfarm1918
Church Farm School | 1001 E. Lincoln Hwy. | Exton, Pennsylvania 19341
Phone: 610.363.7500 | Fax: 610.363.5367 | Admissions: admissions@gocfs.net
Phone: 610.363.7500 | Fax: 610.363.5367 | Admissions: admissions@gocfs.net
The Church Farm School is an independent boarding and day school for boys in grades 9-12 located in Exton, PA. Founded in 1918 to provide an excellent education to young men from limited means, Church Farm School now serves boys from a range of socio-economic circumstances who are seeking an extraordinary educational opportunity. The school offers a challenging college preparatory curriculum and an exceptional level of personal attention, with class sizes averaging between just 7 and 12 students.
