By The Reverend Edmund K. Sherrill II, Church Farm School Head of School

“Nobody can guess, Little Brother, all the fine things there are to see and hear …”

The story of a child with a simple, yet heartfelt dream to become part of a great tradition within a noble, civilized society is one that has set the stage for a number of the world’s most cherished narratives. Fables, legends and scriptural traditions all contain some element of young people and their passage to adulthood; each an inspiring story of hope and dreams fulfilled.

We read and tell these stories over and over again because we see in them something of our own story. Their power is that they connect us to both common human experiences and some of our innermost and deepest senses of life itself.

The renowned educator and mythologist, Joseph Campbell, writes of the hero’s adventure and its archetypal rendering of that journey upon which we all must embark if we are to reach our full potential.

Leaving the confines of the familiar and heading into the unknown, brave enough to face predictable and unforeseen obstacles in one’s path, finding the spiritual as well as physical strength to carry on when the going gets tough and eventually finding or accomplishing along the way something special – a treasure, a new idea, the defeat of darkness, gaining a greater vision of how things can be – are all elements of this heroic adventure.

We celebrate these in stories because we recognize them in our own unfolding story, and so we rightly pause to remember and retell them lest we lose our way.

Why the Chimes Rang is a great story because contained within it are these varied elements of our shared human experience. The tradition of retelling it in pantomime by our students has been part of Church Farm School’s annual Christmastime observance since 1924, when our founder The Rev. Charles Wesley Shreiner first adapted it.

Why the Chimes Rang tells the story of a grand old church—much like our school’s own Chapel of the Atonement—with beautiful chimes which have fallen silent for many years, and a young boy’s arduous journey to present his own humble gift to the Christ child on the altar.

Why the Chimes Rang is our founder’s story as well as that of almost every boy who has come to know more about himself and his rightful place in our great society through the Church Farm School experience.

We are thankful for all those persons who have in years past been part of this great story; helping us not to just tell it, but to live it. It is truly for the sacred nature of each individual boy who has come here and embarked on his own journey forward that we continue to tell it.

It is our joy to once again welcome you to see and experience it for yourself, and our profound hope that through it you will find your own heart warmed and soul inspired as we walk this journey together in our own generation.

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Why the Chimes Rang

Church Farm School’s 91st Christmas Pageant

Sunday, December 13 at 3:00 p.m.

Chapel of the Atonement

1010 Chapel Lane, Exton, PA 19341

Free RSVP: www.gocfs.net/pageant