Christopher Jackson returned home for the Thanksgiving Eve Service to the joy of a congregation that has seen many careers launched from this corner at Tenth and Poplar Streets.

Chris left here on a September Sunday night in 1993, fresh out of high school, to chase his dream as a student at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.

He grew up singing in the King’s Kids’ musicals and choir, the Youth Ensemble, and his last song before heading off for the Big Apple contained these words: “Here is where the road divides; here is where we realize the sculpting of the Father’s great design. I wish we didn’t have to say goodbye, but I know the road He chose for me is not the road He chose for you, so as we chase the dreams we’re after, pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Pray that we will keep the common ground, and one day love will bring us back around.”

Chris didn’t know a soul when he arrived in New York, but now New York knows him. On Broadway he has starred as Simba in The Lion King, Benny in In the Heights, and George Washington in Hamilton. He has performed in the White House in Washington, and at the Fourth of July and Memorial Day patriotic celebrations on the mall in the nation’s capital.

Chris has sung the National Anthem in Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, at the MLB All-Star game and at both the National and American League championship series.

He writes songs for Sesame Street, and is now in his fourth season as a main character in the CBS show “Bull,” seen on Monday nights.

On weekends, he is performing in his eighth musical and is constantly invited to the morning shows on national television.

Although Chris Jackson is now a confirmed New Yorker after twenty-six years, he remains humble and modest, and reflects the mid-western values of his up-bringing.

It might be that it all goes back to that September night when he sang “Pray for Me and I’ll Pray for You.” It’s good to bring God into one’s hopes and dreams. That song is still in the air and in our hearts.