From
Generation
to
Generation
So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture,
will give You thanks forever;
we will show forth Your praise to all generations.
Psalm 79:13
Melodies
of the
Past
Harry Bollback,
the subject of the
interview, poses for a
picture on the piano.
“
Music
has always played a
very important part at Word of Life.”
Harry Bollback
“It wasn’t that we decided to
bring music in from the very
beginning; music has always
played a very important part
at Word of Life. When I joined
Word of Life in 1941, Jack
would play a trombone solo,
and I would play a piano solo.
We would teach everybody
a chorus, and that was our
meeting. So from day one Jack
loved music. When we got
the Island, we began to put
out a Word of Life songbook
every year. Jack would get a
new chorus, and I would write
some - music has always been
a great part of the ministry at
Word of Life.”
Do Something About It
“When the Bible Institute
started, they formed a group of
singers called the Collegians.
I believe somebody from
Tennessee Temple came, and
down there they were called
Collegians, so we adopted the
name. In 1975, Jack asked me
if I would take the Collegians
out to the Christmas program.
They were doing a program
called “The Living Christmas
Tree”, but it wasn’t much of
a living Christmas tree! They
stood on the riser, and they
held this string of lights and
somebody would plug the
lights in every once in a while. I
was scared to death somebody
would get electrocuted under
those crazy Christmas lights,
and when I got back Jack asked
me, ‘What do you think?’ I said,
‘Boy, doesn’t sound like Word
of Life - sounds kind of hokey.’
He said, ‘Why don’t you do
something about it?’ I said, ‘Like
what?’ He said, ‘Like write a
Christmas program.’ I said, ‘Wow,
gee, I never tried anything like
that, but let me think about
it.’ That was in December of
1975. In 1976, which was the
bicentennial anniversary of
the United States, I decided
to write the patriotic musical
called “Let Freedom Ring”. I had
never seen a Broadway show so
I didn’t know anything about a
production. I had studied music,
but I didn’t like music - and I
did all these songs! Christine
Wyrtzen - she was married to
Jack’s younger son Ron - she
had just graduated with a
degree in music, so I said to her,
‘Christine, how would you like
to write the arrangements for
this show?’ She said, ‘I’ve never
written arrangements.’ I said,
‘I’ve never written any shows,
so here we go.’ “
Christine wrote the
arrangements. They went on
the road in the spring of 1976.
The reaction was phenomenal
- anywhere from twenty to
twenty-five thousand people
came to see the program. This
response prompted Harry to
take the same program out in
the fall of that year. Over ninety
thousand people came - “And it
all started when Jack said do
something about it! I have to
tell you this because this whole
thing has to be of God; we had
nothing to do with it - we didn’t
know anything!” Harry followed
up this success with the
Christmas program “Ring The
Bells.” It was so successful that
when Word of Life published
the cantata they sold over one
hundred thousand copies and
in sheet music over a million
copies were sold.
Harry Bollback and Jack Wyrtzen
Every year Harry wrote another
production. It wasn’t till later
that Harry realized how many
people attended the various
gospel productions. “When
I was putting together the
archives up at Heritage Hall
that’s when I recognized that
more than two million people
came, and I called Millie and
said, ‘Hey Millie, you know
you’re talking to somebody
rather important’. She said,
‘What do you mean?’ I said,
‘I’m like a rock star! Who else
talks about more than two
million people coming to see a
program!’
“It was not only the number of
people that came, it was the
thousands of people that got
saved. The first night we did
“The Passion Play”, we did it
over in Rochester NY. It was
spring, and it snowed, and the
truck wouldn’t get over the
bridge. I got over there with
half the people, gave the first
invitation, and more than a
hundred people came forward.
So that’s the story of the
tours, and I want to make sure
everybody knows that it’s only
the Lord. Jack used this phrase
all the time, ‘I being in the
way the Lord led me.’ That was
the way we operated at Word
of Life - when an opportunity
came, it happened, we did it.
“We would travel from
Portland, Maine to Portland,
Oregon to San Diego to Miami.
We’d drive about twenty
thousand miles every year with
the Collegians, tractor trailer,
and busses. It was an incredible
thing that God brought to pass.
That’s the story of music, but
Jack had music from day one.”
The Team
“I developed a wonderful team
of guys. I’m a team guy; I do
very little by myself - I get all
the credit for it, but I don’t do
it all. I tell my guys all the time,
‘I feel bad because I get all
the credit; you guys do all the
work.’ God brought Christine
Wyrtzen to start, then Dave
Dorman, a student here, he
made some of my props. We
still used some of them up till
last year in The Passion, and
we did the first Passion Play in
‘78, and now he makes major
production shows all over the
world. Then there was Brian
Donley, who directed the music
for me. Lee Scurlock made
over two thousand costumes
for our shows. Barbara Davoll
worked on the dramatics of
all the stories. We brought
Derek de Cambra - he worked
at the metropolitan company
producing shows for major
operas - and God put us all
together as a team, and these
people became some of my
very, very best friends. Scotty
Freeman, Paul Barney - these
guys would move the world
for me. They’d do anything,
and God used us as a team. I
remember the first night after
we did The Passion Play, we
did it down here at the Bible
Institute for the students...
we were behind the screen,
it was all over, we were just
overcome, overwhelmed with
In 1976, Harry Bollback wrote the very first
WOL gospel production,“Let Freedom Ring”.
94,156 people attended one of the “Let Freedom
Ring” concerts.
Over the years, more than 2.5 million people
have attended a Word of Life Production.
kept her out there and at the
end we do Jesus on the Throne,
the saints in white, the angels
and the trumpets...and I said,
‘Come on you’ll want to see this
one’ - because the way I would
preach, everybody that’s in the
auditorium is in one of these
scenes. You can be in the Lake
of Fire or you can be around
the Throne singing Worthy is
the Lamb - you make the choice
- and that lady got gloriously
saved. I think the joy was to
see so many people come to
Christ and knowing that you’re
preaching and teaching the
Word of God.”
emotion, and I just thank the
Lord. So all these people came
in and made it all happen. It
wasn’t just me having an idea.
Maybe my part was the idea,
but God brought all the rest
of the people together - and
we disagreed, because when
you work with creative people,
everybody’s got an idea, and
they were all great. Sometimes
we would get pretty feisty
with each other, but we stuck
together as a team. Now Brian’s
gone, Lee Scurlock is with the
Lord, Barbara Davoll went to be
with the Lord - so they’re slowly
disappearing, my team...I think
they’re beginning to wonder
where I am. I’m living so long
here they must be thinking,
“Gee, we thought Harry was a
Christian and he’s not here.”
To Behold His Glory
To Harry, one of the best things
about the Gospel Productions
was the fact that it did what
preachers tried to do in so
many words - visually portray
a scene in the Bible that
audiences would otherwise
have difficulty understanding.
A teacher stood at the pulpit
and taught from Books such as
Genesis, Daniel, and Revelation
and then turned the message
over to the Gospel Productions
team to bring the scene in the
scriptures to life. “We did some
incredible scenes. We did the
Lake of Fire. We’re doing this
scene and Millie had been out
with the other people. She
was just walking, and a lady
comes rushing out saying, ‘I
don’t want to see that, I don’t
want to see that!’ So Millie
Something Different and
Unique
“I’m glad that they’re going
back out on the road again. I
think that’s very important for
Word of Life to be out on the
road; that’s the only way we
can advertise what we’re doing.
I’m very happy to see them
out on this new program with
the Magi. Somebody came and
talked to me before they did
the program and they asked me
a lot of questions. I said, ‘You
know, I don’t think I can be very
helpful to you because God has
a unique timing for everything
and every person.’ And what we
did in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s,
that was a moment in time,
where the world was, where
America was, where the church
was, where we were. Would any
of that work today? I doubt it,
I don’t know. But I know we
live in a different world. I’m
not sure what I would have to
say is even relevant for today.
America has changed, the
church has changed, Christian
thinking has changed - but
I am aware of this. it’s the
same God that I had, and His
concern is still for people, so
it’s just a matter of finding
what the program is and doing
it. Sometimes the way I tell
stories it seems like we never
had any failures, or we never
made any mistakes. Well no. As
I’ve preached, the only people
who don’t make mistakes are
the dead. If you’re going to
do it, you’re going to make
a mistake. Make decisions
because if you’re right only
fifty percent of the time, that’s
a five hundred percent batting
average and you’re in a league
all by yourself. So I don’t
know what kind of program
would go today - I have ideas.
In 1976 when I started out
doing the type of program that
we were doing, no one was
doing anything like it. Now
every church is doing what
I did. And what I think - I’m
a very progressive thinker Word of Life has to come up
with something unique for
this generation. We were the
leaders; we’ve got to be the
leaders again. Everything is
media, you know that. I don’t
know what it is. You’ve got to
come up with something that’s
different and unique, then
everybody will have a run for
five or six years, then everybody
will start doing it - that’s my
thinking.”
Admonition for Success
“I’m a firm believer that God
gives a particular person a job
to do. If you don’t have that
person that’s ready to die for
the project, I don’t think it flies.
In my life, I was dedicated,
committed. I had no staff. My
secretary and I rented one
hundred auditoriums, I did
the printing of the brochures,
I wrote the show every year,
recorded the music, rehearsed
- now it takes twenty to thirty
people to do it. Was it easy
for Millie and I to travel one
hundred and twenty days
a year? No, but we were
committed to it. I did all the
letter writing for Word of Life
and at the same time, I did all
the fundraising, I did all my
other meetings. I felt like I
personally owned these shows,
but I believed that God had put
me there, and I’d like to see
a guy who is also committed
to doing it. If you’re really
going to make it fly, it’s not
something that you do because
someone wrote it. We would
talk about this as a team, but it
takes a leader. Everything rises
and falls on leadership. But I’m
happy we’re back on the road.
That’s where we belong, that’s
Word of Life, my first days with
Jack Wyrtzen - that’s Word of
Life, traveling every night to
a different city. I’m glad we’re
back.”
“I think Don’s on the right
track. I think Word of Life is on
the right track, and I believe
what they’re doing is right but you’re going to learn by
doing. I’m very pleased with
where Word of Life is. Don is a
great friend to me. I want to be
helpful to him; I really believe
in him. I’m very committed to
Don and the ongoing ministry.”
“We’re thinking about writing
a book, and Don is the one
to write about the future. He
said ‘Boy, that’s a tough one.’
I said, ‘No, that’s going to be
the easiest.’ He said, ‘What do
you mean?’ I said, ‘Don, If you
continue to stay true to the
Word of God and hold forth
the Word of Life, I could write
the rest of the story for you.
It’s going to be successful, I
can guarantee you that.’ I said,
‘I could write it for you if you
want me to.’ I think Don is
the leader I’m talking about,
staying true to the Word of
God. God’s gonna bless. It’s a
different world - different ideas,
different people, different
area, that’s alright, because it’s
a different world. I think God
has raised up Don and this
new team of people because
they are from this generation.
It will all come together, as
I told them, it’ll be the most
successful chapter of Word
of Life history if you keep
standing true to the Word of
God, holding forth the Word of
Life - guaranteed, guaranteed
success.”
Harry Bollback and Aaron Clark, the
interviewer, ask God to raise up innovative
leaders to reach this generation in an
effective, new way.
Ryan Arnold, who directs music at Word of Life, as Harry
once did, rehearses with some of his Collegian members, a
group that began with Harry.
On the
Road
Again
“Word of Life announced in the winter of 2012 that we would
no longer be performing the Sights & Sounds of Christmas
at the Harry Bollback Performing Arts Center,” says Brandon
Arnold of the Music Department in Florida, “but that we
would be creating a new show to take on the road.”
That show became Magi.”
Brandon’s brother in New
York, Ryan Arnold, the Music
Coordinator of Word of Life
Bible Institute, continues this
line of thought, “A big part of
that was getting back on the
road. We’ve been reaching a lot
of the the same people every
year and we wanted to get
Word of Life’s name out on a
broader geographical spread.
Because Magi is a long tour,
we’re able to travel farther
than your typical weekend
ministry, and that helps us in
reconnecting with people we
used to know and connecting
with brand new people.”
Recent Gospel Productions
have been anchored in the
Harry Bollback Performing Arts
Center in Florida. Ryan states
that with those productions
“People come to you, where
you are, but with Magi you’re
able to travel out to what’s
home for them. You’re on their
home field and sharing the
message with them there.
You get to go to their home
churches, you have to adapt
to where they are, even trying
to learn their culture because
it’s not necessarily the same
as where you’re from. That was
a big part of it, just learning
people in order to minister
well to them in a way that’s
appropriate and in a way that
they would understand. That
was pretty significant as far as
having to be intentional about
when we’re communicating
this message to people - are
we doing it in a way that they
understand and in a way that
matches their culture?”
In this manner, Magi touches
its roots with the older Gospel
Production plays - tours like
Daniel, Revelation, and Ring the
Bells - a touch where “rubber
meets the road” in a drive
to deliver the Gospel across
eastern America. However,
though Magi and its ancestors
share this nomadic spirit, it
is a very different animal.
Magi travelled with a much
smaller group, about twentyfive people, and had much
less equipment in tow. Less
equipment in Magi meant
faster set up time, a relief for
the small team. The casting for
the show was also different.
Whereas in the past staff
generally held the main roles,
the entire cast was filled with
students.
The differences in Magi
were obvious. As it went into
production, a question formed
in the back of everyone’s
mind: Is it too different? How
will audiences respond to
something this compact and
contemporary compared with
the old Gospel Productions?
Brandon relates, “Every part of
Magi was stressful, because
it was all new, and we hadn’t
been on the road with a show
in over twenty years. We didn’t
know if it was going to come
together, or if it was going to
be good, or if it would be a
flop.” When Magi hit the road,
Brandon realized his fears
were unfounded, because God
worked in equal measure to
the riches of His grace in Jesus
Christ. Brandon continues,
“Magi far surpassed all of
our expectations. It ended up
being incredible, and all the
praise goes to God...It was a
new and interesting project
- audiences didn’t know what
to expect. Some were hesitant,
because they were used to our
big productions and felt that
they may be let down with
something not as large and
produced. Others had seen
the old tours, and probably
felt like this one would be
like the old shows. Everyone
was in for a shock, because it
was unlike anything we had
ever done before. Moving
lights, live music with a band,
more intimate setting - it was
awesome, and I think the
“It’s just a totally
different take on the
Christmas story; I
don’t know If I’ve ever
seen anything that has
taken this approach.”
Ryan Arnold
audiences were taken aback
with the professionalism and
intimacy of this particular
show. We received many
compliments, and I know from
observing many tears in the
seats that people were moved
by the Gospel, and encouraged
in their walk with God.”
So what did the first showing
look like? Ryan gives us an
insider’s perspective, “Our first
actual performance on the
road was in Loudonville, NY,
one of the biggest churches
that we went to, and it was
packed. Everybody was super
pumped. We had practiced a
lot, but there was still that first
time nervousness, but that’s
healthy so you pay attention
to detail. In our opening song,
the first line is ‘shepherds on
the hillside,’ and that’s in the
first verse, and in the second
verse, ‘angels fill the night sky.’
I mixed the two. Instead of the
first line, I said, ‘shepherds in
the night sky,’ which doesn’t
make sense. So that’s how I
started it; that was a great way
to kick off the first Magi tour.”
Though a line went awry,
a good cause for a laugh
backstage. What defined the
show was not so much the
enthusiasm of those producing
the play as the general reaction
of audiences and the message
portrayed. Ryan affirms, “You’ve
got an entertainment response
and then a spiritual response.
With the entertainment side we
have all these lights and music
and it’s fun to see little kids
when the lights start flashing
on the crowd. Their faces just
light up - even adults, you see
them forgetting that they’re
adults. That was a lot of fun,
but obviously the bigger impact
is people realizing that they’ve
been celebrating Christmas all
their lives, but never knew the
whole celebration of Christmas,
which is Christ coming on our
behalf. Seeing that transition
where everything combines
in people’s minds, where the
wheels are turning and they
start to click and understand
exactly what’s going on - to
understand the whole plot,
why Christ came, for some of
them that’s the first they have
ever heard of that. Then we’re
able to talk to them after the
show. That’s really powerful.
Sometimes we take it for
granted that we know what
Christmas is all about, but
there are so many people who
don’t know. So that was huge
to be able to see them first
understand that, and to see
people understand it who had
heard it their whole life and
just never understood it.”
“At our very last show, we had
people raise their hand if they
had made a decision to trust
Christ. There was one lady, who
was like seventy-two, that was
in the front row that nobody
saw, but I saw her raise her
hand. She raised it just a little
bit, and I was up front playing
guitar, so afterwards I went
and talked to her. She said she
had heard it her whole life, but
that night was when it really
made sense that she needed
“I love working
with the students.
They are the
reason I’ve stayed
with Word of Life
so long, and I
absolutely love
serving alongside
of them, teaching
them, getting to
know them.”
Brandon Arnold
to trust Christ and it couldn’t
be something that she earned
on her own. I guess the older
you get the less likely you are
to change what you believe
- so that was huge. That’s just
evidence of the Holy Spirit and
what He does - the power of
God.”
Though Magi is smaller
and very different than its
predecessors it has proven
its worth through the eternal
impact it has made. It has taken
one of the most important
events inscribed by hand and
illustrates the greatest news
ever proclaimed by lips of men
or angels- that Jesus Christ
came to the Earth, humbled
Himself to become like men,
died for our sins, and then
rose from the dead! Brandon
reflects, “Magi reminded me,
in a very powerful and sweet
way, how majestic the birth of
this child was, how great His
sacrifice, and how precious and
significant the tearing of the
veil was. God had provided a
way to reconcile us to Himself
through the sacrifice of His one
and only Son, Jesus.”
“I had been working
with students all
year, but being able
to go out on tour with
them, that’s really a
bonding experience.
You’re on a bus,
whether you want to
be smashed up next
to somebody or not,
you’re spending all
that time with people
and get to see their
heart for ministry
and learn more about
their walk with the
Lord. I got to talk
to people after the
show - and there’s a
few people I got to
stay in touch with,
but not very many but with the students
I’ve got another half
a year and summer with
them. To this day
we’ve still got inside
jokes and memories
and that’s been
real helpful in my
relationships with the
students I work with.”
Ryan Arnold
Staff:
Mike Calhoun
Tom Phillips
Rich Andrews
Christian Andrews
Micah Melville
Mark Bodlien
Kyle Findley
Chris Vickery
Todd Mackey
Jay Sanders
Ray Deck
Ryan Arnold
Brandon Arnold
Jeremy Dame
Olivia Denhoff
Ashley Warren
Ethan Warren
Florida Cast:
Katherine Archila - Ensemble
Sarai Armfield - Praise Team
Michelle Atis - Praise Team
Morgan Crohn - Ensemble
David Ebrahim - Ensemble
Connie Ferchland - Drama
MJ Ferguson - Praise Team
Jillian Figly - Drama
Aaron Gerhart - Drama
Olivia Hartsfield - Praise Team
Dean Hendricks - Drama
Elijah Knowlton - Ensemble
Rachel McOmber - Ensemble
Abby Novak - Drama
Kayla O’Brien - Ensemble
Amy Odhner - Drama
Eliam Orozco - Drama
Christian Vasquez-Mol - Drama
Eran West - Praise Team
New York Cast:
“I’m happy we’re back on the road, that’s
where we belong,
that’s Word of Life.”
Harry Bollback
Caleb Bonney - Drama
Daniel Cudworth - Ensemble
Cherith Danielewicz - Praise Team
Jason Deardorff - Ensemble, Drama
Josiah Fox - Ensemble, Drama
Bethany Frazeur - Ensemble, Drama
Samuel Gottschall - Ensemble
Rebecca Hamblen - Drama
Caleb Ingvaldsen - Praise Team
Abbie Kuhne - Ensemble
Elizabeth Ladew - Accompanist
Peter Lindblom - Praise Team
Jared MacKay - Praise Team
Molly Reynolds - Ensemble
Aogu Suzuki - Praise Team
Erin Swett - Accompanist
Erin Toal - Ensemble
Mark Vanderkooi - Praise Team