A Story Only God Could Write

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In 1976, a Pennsylvania dairy farmer/nature lover/painter/photographer and his wife began sharing his slides, photographs, and stunning oil paintings with friends around the Lancaster area. From the start, they focused on the beauty of God’s creation and biblical foundations.

Soon, Glenn and Shirley Eshelman had fine-tuned a multimedia presentation so popular that they were traveling far and wide to share it. This year, they celebrate five decades of carrying the gospel to countless millions around the globe. Theirs is a captivating story.

From Travel to Theater

To cut down on the demands of travel, they built their own theater, hoping to entice viewers to do the traveling. It worked. Eventually, it led to the palatial, 2000-seat Sight & Sound Theatre (S&S) that rose out of the rolling fields near Lancaster in 1998. The imposing structure replaced a theater that had been destroyed by fire a year earlier. It had been a $15 million loss, but S&S recovered and thrived.

In 2008, S&S built an almost identical theater in Branson, Missouri. The two locations are still its only brick-and-mortar sites. The two casts typically perform 11 shows a week for more than a million visitors each year.

Still extending its reach, S&S firmly retains two overriding principles: maintaining a family-friendly business model and keeping Christian faith as the anchor for everything it produces.

Why Mess With Success?

Katie Miller, granddaughter of the Eshelmans is S&S Vice President of Brand Development. Her three young children represent the fourth generation onstage. She shared with AFA The Stand how S&S has moved far beyond the walls of the two theaters.

“We know that not everyone can travel to our theater locations in Lancaster and Branson,” Miller said. “And the Lord prompted us to begin to take our ministry out [beyond the theaters]. We began recording our shows for DVD in 2005.”

Some were skeptical of that idea. American Family Radio host J.J. Jasper said, “I thought, ‘That won’t work! A 300-foot stage and dozens of actors squeezed into my 20-foot living room? No way!’”

However, others discovered one advantage the DVDs offer. Camera close-ups on characters’ faces reveal the emotion of the moment, an insight you miss if you’re 50 yards away.

From COVID to Challenge

The 2020s COVID catastrophe brought a harrowing challenge to S&S. The ministry had to temporarily furlough about 90 percent of its employees. Fortunately, most were later able to return.

However, Miller explained, “When our theater doors had to close in 2020, the Lord provided for our productions to be shared in a brand-new way.

“In partnership with Trinity Broadcasting Network, millions of families experienced our production of JESUS on Easter weekend that first year of COVID.”

That success moved S&S to launch Sight & Sound TV, its own streaming platform. A Sight & Sound TV subscription rotates a mix of free content along with selected paid options. Its unlimited potential reaches countless viewers in more than 200 countries and territories.

“That’s a story that only God could write,” concluded Miller.

From Stage to Screen

In 2022, S&S entered the portal to still another media mainstay, the feature film medium.

“We know that the theater branch of our ministry has been called to bring Bible stories to life in epic ways,” Miller continued. “But there are thousands of stories of people from history who changed the world because Christ first changed them, and Sight & Sound Films is how we get to tell those powerful testimonies.”

The ministry’s first feature film, I Heard the Bells, is based on American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Christmas hymn, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” The poet was a broken man, his life marked by tragedy, lost hope, and family issues. Then he heard the Christmas bells that revived his faith. The movie premiered at #2 opening weekend in December 2022.

A Great Awakening, S&S’s second feature film. debuted in April 2026 to superlative reviews. This one explores the unlikely friendship between Christian skeptic Benjamin Franklin and British evangelist George Whitefield in the days prior to the Revolutionary War.

S&S film producer Josh Enck told American Family Radio host Nathan Harper about his path to S&S. As a young man, Enck planned “to go to Hollywood or New York and be a filmmaker or an actor.” But coming to faith in Christ at age 19 changed his priorities.

In 1995, he walked into Lancaster’s S&S theater for the first time and was stunned by a stage the length of a football field. He turned to his mother and exclaimed, “I want to work here!” Before long, he was a S&S stage technician. No films in sight.

Harper asked Enck if he ever thought back about his youthful Hollywood dream.

“Somewhere along the way,” he said, “in my early 30s, I gave up that dream, not because I was frustrated, but because I felt led to.”

Look at him now: President and Chief Creative Officer of S&S. And filmmaker for the Lord.

Now that’s a story only God could write!

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Next Step

Celebrate with S&S for its 50 years of ministry. Both movies will add depth and blessing for families during the coming months as we celebrate our freedom of citizenship and, more importantly, our freedom in Christ. Visit S&S for more information.

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