Religious and spiritual events happening in the Pikes Peak region this month
In March, the Pikes Peak region will offer five public performances from popular authors, artists and performers who make religion and spirituality accessible to the masses.
• Jordan Peterson — Monday, Pikes Peak Center
The popular Canadian psychologist, author, YouTube star,and podcaster — who has become famous for philosophizing on the purpose of life, manhood, gender identity and the Bible’s role in Western civilization and human morality — will visit Colorado Springs during a 51-city tour for his new book, “We Who Wrestle with God.”
Peterson says believers and unbelievers wrestle with spiritual issues, but won’t say which camp he’s in.
Religion News Service says he possesses a “vacillating but consistent affinity for Christianity.” Focus on the Family says “Peterson has a very special regard for the Christian church and what it can do for men. And Peterson is a man who is deeply familiar with the biblical texts, even though he approaches them as an outsider.”
His fans see growing signs of faith, and his probing, secular approach to religion has caused some to see their faith born or revived after hearing him speak or reading his books, such as his 2018 volume, “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.”
• Amy Grant — Tuesday, Pikes Peak Center
Grant was an unknown 15-year-old Nashville girl when she signed her first record deal. Since then, the “Queen of Contemporary Christian Music” has recorded 20 albums that have sold more than 30 million copies, won six Grammy Awards, been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors.
Grant helped contemporary Christian music cross over from the gospel market to the pop world with her 1985 album, “Unguarded,” and her live concerts have inspired thousands of people to sponsor children through Springs-based Compassion International. Her concert will feature material from throughout her career.
Grant is 63 and has faced a series of recent challenges: open heart surgery in 2020 for a congenital heart condition, complications from COVID in 2021, and a July 2022 bicycle accident that left her unconscious and forced her to cancel engagements.
Her balance and short-term memory haven’t yet returned to normal. “I feel just super gratitude for the present,” she said. “I continue seeing life through a more mature lens, and I guess that’s true for everybody.”
• “The Thorn” — March 11-12, Pikes Peak Center
“The Thorn,” an Easter musical told from the vantage point of John, the disciple of Jesus, makes its return visit to the Springs, where it was created over a quarter century ago.
John Bolin created a simple version of “The Thorn” in 1997 as an illustrated sermon for his youth group.
In 1998, the play was staged at New Life Church, where a cast of 600 reached an audience of more than 10,000 souls.
The project was revived with a movie version filmed in Denver that debuted on screens in March 2023. The film is available for digital download via www.thethorn.com and Amazon Prime.
A traveling road show took the play to secular venues in 14 cities last spring and fall. Bolin believes such venues do a better job of attracting nonbelievers to the show than churches.
The Springs is city number 10 on the current spring tour with 43 performances in 22 cities.
The 52-member troupe travels in three semitrucks and a charter bus.
More than 1.5 million people have now seen the drama on stage or on screen.
Compassion International is a tour sponsor of “The Thorn,” and audience members have signed up to sponsor about 15,000 needy children.
• Shen Yun — March 15-17, Pikes Peak Center
Many have seen the TV commercials, newspaper ads, billboards and flyers promoting this presentation of music and dance highlighting “China before Communism,” but few know much about the Chinese spiritual movement behind the show.
The tour is sponsored by San Francisco Falun Buddha Study Association, part of an international movement called Falun Gong.
Falun Gong teaches spiritual practices that combine principles resembling ancient Taoism, Chinese meditation and deep breathing exercises, and the sometimes bizarre teachings of its founder, Master Li. (He condemns evolution and feminism and has taught that space aliens have invaded human minds, causing social corruption.)
The group was banned from China in 1999 and has since criticized the country and its Communist revolution in its performances and through its media efforts, including the conservative news outlet The Epoch Times, which has published articles featuring Jeff Myers of Springs-based Summit Ministries, which began as an anti-Communist ministry.
Shen Yun began performances in 2006 and has since reached more than 200 cities, providing both an “outreach” for Falun Gong’s message and an income stream to support its disciples’ various business entities.
Performances are visually stunning, but some critics have complained about the show’s political messages and “propaganda,” including negative depictions of Chinese Communist leader Chairman Mao Zedong and Karl Marx.
• “David: The King of Jerusalem” — March 29-30, Charis Bible College, Woodland Park
As an elderly Jewish king prepares to choose his successor, a sinister conspiracy challenges his rule and forces him to seek solace in the foundation of his faith in this musical drama production from Andrew Wommack Ministries.
Written and composed by Robert and Elizabeth Muren, the husband-and-wife team who teach at Charis Bible College, “David” provides a retrospective of the life of David, who united Israel’s tribes into a powerful empire and gave us many of the Old Testament Psalms.
The musical traces David’s life, from his days as a young shepherd boy, his fall into sexual sin, his repentance and his “triumphant rise to become king of Israel.”
The Murens have also created two other dramas for Wommack, “Heart of Christmas: A Musical,” and “God With Us,” a patriotic musical about America.
Tickets are being sold for the live performance and a streaming option.
Singer Amy Grant poses for a 2016 portrait next to her dog Okie at her home in Nashville, Tenn. Grant comes to Pikes Peak Center on Tuesday. She has recorded 20 albums that have sold more than 30 million copies, won six Grammy Awards, been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors.
Amy Grant, right, and Michael W. Smith in “The Jesus Music.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts will bring its new production to Pikes Peak Center this month.
Cast members of “The Thorn,” a theatrical portrayal of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, rehearse for upcoming performances in Colorado Springs in 2015 at New Life Church. “The Thorn” comes to Pikes Peak Center on March 11 and 12. More than 1.5 million people have seen the drama on stage or on screen.
