HPN Christmas Charity Concert Hosted By the Chosen Lead Actor Jonathan Roumie +Actress Edwina Findle
The Hollywood Prayer Network’s White Tie Christmas Concert celebrated Jesus’ birth, wrapped up the year of HPN’s 20th birthday, and raised funds not only for the network but also for unwed and homeless mothers through YoungLives, a division of YoungLife.
The event, held Dec. 19, 2021, at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, was co-hosted by Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen” — the largest crowdfunded television show in history (and one of my personal favorites) — and Edwina Findley, lead actress in many shows, “If Loving You Is Wrong,” directed by Tyler Perry Studios, aired on the OWN Network.
[Watch the Edwina Interview With Roney-Salerno from Holywood Network]
The Hollywood Prayer Network’s “White Tie Christmas Concert” celebrated Jesus’ birth, wrapped up the year of HPN’s 20th birthday, and raised funds not only for the network but also for unwed and homeless mothers through YoungLives, a division of YoungLife. The event, held Dec. 19, 2021, at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, was co-hosted by Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen” — the largest crowdfunded television show in history (and one of my personal favorites) — and Edwina Findley, lead actress in many shows, including one by Tyler Perry that aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Karen Covell, founder of HPN and Kelry Kirschenmann, HPN’s program director, said the event was spectacular — “a brilliant indication that JESUS IS IN HOLLYWOOD (literally!), that God loves Hollywood, that there is a community of Christians that showed up … and proved that very thing!” (*Note: Roumie plays Jesus on the Chosen Hit TV Series, They Inferred Jesus was literally there the character as well)
Image: Kelry Kirschenmann in Red on left, [HPN Director] and Karen Covell in gold on right [the Founder of HPN].
Image: Jonathan Roumie Lead Actor of the Chosen Series (Playing Jesus)
IMAGE: TIFFANY SALERNO WITH ROUMIE (JESUS) FROM THE CHOSEN
When I met Roumie, it was difficult for me to separate him as an actor and regular human from the fictional concept that he “is” Jesus. I felt like I was meeting the real Jesus and had to keep reminding myself, “He’s not the real Jesus, he just plays Jesus.” -Salerno (HWN)
ACTRESS EDWINA FINDLEY
(Click here to check out my interview with Julie Molina, project manager for “The Chosen” and executive assistant to the show’s creator, at a National Religious Broadcasters convention.)
Other performers and special guests at the HPN event included: • Singer and actress Jessica Oyelowo, who is also the wife of actor David Oyelowo • Recording artist Linda “Peaches” Tavani • Scott Waara, Tony Award-winning actor and singer • Amick Byram, singer and actor best known for the voice of Moses in “Prince of Egypt” • Cassie Byram, actress and singer • R&B and pop artist Flo Oramasionwu • Teddy Obot, R&B artist and music producer • Megan Tibbits, who sings and plays the harp simultaneously (!) • LeRoy Mobley, songwriter and R&B artist • Larissa Lam, singer and host • Baldwin Chiu, actor and hip-hop artist under the name Only One • Samantha Nelson, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and singer • Spoken word artist Ruzanna • Flutist, saxophonist and jazz group leader Justo Almario • Film composer, guitarist and songwriter Tom Strahle • Multi-instrument musician, music producer and songwriter, Alex Strahle • Music producer, TV/film director, cinematographer and speaker Anthony Salerno
The concert was emceed by Phil Crowley, who is best known as the voice of “Shark Tank.”
Sarah Murphree served as the red carpet host, and I served as the red carpet coordinator. I always enjoy working at red carpets so I had fun with that. Photographers included Akshay, Arron, Marisa Lim and myself, and cinematographer Chaz Olivier filmed the event. In addition to coverage by the Holywood Network, the event was also covered by Blair Moon, journalist for Your Voice Media, who has reported for TMZ. ###
Links:
Link for my Holywood interview with Julie Molina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oQp1q74AOE&t=40s
Hollywood Prayer Network — hollywoodprayernetwork.org
YoungLives — https://younglives.younglife.org/