By Dave Parsons
In the world of entertainment, there are few stories as captivating and inspiring as that of the Chrisagis Brothers. Their journey to becoming icons in the realm of Christian entertainment is a testament to the power of faith, dedication, and brotherhood. Just like Jake and Elwood Blues, the Chrisagis Brothers were “on a mission from God” almost from the beginning.
Born and raised in a small town in Ohio, identical twins, Brian and Shawn Chrisagis spent their first two years in an incubator, due to being born with life threatening allergies. Sunlight, grass, and most foods all threatened their tiny lives. All they could really eat were sardines, rice cakes and peanut butter and soya bean milk.
Healing came after endless prayer, and they gradually recovered from being “boys in the bubble” to developing their talents. They started taking music lessons around age 10 and by age 15 they were into their music ministry, and youth pastors at their church.
They became licensed ministers at the age of 20 and began recording CD’s. The yearly CD releases, as well as their live shows, a combination of comedy and Christian music, along with a children’s ministry that made the most impact. They were playing every church that would have them in their area, and The Good News Gang Variety Series, which they wrote and starred in for the Sky-Angel Network, and other affiliate stations around the world, got their name known in the late 1990’s.
It was sometime in 1998, that a man walked into an office supply store, near the small Ohio town that the Chrisagis Brothers called home. He was looking for some small items and was approached by a clerk asking if he needed help. The man asks for the items, and realized the clerk seems familiar.
“Aren’t you and your twin brother on TV?” the man asks.
“Yes, we are.” is the reply as the twin comes around the corner.
The small talk ensues, and the man admits he has some things going on in his life. Without hesitation, the twin clerks have their arms around the man’s shoulders, and the praying begins in the middle of a nationwide chain office supply store aisle.
“Can’t you guys get in trouble for praying with customers in the middle of an aisle?”
“Probably, but the Lord put you in our paths, with a need for prayer, and that is more important.”
They asked for my name and phone number before I left to find my items, so they could pray for me that night again and follow up with me. Three days later they both texted me and asked how it was going.
And that was how I was introduced to the Chrisagis Brothers.
Now, don’t think this is going to be some wild Christian religion feel good story. I quickly learned it was almost impossible to be around these two guys and not have some of their boyish charm and playful nature rub off. These two do not fit the traditional religion stereotypes.
Brian and Shawn Chrisagis, identical twins, were singing around the Ohio Valley area several years before I started photographing some of their concerts, and occasional social dinners after the show. They won awards along the way like Best Duo in Christian Music, best dressed Trendsetters, and dozens of other nominations. They were the first Christian Artists to be on MTV, and they have been featured on every Christian TV network you could name.
With 12 full length CD releases, they easily have a bigger catalog than most artists and each one paid for in full from their own pockets. Moreso, they would give away as many as they would sell. The waitress at the restaurant, the guy that stopped them at the mall, and even mailing one to the lady who messaged them out of the blue on Facebook and asked for prayer.
They were booked solid, doing as many as 150 shows in 2014. In the desire to expand the ministry beyond the music, the Chrisagis Brothers planned a woman’s retreat. Featuring all female music and speakers, the Brothers sold every ticket available, and planned for similar future events, both for men and women.
The fact that they could pull off being booked with shows that solid, planning extra events and still producing a new CD or 2 a year, and somehow doing so without a management company, booking agency or corporate sponsor. It was in this time period that they also started hosting a weekly radio show on the internet featuring them interviewing some of the biggest names in Christian music and other areas of entertainment. Their simple faith in what they were doing, and why they were doing it, was serving them well.
Despite all they had going on in their careers, whenever I had a fundraising event coming up, all it took was one phone call and they would simply ask when and where? Every single time……….
As they became better known throughout the Christian entertainment community, other connections came to light. For example, they had been friends with actress and supermodel Jennifer O’Neill for decades. The guy from the TV show CHiPs, Erik Estrada, he had been a family friend for over 30 years. Estrada had been to their home in Ohio, and their mom made them all a nice Italian dinner. I found out a few years later, how much he enjoyed that meal, when Estrada told me about it in detail.
I know, you are wondering how these two brothers, who weren’t even supposed to live past the age of two according to doctors, end up ministers with a travelling music ministry and befriending legendary Hollywood actors. I told you to buckle up earlier. This ride gets a little wilder from here.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to photograph them for some of their 12 CD projects. I travelled with them to Pittsburgh on Sept 2, 2014 to do a photo session for the new CD. We managed to hit several dozen places to photograph that afternoon. We had just finished and were taking the subway system back to where we had parked. On this subway car were the two of them, myself and an elderly lady. The rest of the car was empty. These guys had just got home from a tour, sweated through an hours long photo session, one of them was on their cell phone and the other one was talking to me about the upcoming women’s conference.
The elderly lady looked over and said “Are you guys ministers?” and she started to cry.
Remember the office supply store?
The phone call was ended, one of them went behind her and laid hands on her shoulders, the other one climbed over me and knelt in the seat in front of her and took her hands, and for the next 5 minutes there was non-stop prayer for this lady who was a stranger mere minutes ago.
The lady opened her eyes and you could see the relief. What are the odds that only the 4 of us were in that car, on a subway in a major city in the country? She thanked them for their kindness as she left, the doors closed and we all went back to what we were doing before, like it never happened. But, it did happen. Here are these two guys, knee deep in 150 shows, CD’s to record, photos to make happen, and they take the time to pray with a woman, a complete stranger, who needs it. That is called walking the walk, and pure love for people.
Headed forward the brothers started to branch out. They would invite fellow entertainers to join in on their 3 and 4 hour shows. With a dozen or more artists on the show, and playing for a “love offering” only, there were a lot of nights there was more love than offering.
They took a leap of faith in August of 2015 when the Chrisagis Brothers held the first of their “Legends” concerts. Inspired by Christian artists of the 1970’s and 1980’s, the Chrisagis Brothers put together a one night only event that featured Christian artists including Scott Wesley Brown, Stephen Archer and Farrell and Farrell among others. Building off of this event, the Chrisagis Brothers decided to put on a Legends Christmas show with a Christian artist that defined the word legend…Russ Taff.
Russ Taff came to Wheeling, WV in December of 2015 and put on a show to remember with the brothers. It was the beginning of a few different traditions. With all of this good taking place, and obviously something folks would support, the Chrisagis Brothers found themselves at odds with most of the churches in the area who refused to help them grow this ministry. You would think everyone under the umbrella of “Christian” would be ready to lend a hand for the Kingdom, but the actual reality is most of them do not.
Even though they were getting more well known in Christian music circles outside of the Ohio Valley where they lived, the doors were closing to the constant shows as a lot of churches stopped inviting them to do concerts. This did give the brothers time to pursue other interests to expand their audience. Noted as one of the best looking duos in Christian music, they made the attempt twice to get a TV series pilot to take off. They wrote their life story in a book, that detailed their parents faith and determination to get them over the allergy issues they had as babies, and much of the early years of their ministry.
Remember those Hollywood actors I mentioned earlier? The brothers decided to ask Jennifer O’Neill to be one of the guests at the “Christian Legends” concert in August of 2017. She was later joined by veteran actress Nancy Stafford for a woman’s conference in February of 2018. The crowds grew larger for these events and the attention garnered by these Hollywood actors was immense but in some of the wrong ways. The media wanted the sordid details of their lives, and the actors wanted to talk about their faith and the role in the Chrisagis event.
This brought forth an effort to mesh the spiritual lives of these actors and the first all all Hollywood lineup, with music by the Chrisagis Brothers, came to be. Once the delay caused from Covid was over, an event starring Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman), Loni Anderson (WKRP In Cincinnati) and Erik Estrada (CHiPs) was assembled in 2021. The actors were given time to talk about whatever they wanted to share with the audience and a near capacity crowd was entertained for nearly 3 hours listening to the stories of TV and movies.
The lineups on these Hollywood fueled shows the next few years was like a comic con who’s who. People like Barry Williams (Greg Brady), Cindy Williams, (Laverne and Shirley), Catherine Bach (The Dukes Of Hazzard), Lorenzo Lamas (Falcon Crest), Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart), Catherine Hickland (One Life to Live) and even branching out into America’s Got Talent alum Max Winfrey and pro wrestling icons like Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. As these folks got a taste of what these Chrisagis Brothers were trying to do, Hollywood started reaching out to the brothers about events.
In turn this made the Christian music Legends series grow bigger and bigger with powerhouse Christian artists like Michael W. Smith, John Schlitz of Petra, Scott Wesley Brown, Leon Patillo, Gary Chapman, Wayne Watson and Sandi Patty and dozens more.
And that was the unassuming nature of the Chrisagis Brothers. They simply did not know how well known they were becoming to the Ohio Valley area, and in Christian entertainment circles. I saw there at the show that night and laughed about going with them to see the queen of Christian comedians, Chonda Pierce. We had access to her VIP pre show and the plan was to get the information to her so that she might be in a future legends event. I was between them in the front row of the theater. I had met Chonda several times and they were wanting me to introduce them to her, which depending on her memory of me could be awkward!
Instead, Chonda walks out on stage, and says “I know you two…I love your videos and your music. Do you guys want to sing one tonight?” They were both so shocked they couldn’t even talk to her at first. It is such a sweet and funny memory now, but it is so typical of the way Brian and Shawn Chrisagis have always treated everyone around them, and not thinking themselves to be more.
I had to be out of town for an extended period a few years ago, and I needed a few folks to drop in on my elderly mom and make sure she was ok. I remember being 900 miles away, ordering pizza for pick up, and having Brian and Shawn call me to say they had picked them up and were on their way to my mom’s house. What was supposed to be a pizza delivery taking 5 minutes, turned into a 90-minute visit. Mom said they were so charming and she enjoyed talking with them and hearing their stories. From Loni Anderson and Lindsay Wagner to my mom in a matter of a few weeks, the Chrisagis Brothers touched everyone.
When the brothers needed a photographer to do the VIP Photo meet and greets at each legends event I was glad to pay back some of their kindness. I had agreed to do the Christian Legends show on May 14, 2022. 11 days prior my wife of 33 years passed away suddenly. I did not have much contact with the brothers before the show day, as was usual on show week, because they have such a tremendous number of things to do to pull the show off.
On this show, with my wife’s service 24 hours away, I arrived at the time we had agreed on. Brian made a point to tell some of the legendary entertainers there that day, “I can’t believe he is here. His wife died last week and he showed up today.” They both came over to me several times that night to make sure I ate and was ok. They both prayed over me, as did a few of the Legends, even pulling me away from the crowd waiting to get in, and talking to me for a long period of time. It was very humbling.
My wife’s two favorite Christian artists of all time, also happened to be the two favorite artists of the brothers. I’m standing in the audience taking photos of the Chrisagis Brothers singing with Russ Taff and Sandi Patty both, missing my wife so much but knowing how happy she would be, and I remember thinking how does it get better than this for these two?
A little over a month later, on June 13, 2023, the Chrisagis Brothers were working on the show that was to take place in November when Shawn suffered a massive heart attack and passed away at the age of 55. The online outpouring of love and grief was more than anyone could have expected. On Monday, June 26, I was asked to photograph my first funeral service.
It was more than that though. The hours of 1-4 PM had been set aside to visit with the family, and to my astonishment, the line never stopped for 3 hours. The front rows of the church were like it was taking place somewhere other than Ohio. Dove award winners Scott Wesley Brown and Leon Patillo, Grammy winners Farrell and Farrell, actors Lindsay Wagner, Jack Scalia and Jennifer O’Neill filled the seats around Brian. They all spoke and gave such incredible memories of Shawn. I later learned that this had not been planned as an all-star event. None of the celebrities were invited to be there, they all said “we are coming.” Dozens more sent videos that were played.
The most telling part of the event though, was one of the pastors who noted that the front row looked like Hollywood elite, and how Shawn and Brian’s ministry of love had touched them. The remarks went on to note the next row back was the waitress from the restaurant they went to all the time, and the clerk from the gas station by their home that they gave one of their CD’s to. It was an overwhelming loving afternoon.
Right in front of the altar there was a 16X20 portrait that I took that night in Pittsburgh when they ministered to the lady on the train. It was still Shawn’s profile picture on Facebook the last time I looked. How did I get lucky enough to know these two guys for the better part of 25 years, and somehow got to know all these other folks because of it as well. It’s been almost a year now and the journey of the Chrisagis Brothers as history will record, has now ended and the legacy begun. Their legacy was to try and love on every person they came in contact with, and that effect is still being felt and is alive today
Perhaps I can sum it up best that when I am tempted to be less loving or kind than I would like to be, I need to stop myself and be a Chrisagis Brother instead. If we all did that, imagine the impact it would have on the world.
