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Artist of the
week: "I wanted to help other kids"
By Rebecca Knowe
 Artist:
Ray Lewandowski, Ph.D.
Art: Acting
Year: 35th (at ORU since 1966)
Position: Chairman, Communication Arts Department
What would you like Christians to know about the arts?
For too long Christians have stopped encouraging their children
to go into the arts. In essence, we stopped the Christian influence
within the arts. Now it's a struggle to be an influence because
we've left it for so long. We're complaining about what we get on
TV and in movies.
What else can you expect from writers who are writing from their
ideas and their values?
When our students move to the L.A. area, we [in the Comm. Arts Department]
say, "When you get out there, the first thing you need to do is
connect yourself with a Christian community. It really doesn't matter
if you're going to [act in] L.A. or be a doctor in Michigan, you
need a fellowship! Your strength is in God and in fellowship with
other Christians." We need rock-solid Christian artists in the arts;
they need the support of other Christians.
How long have you been involved in acting?
All my life-since kindergarten, in fact. At the end of the year
we did one act plays and sketches for the parents. It was the time
of WWII and one sketch was a big V [for victory] with Uncle Sam
in the middle. From kindergarten to the 8th grade we did these each
spring. I really didn't like doing them very much.
My junior year in high school I was scheduled to take a dramatics
class. I decided I didn't want to take it because I didn't like
the looks of the teacher. His name was Murphy but everyone called
him Murph. Being a lazy person, I didn't go in during the summer
to change my schedule. In the class, Murph said to me, "Ray, I have
this role; would you like to audition for it?" I got the role and
the rest is history.
I grew up an only child and was not spoiled, really! But for whatever
reason I developed a number of ticks and twitches. Whether it was
Turrets or not I don't know. When I got involved in theatre, 99%
of that went away. At that point I became a regular person. Theatre
seemed to be a physical way of relieving my tension.
High school theatre was a good experience. We did Shakespeare every
year, and did Kinescope, the first form of video, of our productions
and radio as well.
Looking back, how do you see the hand of God working in your
life?
When I went to college I studied theatre. I decided what I really
wanted to do-I wanted to be another Murph. I wanted to help other
kids who had problems such as I did.
I did therapeutic casting: if someone was an outcast I'd place him
somewhere in a cast to help him. Hopefully he'd have the same experience
I did. At the time I didn't think of or see God working in my life.
I can see God's hand in the whole thing now. I didn't know God's
will and I didn't really care. If you would have told me I'd end
up in Tulsa, Okla., I'd have said, "No way!" Being chairman of the
Communication Arts Department for 16 years-I never would have thought
I'd do that. I wanted to teach high school. Little did I know what
God had planned for my life.
What acting are you doing currently?
I've done most of my acting in the last 10 years-I didn't ask for
it, I didn't seek it. I do mostly commercials now, basically film
or television. I don't need to do it. It's hard work; I would not
want to do it for a living.
What were some of the major turning points in your life?
One was the summer I didn't change the dramatics class-because then
I wouldn't have met Murph.
The other turning point was meeting that young woman who would become
Mrs. Lewandowski. That was a great motivating factor. She was an
excellent student and I wasn't. She really motivated me to work
and study and be what God created me to be.
Another one-marriage-forming that partnership. We are basically
a team that does things together, decides on things together and
works together. The partnership has worked for 42 years.
Also, I acquired a copy of the New English version of the Bible.
I knew Jesus was Lord, and God, but I was scared to death of Him.
Through Bible reading and a men's Bible study, He became my friend.
That was quite an experience. That same period of time, in the 60's,
there was a very active charismatic movement going on in that area
of Michigan where we lived. My wife got involved with those folks.
I experienced the baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues.
When I came to ORU I did some acting in Tulsa. I was basically a
one-man production department at ORU for 10 years. In one year we
did six major productions and just about wasted everyone involved.
So is it right to say that your passion is for the students?
Yes. The glue that keeps the instructors here is the students. They're
young, energetic, they love Jesus-you can share something here you
can't with students anywhere else.
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