Rich Swingle

Rich Swingle
Swingle on the set of the upcoming film Rather to be Chosen.
Born	May 30 Medford, Oregon
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Actor, director, teacher, presentation coach, producer

Rich Swingle is an American film actor, screenwriter and stage actor. He also directs the theatre program for the MasterWorks Festival and is a Freedom Finder for Graceworks Inc. After growing up on a farm in Medford, Oregon, he went on to study at George Fox University, Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary and Hunter College, ultimately receiving a master's degree from the latter. He has appeared in numerous films, including A Christmas Snow, Indescribable, Alone yet Not Alone and Christmas Grace, and he is well known for his one-man theatre acts.

Rich Swingle was born in Medford, Oregon. His mother is a medical transcriptionist, and his father is a pilot, inventor, and retired farmer. Rich was raised on a farm that had been in the family since the 1920s. Swingle graduated from George Fox University, where "he spent many of his weekends visiting elementary schools and churches as part of the student touring drama group George Fox Players." He was named their alumnus of the year in 1999. He is an evangelical Christian and, "After years of feeling called to ministry, Rich Swingle entered Massachusetts’ Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary, one of the country’s top five evangelical seminaries," which he attended from 1991 to 1992. He received his master's degree in theatre from Hunter College, where he studied under Eric Bentley--who was a student of C. S. Lewis--Tina Howe playwriting, Patricia Sternberg (sociodrama)--a student of sociodrama's inventor, Jacob L. Moreno--and Jerome Coopersmith (screenwriting)--screenwriter An American Christmas Carol and for many episodes of the original Hawaii Five-O. He has been married to Joyce Swingle since 1998. She is currently a counselor, actor, Director of Pastoral Care for the MasterWorks Festival, and pastor at Westchester Chapel Church of the Nazarene in White Plains, New York.