Born in London in 1942, David Payne has been in Christian ministry for most of his life. While in the UK he and his wife served as youth leaders in various churches and prior to their transfer to the USA, David was an associate pastor at Titchfield Evangelical Church with specific responsibilities for youth and family services.

His extensive experience in youth work resulted in a number of national appointments including being elected chairman of Musical Gospel Outreach (an organization founded to promote the use of contemporary Christian music as a tool in evangelism), serving on one of the advisory boards of The Evangelical Alliance and coordinating the program for Billy Graham’s UK crusade to youth, Spree 73.

It wasn’t until he came to America that he took up acting but quickly made his mark with the leading role of C.S.Lewis in the play Shadowlands at Nashville’s prestigious Tennessee Performing Arts Center. It was this performance that renewed David’s interest in this great Christian author and led him to create his now celebrated one-man show An Evening with C.S. Lewis. Inspired by Lewis’ writings he went on to add to his repertoire Weep For Joy, an in-depth look at the challenges Christians face when someone is struck down with terminal disease, Target Practice (a play that explores the nature of temptation and the victorious position of every Christian) and St Jack & The Dragon (a delightful play that reflects on Lewis’ relationship with his adopted mother and the power of Agape love).

Every year since 1996. David has directed and/or starred in a full cast version of
The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe touring the US with enormous success. Huge
audiences turned out to see one of the few productions that these days can genuinely be called a family show and yet see a production whose symbolism powerfully reflects the gospel message.

In 2001 David was invited to record the official audio version of The Holman Christian Standard Bible. Adopting an expressive rather than dramatic reading style David’s rich voice allows the listener to fully immerse themselves in the glory of Scripture. As part of the launch plans he was commissioned to write a play using the translations text and the result was Prisoner of Passion in which David plays the Apostle Paul . Set in Rome where the Apostle is under house arrest, Paul reflects on his past ministry to the churches and, despite Nero’s threats, his unwavering hope of the glorious future that awaits him. Either as a one-man version or small-cast version, Prisoner of Passion has been hailed by those who have seen it as a show every Christian should see.

David has performed all over the USA and UK including an Off Broadway appearance at the Lamb’s Theatre, several appearances at the Gaither’s prestigious Praise Gathering, Focus on the Family Chapel Services and a sold out tour of Shadowlands in the UK, His lectures on the life and writings of C.S. Lewis are both informative and inspirational and his drama training workshops have been crucial in securing drama scholarships for a number of his students. In all his shows David seeks to deliver to the audience a message of encouragement, hope and redemption together with a level of professionalism that brings glory to God.