The Future of Drama in the Church

I just spent a long lunch (our quarterly Chicago area Brown Bag Lunch) with arts leaders from local churches exploring the future of drama in the church.  There are some who wonder, or loudly declare, that drama is no longer culturally relevant in a worship setting.  We discussed whether this might be the conclusion some make after they experience drama done poorly in the church.  Most often, people choose to abandon an art form because they haven’t been moved by it.  Then we simplify our thinking and conclude, “Drama in the church doesn’t work.”  Drama doesn’t work anywhere, in film, live theatre, or on television, when it is done with mediocrity.  So we agreed we need to take a look at the quality of our efforts in church drama – are we only doing drama as often as we can do it well?

Our dialogue featured the thoughts of Eric Bramlett, Creative Director of Community Christian Church in Naperville, and Steve Pederson, Drama Director of Willow Creek Barrington.  Both of these guys are passionate about theatre, and always seeking new ways to incorporate story and scenes either live on stage or through video for our congregations.  Community Christian is a multi-site church (9 locations!) that has in recent months chosen to capture scenes on video for all of its campuses rather than attempting to perform the scene live in each one.  At Willow, we still do live drama but are also combining our efforts on occasion with the video team in the creation of live video/film pieces.  We all agreed that the Church needs to continually experiment with the use of drama, and discover whatever fresh approaches we can bring to this art form that has been effective for literally thousands of years.

Eric is a huge advocate for humor in the church.  Humor is life-giving and for most people, unexpected in a church service.  But doing humor well is enormously difficult.  Whatever we can do to test out a potential script in a smaller setting, to keep revising it, work on the pacing, and hone the work is well worth the effort.  Throughout our conversation, everyone agreed that the quality of a script – whether for comedy or serious drama – is essential to anything having a shot at connecting.

At the end of our time, I think the consensus was that while using drama is a tremendous challenge, it is a vital tool of communication that we don’t want to lose.  Certainly our culture is as captivated as ever by live theatre, film, and television.  We must commit ourselves to building effective drama ministries slowly and intentionally.  Don’t assume that “anyone can do it.”  Just as we would not allow just anyone to sing or preach, we must search for gifted people who know something about the theatre craft and will pursue using those gifts with authenticity and excellence in the church.  When drama is done well…there’s nothing quite like it.  So I say, let’s not give up on this art form!  I’d love to know what you think…

Comments

[sarabethjones]

Nancy - I've kept this post bookmarked for several days now, wanting to respond. It resonated deeply with me, since this is my job (and what I love). You named a struggle that I feel right now - how to keep doing this, and doing it well.

The power, beauty, and wonder of theater done well is undeniable; I keep coming back to that. At the same time, I keep wondering if we are in a time of change...

I don't know if you read Jeff Berryman's blog, but when I read his post this morning, it reminded me of this post of yours. You can find it here: http://jeffberryman.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/beauty-arriving/

Thanks for always encouraging those of us who are trying to do this art form well.

[Nancy Beach]

Sarabeth -
thank you so much for recommending Jeff's post - it truly is a beautiful expression of the power of a true moment in theatre. I will send it to my daughter who is studying this craft!
Nancy B.