WHAT’S DRAMA DOING IN CHURCH?

Two decades ago the use of drama in Sunday services was relatively rare. When it was used, drama was usually limited to a children's Christmas pageant or disciples in bathrobes and sandals appearing at the Easter sunrise service.

Today, dramatic presentations in Sunday morning worship services are becoming as common as praise choruses or keyboards. Crossing geographical and doctrinal boundaries, the use of drama has mushroomed in recent years.

Churches tended to define the use of drama too narrowly. Either they would limit it to retelling biblical stories and dressing all the characters in bathrobes, or worse yet, they would attempt to preach a sermon through it, wrapping everything up with tidy answers in an eight-minute sketch. The drama didn't reflect reality as most people experienced it.

How does drama create identification?

By helping the audience see themselves in the characters. That's why we primarily use contemporary drama based on real-life experiences. The characters talk, act, and look like normal people. The audience then realizes the characters are dealing with the same problems they do at home, at work, or in marriage.

Drama is people revealing their hidden parts, enabling us all to understand better the human condition. It creates a beginning place for the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives.

Is drama "too worldly" to use in worship?

People often ask how someone can take on the character of an unsavory individual without becoming like the person they're playing. They fear, for example, that if a woman plays the part of a prostitute, her own morals will become corrupted. They see it as tampering with sin and becoming "of the world."

The performers, though, don't actually believe they are the person they're playing; they're disconnected with their character. More often than not, they are just trying to remember their next line or whether they're at the right spot on the stage to maximize lighting. So there is little danger of their assuming the character and personality of the person they are depicting.

Those watching the drama also understand what's happening. They agree to engage in what art critics refer to as a "willing suspension of disbelief." They consciously pretend it's real.

you may be playing with fire when you have a man and woman who aren't married play the role of husband and wife?

People take it has it to be danger to cast unmarried people to marry each on stage, but caution should be taking why casting these set of people. Knowing their spouses, the strength of their marriage is important so has to guide them well in their acting and off-screen or off stage.