|
September 2003 Table of Contents
Producing Results
Drama vs The Traditional Church
By Keith McClung
Minister of Music & Fine Arts
19th Street Church of God
Parkersburg, WV
Have you ever been told by your Pastor, Deacon or Council Mem ber, Fellow Staff Member, or Church Attender..."We only have dramas at Christmas and Easter...What Do You Think You Are Doing?" If so, this article is definitely a keeper for you! Actually, I encourage you to slip it under the door of the "challenger" or mail it to that church attender. Sometimes we can turn blue in the face trying to share our vision, but another person can come into the equation with the same vision and "bam"...it's a great idea!
Ok, the title hooked some of you...but let me start out by describing what I view as a "traditional church." My church was organized in 1915 and was the first organized Cleveland, TN-based Church of God in the state of West Virginia. I love my Church! In fact, I am the self-proclaimed "keeper of the archives." During the past 15 years, I have made a diligent effort to sit down with our most senior members and attenders to kindly ask for old photos and stories of our rich heritage. There is a definite difference between "tradition" and "heritage."
Let me start with "heritage." Heritage is recognizing where you came from. Heritage is knowing that the church had three buildings prior and they used the same nails every time for each building. Heritage is knowing that we came from humble beginnings. Heritage is being appreciative for the sacrifices made by saints so many years ago, bringing us to where we are today.
So, what is "tradition?" Tradition is being "stuck" in our heritage. I can recognize our church heritage but I definitely don't want to go back to that time or even stay in that thought process. As the world has changed so must our methods of ministering. The methods change, but the truth still stays the same. Many years ago, my church had many sacred cows mooing on a regular basis...that "certain" pulpit couldn't be moved..., "sister so and so" donated that picture..., or how dare we not sing out of the hymnbook every service! We've since grounded down our sacred cows and have had wonderful tasting cow burgers.
Long introduction, huh? Know that this article is coming from someone who has been in your shoes if you are faced with the challenge of having a vision for drama yet not able to "get others on board" with that vision. I am blessed to have a Senior Pastor who desires to have drama every single week if possible. I have had to creatively come up with solutions to drama through the forms of multi-media, prop presence, and thematic changes within our services.
I have served under different Senior Pastors in my time; some loved drama and some thought it was "fluff"...not meat and potato ministry. We live in a dramatic world! Our television sets are swamped with reality shows that receive huge ratings because of the "drama" that takes place in the various situations...we get hooked! If we are not careful...we get too hooked! In order to compete with the entertainment offered by the world, we must be willing to step into that realm, but careful to show God through our dramatic efforts.
Our church is currently in a sermon series entitled, "Going Nowhere." This series revolves around a "hamster on a wheel" metaphor paralleling how we often get on "different wheels," and find out that we are not making any headway...our wheels are just spinning. Just this past Sunday, we had a young man walking on a treadmill in the front of the auditorium to get the point across that sometimes we "keep going" but really do not make progress in our spiritual growth. I loved what our Senior Pastor said because it was so timely with my writing of this article. Pastor Terry said, "Wake Up! Twenty years ago some of you would have gasped at the thought of a man walking on a treadmill in the front of the church!" It was great! He went on to pad his comment before and after it was said. Face it...we are competing with a sight and sound world! By sitting in our same seats and doing what we've always done, we can't expect to grow. Our church services must be spiritual, life-relational, and sometimes entertaining to get our points across. Our attenders can sit and watch television entertainment for hours, but having to sit still for a one-hour service is torture for some.
So, what do you do with those people who challenge your vision of having drama as a regular part of the worship experience? Is it the Senior Pastor? Brother Chosen Frozen on the front seat? The Complacent Attender or Member? Well, my friends, I have been in your shoes and have walked that mile! I remember, in our early days of our Easter Drama, we rented a smoke machine for an angel scene. Quickly, after the drama had ended, one of our most senior members came up to me, shaking her head, and said, "What are trying to do? Burn the church down?" I smiled and thought, "Would that be such a bad thing?" Well, I didn't say that, but I did have a conversation with her to find out what her reasoning was for not wanting a smoke machine to be used. It was a case of simple complacency.
I have often challenged those who question the effectiveness of drama in the church, to take some time to tell me what they think will work better. Drama, if written well, really hits people where they are. I have seen glistening tears welling up in the eyes of attenders as they see a drama unfold plucking at their heartstrings. I have seen church commitment increase with a drama presented to ask people why they are not involved in the ministry of the church. Our church office has seen increased tithes and offerings when dramas are presented dealing with our giving, as instructed by the Lord. You can't tell me that drama doesn't work!
In a world where so many churches have "cookie-cutter" plans and service outlines, there is little time for drama. We have to question ourselves, "Is the cookie cutter plan working?" Can your attenders automatically, and correctly, guess what the next item in the service will be? Are your services that predictable? Drama adds an element of surprise. Drama adds the chocolate chips to the cookie. We have opened up services with drama. We have closed services with drama. We have had dramatic interruptions during a sermon to hit a point home!
If you are in the "challenged" mode of trying to introduce drama-or more drama-into your church, I encourage you today. Start slow. Realize that not everyone is on board with you. Jesus' life was full of drama! As children, we heard the Bible stories of Zaccheus and the Wedding In Cana, and our minds can't help to begin formulating scenes of what that day would have been like. The same is true for today's drama effort. If you have a Pastor who is not quite convinced that drama is part of your church's worship style...show him! Start by adding drama to a Biblical portion of his sermon. You are pretty safe right there. As that repeats, you can then add more drama pieces dealing with every day life.
I also encourage you to form a drama team. Find people who are committed to your vision; this may be scriptwriters, actors, or prop workers. Meet with that crew on a regular basis. I have a team of about 12 people that I work with when developing drama pieces for our worship services. It's pretty much at the point to where I am receiving scripts over e-mail by my team members for future dramas that we haven't even discussed. Make your passion contagious! Don't give up on your vision and realize that drama can be introduced into a traditional church setting. It will take time...I know...I've been there!
Keith McClung
mcclung@charter.net
Back to Top
|
