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September 2003 Table of Contents
Special Feature: Drama
The Power Of A Moment
By Kimberly R. Messer
That moment. It just can't be beat. It's that moment of experiencing the perfect combination of a dramatic story and song. A moment that propels you from your seat or pew to a new world, a new understanding, and sometimes even a new decision about your life.
Growing up on theatre, I've experienced many moments like these, and I continue to experience them as I attend performances from Broadway stages to churches across the country.
I will never lose my amazement over how the whole thing works. It's always wonderful for me to see people come together to present a message in a living, breathing way through drama.
As I grew up, it wasn't very kosher (for lack of a better word) to be into theatre. The church had long since loosed its original embrace of the medium as a way to communicate the gospel to the masses. So, it's no surprise that I never thought that this love and hobby would ever lead me anywhere in ministry. Nevermind that all my church friends thought I was some weird drama freak.
Instead, I was encouraged to use my vocal talents at church. And I did. And it was a lot of fun. But by the time I got to college, I knew I wanted to continue working on the stage and not necessarily through the music program. Dramatic Arts became my degree of choice-tempered only by the more reliable, "you-can-persue-drama-but-you-better-study-something-you-can-build-a-career-on," Communication Studies degree.
During that time, I wasn't aware of how much God was working on the drama frontlines outside of my world. I didn't know that God was opening doors and dispelling myths about using drama in our sanctuaries. He was speaking to people about the power of drama. The power of a moment.
After college, I supported my theatre habit by waiting tables in Nashville. And when I moved to Kansas City, I planned on doing the same. But God had a different plan that led me to Lillenas Publishing Company. Suddenly, I was doing the very thing I never imagined would happen-using my love of drama in ministry and getting paid for it. God is good.
God has taught me a lot in the last few years about the uniqueness of using drama in the church, and all along the way, He's reminded me of the power of a moment. He's shown me that lives can change even after seeing a short 5-minute sketch. At every event whether I'm teaching or performing, I hear stories of impacted lives. People come to me to tell me how just a few minutes of experiencing some drama and a song together stirs hearts.
I often tell people when I am on the road that drama has the ability to say things that even our pastors can't say. That statement is true of most art that is used to glorify God. We are used to using music in this way in our churches. Think then of how much more effective we can be when we marry music and drama together.
I spend the good part of each day working on creating moments that help people come face to face with God. Thankfully, He placed me with a company that is dedicated to this endeavor through communicating with music and drama. My love for both come together in a recent Lillenas release titled, 7 Sketches for 7 Songs. This book takes on the hard work of finding a short, easy-to-stage drama piece to couple with a choral anthem to make a beautiful moment for a congregation. The drama pieces have been tested and include notes for when to start the music, and a CD demo of all the music is in back of the book. We even have a video to help your actors with their performances.
I really believe in the power of a moment. I know God can change our lives in a minute, in a second really, when we come face to face with Him. You are likely using music regularly to engage people in worship and to make His message come to life. I encourage you to use music and drama together for this same purpose in your regular worship services. Use resources like 7 Sketches for 7 Songs to make it easy to bring people closer to our living, breathing God. This week, propel your congregation to a new world, a new understanding, and perhaps even a new decision about life through the power of a moment designed by God.
Kim Messer is Product Line Manager of Lillenas Drama and Editor of the Lillenas Drama Newsletter in Kansas City, MO. She has spent time both on stage and backstage. Before working at Lillenas, she worked at Nashville Children's Theatre as a Technical assistant in the areas of scenic painting, construction, and prop acquisition, and as a scenic builder for Theatre for Young America in Kansas City. While earning her degree in Dramatic Arts and Communication Studies, she traveled as an actor with Masterworks Touring Company. She enjoys directing and has a passion for excellence in drama ministry. Kim resides in Kansas City with husband Chuck and their daughter Emma.
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