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October 1995
Dynamic Church Drama Teams
By Paul Elliott
How do you establish a church drama team? Where do you begin to find material? How do you keep the momentum? In the following paragraphs, we will provide you with suggestions and information that will put you on the right path to establishing an effective church drama team ministry.
Where To Begin
Drama is an exciting form of communication. Churches across North America are beginning to realize the effectiveness of drama. As a result, they are taking the necessary steps to incorporate it into church ministry. With your vision to begin a church drama team, it seems most appropriate to discuss your burning desire with the pastor. If your aspirations are not totally defined, let the pastor know your ideas are still being formed. Hopefully this article will give you further direction.
It's important to have church leadership behind you. The pastor may offer valuable insight and suggestions to get your team off to a good start. With your pastor's support, you will probably secure a place to meet and rehearse. The pastor may help you in recruiting, knowing of other people in the congregation with similar interests. If you're serious about communicating through drama, be serious about communicating with those that can help make it happen.
Promoting Your Meeting
Once you've been given permission to begin a drama team, you'll need to create an exciting plan of action that will attract potential team members. Be creative in promoting the first meeting. Ask your pastor if you could make an announcement from the pulpit. The announcement should be far from typical but definitely acceptable, and within church standards. If your approach is different, people will sit up and take notice.
Creative people are generally boosted by creativity. You may wish to garnish your dramatic entrance with a slickly designed poster on a high traffic bulletin board and/or a choice insert in the bulletin with a clip art picture depicting the dramatic arts. Make sure the date, time and place on all printed information is clear and be available to answer questions in your church foyer after the service. If you know of a few likely candidates for your team, give them a call, or better yet talk to them face to face at church or the coffee shop. The personal contact and interest may convince them to attempt something they may not have been sure they could do, and they may join you in promoting the idea.
The First Meeting
Plan to spend a few dollars on juice/pop and snacks. This creates an informal atmosphere and sets them up to be social. Hand out your prepared agenda of what you hope to accomplish during the meeting. After introductions, invite the group to comment on what they believe would be involved in a drama ministry and encourage them to share any past drama experiences. Share your own aspirations for a drama team ministry, including the various ways a drama team could be used in the church.
What is Your Purpose
Have your group suggest what some reasons might be for beginning a drama ministry. Glorifying God should be at the top of your list. This little exercise will reveal your purpose and establish some tangible goals as well exploring the heartbeat of potential team members.
If you don't discuss purpose and goals at the beginning, your drama team will lack direction and focus. Over time, personality issues, commitment issues, script material issues etc., can dominate rehearsal time and eventually tear the team apart. Plan to avoid pitfalls by charting a clear course early.
As questions arise, it will be important to design a few policies and procedures with your team. There should be no marathon meetings to determine guidelines; these meetings tend to dampen the creative spirit. It may be time efficient for the drama leader to design needed policies and procedures in advance for drama members to discuss and approve at a time-limited meeting. Some aspects you should consider:
• How often will the drama team meet? (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.)
• How long will the rehearsals be?
• Will the team meet when there's no rehearsal material?
• How often will the drama team perform?
• What kind of venue would the team like to perform in? (worship service, dinner theatre, etc.)
• How will we measure success?
Think through these questions before your first meeting. Having some "stand-by" answers will give these people something to think and pray about. People are much more willing to make a commitment when they know what the commitment involves. Remain somewhat flexible with scheduling initially. This leaves the door open for someone who is not quite sure how much time they can commit. During the early stages of a drama ministry, there are always "unknowns," mainly because the process is new and untested. Remind the group they are coming in at ground level and your intention for the drama team is to grow together. By the end of your first meeting, the group should have a basic idea on ministry format.
Initially, you may choose to meet on a weekly basis to build a solid foundation for your group. Enthusiasm seems to be sustained when a group meets regularly. Announce the date and plans for the second meeting, thus indicating your interest to move ahead. Group members may not be ready to make a decision the first night, so give them a choice. If they are ready to join, have them sign up and make sure you have their phone number. Give notice to the rest of the group that you will be calling them in about one week, letting them know that the offer to join stays open. Drama presentations may call for additional people at times and it's advantageous to have a list of interested people. The initial sketch you do as a group will give you an idea of the time needed to prepare your group for their presentations. Keep in mind, the first time through will be slower.
Your Second Meeting
If you plan to use drama on a regular basis in your church, the drama group will benefit from weekly meetings. To be productive, encourage committment in your team to attend all meetings for proper planning and rehearsal. It will be important to establish a format for your regular meeting. A sharing time at the beginning, prayer time and drama exercises can be helpful for getting warmed up before moving into your rehearsal material.
If you're fortunate enough to have a team in place by your second meeting, you may want to begin working on your first sketch. Assign parts and have your members do a read through. After doing the sketch, sit down and evaluate. Determine what the sketch is trying to say. Describe the emotions felt in the sketch. Do the sketch again and evaluate. What changes can be made? Decide what criticism will be constructive and accompany each comment with a suggestion. These kind of sessions should be encouraged so that your ongoing performances improve.
Networking and Resourcing
Networking with other churches in your denomination gives you opportunity to discover scripts with track records. If a particular sketch or play appears to be working well across your denomination, there's a good chance it will work well in your church. You may choose to survey churches of your denomination before deciding on a drama or compare notes and exchange ideas with another church doing the same drama. Ask for advice on good presentation. When inquiring about a script, you may wish to ask about:
• general acceptance of the production
• cost of the production
• context of the production (evening service, family night, etc.)
• suggestions with regards to context
If you're a novice at presenting drama, your contact may be willing to guide you through the process. Otherwise, you may choose to access some of the many resources available to you.
Personalized Productions of San Pedro helps take the guesswork out of searching for good Christian sketches. Their database, "Drama for the Church Sketch Directory" contains 1000 plus sketch titles and reviews from over one hundred resources. Hundreds of scripts have been read through to find exceptional material for Christian groups to use. The software package available on IBM/Windows or Macintosh/Hypercard allows you to search for topically appropriate sketches for worship services, chapel, or special events, and gives you the information needed to order scripts.
Lillenas Drama Resources out of Kansas City, MO, remains one of the largest drama resource suppliers for the church, Christian schools and resident theatre. The company publishes books on beginning a drama ministry, sketches, one-act plays and full length plays. The Lillenas catalogue includes a play finder, listing available sketches and plays topically. Their material is used for worship services, Christian program situations, dinner theatres, and play house audiences. Themes range from light-hearted comedies to evangelism.
CITA (Christians in Theatre Arts) is an American organization that facilitates the networking of artists. Promotional material states that CITA strives to network Christian theatre artists in a way that empowers both novices and professionals to attain dramatic and artistic excellence. Once you are a member, you have access to a directory that lists groups and individuals in the dramatic arts. Networking opportunities can arise from the national and regional conferences the organization holds annually. These conferences offer seminars, resources and opportunities to perform and view performances.
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