By Jeremy Barnes

This is the final installment of a series on how to use drama at your church. Last month, I continued the series by talking about how to you can use traditional, full-length productions in your ministry.

This month, we’re going to talk about going beyond the types of drama we’ve already talked about (in-service sketches and full-length productions). As wonderful and meaningful as those can be, there are times when a traditional full-length production won’t work. Or maybe you’ve been doing full-length projects for a while and would like to try something different.

The number of ways to use drama is limited only by your creativity. There are as many different ways as there are drama ministries. The trick is to find a way that best meets your ministry. I can’t possibly list all of the ways to do this, but I can give you some ideas that we’ve used in the past:

1. Comedy club – We put on a monthly comedy club that uses our drama ministry in improv games. It’s a great way to get people involved and because it is an ongoing project, there’s always a place to plug in new people.

2. Night of sketches – At Saddleback Church, we write a sketch for the sermon two to three times a month. However, we generally don’t perform all of them. So, in the past we’ve taken those scripts that didn’t get performed and performed them. In an all-sketch show called “BOSS” (Best of Saddleback Sketches) we have the opportunity not only to make use of the scripts we’ve written, but also give an outlet to our performers.

3. Nativity – I know this can be a very tired form of drama, but if done right it’s a very powerful form of demonstrating the story of Christmas. We’ve performed them not only in services, but also outside the church at malls and shopping centers (make sure to get permission first).

4. Living scenes – Recently, Saddleback finished up the 40 Days of P.E.A.C.E. campaign. In order to help get people in the mindset of the series, we put on six small scenes before and after each service that demonstrated the point for that week. There was no dialog, just people standing in front of a backdrop with props and a setting that illustrated the points. We gave the people a “story” to use to guide their motions/discussion. (Think “Living Nativity”)

There is nothing wrong with using traditional full-length productions or in-service sketches – they are incredibly powerful and effective methods of ministry, worship, and using the talents God has given us. But don’t let yourself get trapped into the mindset that you have to do a “play” or a “musical.” Use your creativity and the creativity of your ministry to come up with new ways to use your gifts.

I want to thank you all for reading and participating in these articles this year. It’s been a wonderful experience getting feedback from all of you each month. For 2006, I’d like to talk about the topics/questions that you want to hear about. I’d also like to talk about some specific ministries out there and let everyone know what they’re doing and how they can use it in their own ministries. Please e-mail me with any suggestions and/or a description of your ministry at Jeremy@cornerstonecomedy.com.

My prayer is that the Lord blesses you, keeps you all, and that you have a very merry Christmas.