Presentations
Evangelistic Theatre – Dramatize the life of Jesus or creatively present the gospel with a dessert theatre or dinner theatre presentation. Ask church members to invite friends, neighbors and coworkers. Encourage cast and crew members to leverage their participation as a key way to get their friends to attend the presentation.
Relationship-Building Dinner Theatre – Produce a dinner theatre presentation and focus the event on the relationship-building efforts of church members. Ask them to bring a friend with them as a way of making a connection with the church. Choose plays or musicals with a comedic streak as a way of “breaking the ice” with unchurched people.
Publishers
DramaShare – DramaShare.org is the world’s largest resource center for royalty-free Christian drama scripts, skits, sketches, sermon starters and full-length drama. DramaShare.org also offers ministry organization and training support for church drama ministries.
Lillenas Drama – Known for quality and variety, Lillenas Drama provides downloadable scripts, plays, sketches, worship resources, monologues, readers’ theatre and production resources. Lillenas Drama includes over 70 sketch collections, 40 plays and play collections, 15 how-to books, and over 60 program builders.
Pioneer Drama Service – Pioneer has a catalog of short comedies, musicals and plays appropriate for church and school settings.
The Skit Guys – The Skit Guys—Tommy Woodard and Eddie James—illustrate and teach using comedy, drama and creative storytelling. Find videos, scripts, DVDs and more at their web site. Purchase videos individually or by subscription. Scripts can also be purchased for live performance.
Oral Interpretation Sources
Calvin Miller Books including:
- Apples, Snakes and Bellyaches
- The Book of Jesus: A Treasury of the Grestest Stories and Writings about Christ
- My Son, My Savior: The Awesome Wonder of Jesus’ Birth
- An Owner’s Manual for the Unfinished Soul
- The Singer Trilogy: The Mythic Retelling of the Story of the New Testament
- When the Aardvark Parked on the Ark and Other Poems
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language by Eugene Peterson
Children’s Letters to God compiled by Stuart Hample and Eric Marshall (New York: Workman Publishing, 1991).
To the World’s Greatest Dad edited by Helen Exley (New York: Exley Giftbooks, 1992).
To the World’s Greatest Mother edited by Helen Exley (New York: Exley Giftbooks, 1992).
Theatre (Books)
Barr, Tony, Eric Stephan Kline and Edward Asner, Acting for the Camera, rev. ed. (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1997).
Brook, Peter, The Empty Space: A Book about the Theatre: Deadly, Holy, Rough, Immediate (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997).
Bruder, Melissa, A Practical Handbook for the Actor (New York: Vintage Books, 1986).
Litherland, Janet, The Complete Banner Handbook: A Creative Guide for Banner Design and Construction (Colorado Springs: Meriwether Publishing Ltd., 1987).
Naegelin, Lanny, and Ron Krikac, Getting Started in Oral Interpretation (Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company, 1995).
Pederson, Steve, Drama Ministry: Practical Help for Making Drama a Vital Part of Your Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999).
Robertson, Everett, The Dramatic Arts in Ministry (Nashville: Convention Press, 1989).