"Leaving Jerusalem" - Back stage or in Front?

One of the difficulties in church drama is that we too often focus on ourselves and not the congregation. Yes, we have all of the platitudes down and in our hearts want to see people saved and lives changed, but are we really doing all we can to accomplish that?

If we are doing church drama just for the entertainment of the local church, then, okay, throw this blog out the window, but if you are serious about evangelizm of your city and/or helping those in your church strive for a closer walk with the Lord, then read on.

Your drama team has spend hours and hours putting together an anointed and powerful presentation. You have prayed and fasted for God's Spirit to sweep through the house. And He is willing! But there are so many little things that hamper most church drama presentations. Worst of all is when we do things that cause the audience to "Leave Jerusalem". In other words their attention is off of the message or worship and they focus - even briefly - on the fact that they are sitting on a church pew instead of at the stable in Bethlehem or viewing the Last Supper. Here are a few things that can cause your congregation to Leave Jerusalem.
Cameras flashing, people entering or leaving, babies crying, long scene changes, actors peeking out between the curtains, actors in costume seen before the drama, dropped lines, fidgity sign or dowel presenters, tech problems, yada yada yada!

I will address these all in future posts and how to solve them, but let's look at one item - Presenters entering from the audience and returning after they are done. Seems like no big deal, right? It is to those trying to worship and it definitely slows down the presentation. Now if you are doing one piece as a special during church, no major harm done, but if you are doing an evening concert, then this can get out of hand.

Ideally all presenters should remain out of sight and ready to enter during the entire evening! Ooh, but then they don't get to see the service. And your point? I thought this was about the congregation? The lost? The visitor? Are you willing to focus on their needs or is your desire more important? Popping up and down from the audience is a sure way of disrupting the flow of the Spirit. I am especially concerned if people reenter from the back, walk to the front DURING ANOTHER GROUP'S PRESENTATION! Arrrrrggggh! But that's for another post.

If at all possible train your team to stay out of sight, praying and worshipping from the sidelines until it is their turn to be on the platform.