It's sandal weather, bringing memories of outreach in Thailand and Japan. Perhaps the memories are stronger because Xpresso went off on tour yesterday, visiting a local church. Okay, so it's Germany, not Thailand, and we went there on the tram, not by plane, but it still feels the same. Except for the jet-lag.
Prisma is an independent church, serving a new housing area converted from a former US army base, which is a lot more upmarket than it sounds. Over the last year or so the relationship between this church and our church in Kemnat has been growing and a our band leader suggested to the Prisma leadership there that a visit from Xpresso may be possible. We were invited to present a piece on the theme of "God's father heart: God as father, our need and desire for his fatherhood, and how broken pictures of fatherhood can hinder us from coming closer to him." All in about five minutes.
We planned a very simple piece with only three team members, minimal props, and a few quick changes, based around a simple storyline, and then I disappeared to the UK, feeling rather guilty. I needn't have bothered with the guilt though. By the time I came back the piece was pretty well ready. It was a bit like white water rafting- I let the team go with the flow and just stuck my oar in occasionally with a suggestion or two. Of course, every run through was different but that was part of the fun. The only question was -how would the church respond?
Theatre in church is a funny thing: people often have a woolly idea about what it is or will look like, usually based on a skit they saw in a conference in 1998, so you never know what they are expecting. However, after watching the final run-through, the leaders didn't kick us out or attempt an exorcism, so we relaxed and off we went, the team doing what they'd been doing for about three weeks, namely improvising, supporting each other, enjoying working together and having fun. Saying "We experienced community" sounds a bit deep, but I think that's what was happening. They did some great theatre as well.
The church liked it, and we've been asked to come back again 'whenever you want'. There's a strong possibility that we can bring the October show -which is developing as our 'big' show in the year- and present it here as well and there is a suggestion that we participate in one of the regional "churches together" evenings, so there looks to be more 'outreaches' coming along in the near future.
And no jet-lag, either.
Prisma is an independent church, serving a new housing area converted from a former US army base, which is a lot more upmarket than it sounds. Over the last year or so the relationship between this church and our church in Kemnat has been growing and a our band leader suggested to the Prisma leadership there that a visit from Xpresso may be possible. We were invited to present a piece on the theme of "God's father heart: God as father, our need and desire for his fatherhood, and how broken pictures of fatherhood can hinder us from coming closer to him." All in about five minutes.
We planned a very simple piece with only three team members, minimal props, and a few quick changes, based around a simple storyline, and then I disappeared to the UK, feeling rather guilty. I needn't have bothered with the guilt though. By the time I came back the piece was pretty well ready. It was a bit like white water rafting- I let the team go with the flow and just stuck my oar in occasionally with a suggestion or two. Of course, every run through was different but that was part of the fun. The only question was -how would the church respond?
Theatre in church is a funny thing: people often have a woolly idea about what it is or will look like, usually based on a skit they saw in a conference in 1998, so you never know what they are expecting. However, after watching the final run-through, the leaders didn't kick us out or attempt an exorcism, so we relaxed and off we went, the team doing what they'd been doing for about three weeks, namely improvising, supporting each other, enjoying working together and having fun. Saying "We experienced community" sounds a bit deep, but I think that's what was happening. They did some great theatre as well.
The church liked it, and we've been asked to come back again 'whenever you want'. There's a strong possibility that we can bring the October show -which is developing as our 'big' show in the year- and present it here as well and there is a suggestion that we participate in one of the regional "churches together" evenings, so there looks to be more 'outreaches' coming along in the near future.
And no jet-lag, either.
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