Christopher Lake parish drama ministry expands

by the Reverend Tracey Lloyd Smith

CHRISTOPHER LAKE (Saskatchewan) -

Pokeweed and Mrs. Gasp – a one-act play on forgiveness and new life in Christ. Performers: Birdie Herriot and Ruby Thornton.It all began about three years ago, when the Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Les Martin, approached their priest about doing a Dinner Theatre at Christopher Lake’s Anglican Church. Several parishioners enthusiastically opted in to perform several plays, mostly one-act comedies. Every one had a Christian message and was directed by either the Reverend Tracey Lloyd Smith or capable parishioners Ruby Thornton and Birdie Herriot. The actors worked hard on lines, characterizations and staging the plays. Their tremendous work paid off, not only blessing the audiences at the lake several times over a variety of dinner and dessert shows, but also having the actors literally “entertain” special requests and perform the plays at some of the correctional facilities nearby.

“I think our actors truly see this as their ministry,” commended Ms. Lloyd Smith. “Their commitment to developing rich characters and performing high-quality theatre is very evident, and I’m really proud of them all!” Ms. Lloyd Smith used to perform full-time with a Christian repertory theatre based in Los Angeles and still encourages the use of drama as a rich means of sharing the Gospel of Christ.

The actors, without their theatrical make-up! They have had special requests to minister at the Women’s Correctional Facility in Prince Albert and have done three one-act presentations for them. The response was phenomenal and you could have heard a pin drop; those gals were riveted to the story lines. The players performed two back-to-back shows at each visit, and after the shows, at the chaplain’s suggestion, gave an invitation to the women to follow Christ.

Most recently, in December, our church was visited by Penitentiary Chaplain Joanne Beacon, who invited us to consider expanding our ministry further and visiting the “max” with her. We put the question to the players and received an overwhelming yes, to go and perform there in the New Year. Other parishioners have also volunteered to be lay readers and assistants, helping with those services in other meaningful ways. We look forward to seeing how God will use this ministry in the future.