Making Church Skits Cool Again

As a teenager, I was in the church drama team. It was cool.

On Fridays we’d rehearse, and on Sunday’s we’d perform. We were so good that we were invited to perform in other churches.

But were we that good?

In hindsight, I wonder if we were. I wonder if the invites came because the bar was low and because pastors were keen to have a drama team perform.

“Here’s 10 minutes of good Christian entertainment to keep the folks amused.”

I don’t mean to sound like a cynical ol’ coot, but let’s be honest. A lot of what passes for church drama is downright cringey.

If you’ve ever had to listen to shouty thespians hammering you over the head with some moralizing melodrama, you will know what I’m talking about.

I remember one play we did. It was about a man who had died and found himself waiting outside the Pearly Gates. The man was quizzed by St. Peter to see if he was good enough for heaven. Was he a regular church attender? Did he read his Bible daily? That sort of thing. Sadly, the man didn’t pass the test and St. Peter sent him off to eternal damnation.

What fun!

Can’t wait for the sequel.

I’ve seen a lot of church skits and many of them either make no point at all, or they use fear to promote dead works.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I am convinced church skits could be great if we packed them full of good news instead of bad news. With that in mind, here are three ideas to make church skits cool:

1. Ditch the moralizing, and put Jesus front and center.
2. Instead of telling people how bad they are, tell them how good God is.
3. Instead of telling people what they need to do, tell them what Jesus has done and what they can do because of what he has done.

These are some of the things I have tried to do with the Jesus Scripts.

The Jesus Scripts are 100 percent grace-based, and you don’t have to go to church to see them. Like the name says, the Jesus Scripts are all about Jesus.

Who are they for? The Jesus Scripts are NOT just for church drama teams. They are for;

• parents wanting to connect with their teens and tweens
• youth leaders looking to engage with a device-obsessed generation
• pastors searching for innovative ways to convey the gospel
• drama folk who are tired of hammy scripts that leave the heart untouched

Why not download a Jesus Script and make your next family meal / youth night / Sunday service truly memorable.