Why Theatre?
This is an except from Ronnie Meek’s sermon August 8, 2010. You can listen to the whole sermon here.
When we first started dancing at Smryna Assembly that became a point of attack. Some people in the church didn’t condone it. But there is a lot of Biblical references to support dancing and so we dance.
Later, when we started the theatre it became the point of attack. The theatre is a legitimate ministry because God has supremacy in everything and came to reconcile all things to Him (Colosians 1:15-20). This includes the arts and those who practice them.
When people would come to me and say, “Why dance or have a theatre in church?” I’d remind them that there are 200 other churches in the area and none of them do and someone has to!
The theatre at Springhouse Worship & Arts Center exists for three reasons:
- To reach those who wouldn’t otherwise come to a church.
- To reach the theatre community.
- To prepare our community to use our talents in the world.
Today, when a pastor comes to me to ask how they can start a theatre in their church, I tell them to start with a dance team. While everyone is complaining about the dancers you can start a theatre and no one will notice!
The church has abandoned that part of our culture but we want to lead the Church in taking back the area of the arts.
Photos by David Warren from Lamplighters Theatre productions.
