Getting Our Feet Wet: Liturgical Dramas for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday

Lent is a great time to work dramatic presentations into your congregation's programming -- and Getting Our Feet Wet, a collection of 14 thoughtful sketches depicting Lenten themes, is a great resource for communicating the gospel in fresh and exciting ways. Written with grace and style, the scenes probe common assumptions about faith, making a vivid impression on audiences while stretching their theological imagination. Most of the dramas explore familiar biblical events from novel vantage points: the proprietor of the upper room, two anonymous women at the crucifixion, wine-weary disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Some of the stories bring out the humor and theological edge in scripture, while others leave readers yearning for the Good News of Easter. Appropriate for intimate gatherings or large worship services (particularly during Holy Week), many of the scenes require only one or two characters, and each comes with specific directions for props, sound, and lighting. Performance time of the scenes varies from approximately 5 to 12 minutes.

Gary William Bell is the executive director of SOS Community Services in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan. SOS is a community-based agency that assists people in crisis and provides comprehensive supportive services for homeless families. Bell previously served urban, suburban, and rural congregations in the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ. He is a graduate of Oakland University (B.A.) and Colgate-Rochester Divinity School (M.Div.), and holds a Ph.D. in Urban Social Institutions from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where his doctoral dissertation examined church social activism and included original research on congregational responses to poverty and other social problems.