CAZENOVIA — Summit Church is putting out a call for children who are willing and able to participate in its upcoming Easter-themed production.
The church is planning to pull off a dramatic program titled “An Easter Play: A Child’s Perspective,” which will take place on Sunday, April 9 starting at 11:15 a.m. as a segment of the parish’s Easter morning services. After worship time upstairs with their families, the children will gather and perform in the downstairs community room.
The church, located at 21 Lincklaen St. in Cazenovia, is asking for local parents and other adults to assist in recruiting cast members by informing their own kids of the play and by sharing the word with neighborhood children.
The suggested age range for kids wanting to get involved is kindergarten through sixth grade, but they will need to find proper transportation to the roughly hour-long 11:15 a.m. practices that are held during Sunday school sessions between now and the Passion Week performance.
Theresa Roberts, the children’s ministry director, said the participating kids can be residents of any area as long as they can be available to rehearse.
Though the roles for most of the main characters are already filled at this point, the church intends to create enough speaking and non-speaking parts in the ensemble to match the interest level. Roberts said shyer children not used to being “front and center” can portray angels in the background or members of a crowd in period-appropriate costumes if they wish.
“The word ‘audition’ makes it sound like you have to have skills as a thespian and that you’re fighting for a spot, but we’re not requiring Broadway experience and we’re looking at it as all are welcome,” she said.
Roberts said the children do not need to be Summit churchgoers to join in on the play or even attendees of any church for that matter.
“It’s not a lifelong commitment to the church, but you’d be helping us out for the Easter season and we hope you get something out of it,” she said.
The play retells the traditional account of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the viewpoint of a child of Mary Magdalene. As the events unfold—from the discovery that Jesus’ body was missing from the tomb to his rise from the grave and his appearance in front of the disciples—the story adopts a perspective of “preciousness and innocence” while being stripped down to its essence according to Roberts.
“It’s in the eyes of a young child following his mother around and observing what has happened and experiencing secondhand the emotions his mother experienced,” Roberts said. “The message is powerful, and we’re hoping that you’ll go away taking on a renewed point of view.”
Andrew LaTeer, a pastor at Summit Church and another leader of the production, said the play will stress the importance of having the humble faith of a child as the Bible says in the Gospel of Matthew. LaTeer said inviting more children to partake in the play will draw more families to see their young ones perform as well, thus a broader impact while expressing the Easter resurrection story.
On top of writing the material for the program, LaTeer has been directing the rehearsals. He has also made an effort to create comfortable parts for newcomers to the cast while pitching a selection of ideas to the Sunday school class to incorporate their input.
“I think that helped tremendously because the kids are excited about it,” Roberts said. “That’s all thanks to Andrew and his way with working with the children.”
Summit Kids, the children’s ministry at the church, is the group at the center of the production. That ministry is devoted to Bible-based teaching by way of methods like object lessons.
Anyone willing to help out for the church’s Easter production can contact Theresa Roberts at 716-269-4112 and [email protected] or Andrew LaTeer at 607-371-3411 and [email protected].
