Avon Valley Churches have welcomed in the community to tell the story of the book of Revelation in a drama that has been a year in the making.
It was performed in front more than 100 people in St Mary’s Church in Fordingbridge, including the Bishop of Winchester.
Bishop Philip said, “I think it’s important to make the Scriptures come alive in this kind of a way. The book of Revelation, I think, for a lot of people is very obscure. People don’t quite know what it means, but actually its message is profound and significant, and it points us forwards, it points us to the reality that ultimately the Kingdom of God, for which we pray every time we say the Lord’s Prayer, will come. That’s a real message of hope in a time and in an age that can often be pretty short on that commodity.”
The play is part of the church’s outreach programme. Entitled ‘Revelation: a glimpse of heaven’, it was written by Jeremy Houghton-Brown who attends Hyde Church. He was challenged to write a play about Revelation, the last book of the New Testament with its vision of horrors, wonders and God’s promise to all who follow him.
It included scenes from early Christianity, the vision with letters to the seven churches, the Roman point of view, the horsemen of the Apocalypse, Heaven and Earth and the glorious finale.
Jeremy said, “We spent quite a lot of time setting the context of the Roman Empire and what it was like for these wonderful, amazing people to succeed and bring the Christian church through the greatest of horrors. We’ve come to this book of the Bible that everyone skips, and we’ve found it’s not so daunting and we can envisage how it might have been. It’s been very hard work but tremendous fun. Jesus’ great commission was to spread the word, and we have a buzzing audience here.”
The story featured elaborate costumes and audience participation with hymns and songs. It was free for all in the community.
Stephen Darke from Hyde Church played the role of Laodicea. He said, “It’s lovely to be doing something that reaches out to the community and spreads the word. I think it is a revelation, it’s all about the word of God, the good news, the positivity and the way forward. I also think we have a marvellous community of God here, and we want to tell everyone about that too.”
Roland Butcher played St John and said, “I think it’s important to put on the play because it’s a very big way of getting people to come into church and maybe once they’re in church, they will think, ‘actually, this Christianity isn’t quite so bad.’ I understand that there is a big movement of people between 20 and 35 years old moving towards Christianity, but people don’t always want to go to a church service, but they will come here and watch this. Hopefully they will think, ‘they’re having fun, I want to have fun as well’, and then they’ll come and give it a go.”
Jeremy has created several other plays for the church including ‘The Greatest Gift’ which was the story of the Nativity and Epiphany, and was performed in Fordingbridge in January this year and in local schools. Jeremy has also written plays about ‘The Easter Story’ and ‘Astonishing Acts’. This was also filmed and uploaded onto YouTube.
Julie Francis has performed in many of the dramas. She said, “This is something we do for the community, and all are welcome, but it’s also being video recorded, so it can be put online. Last year’s play, the story of Acts, has had over 1,000 watches now so the outreach for the community isn’t just what you see live on stage, it’s also what is watched and downloaded online. It’s really a wonderful opportunity for telling people about the story of Revelation.”
Seven churches within Avon Valley were involved in the production from actors, choir members, special effects, stage management and volunteers who provided drinks and cake after the production.
There was a cast of 15 people and Revd Vicky Semple, curate of Avon Valley Churches, was the play’s director. She said, “This play has helped bring the community together. In a parish where you’ve got seven churches, that’s seven different communities, and so to work on something that’s creative, is a great way for them to begin to trust each other and to lean on each other, which I think is the start of a great community.
“As well as the community coming together, it’s good for us to be looking at the bible in other ways alongside our small groups or house groups. They’re acting it, they’re discussing it and wrestling with it and that’s exciting.”
After the performance, leaflets were handed out about a series of upcoming talks organised by the church entitled ‘Big Questions…. Big Answers’ such as ‘If God is love, why is there suffering?’ or ‘Is death the end, or can we hope for something beyond death?’
Revd Luke Wickings, Rector of the Avon Valley group of churches, said, “I think it’s important to try to communicate the Christian faith to our community in a way that is relevant and understandable, and that’s what we are trying to do by putting on a play, and by giving these talks. We want people to hear the good news about Jesus, and we’ll do everything that we can, to do that. I hope people will take away a feeling of hope and encouragement and strength and faith.”
A collection was taken at the end of the performance for the charity Avon Valley Community Matters, which supports local people in need. Jeremy Houghton-Brown said he hoped the play had helped people better understand the book of Revelation and unpack its messages of hope a little better.
He concluded, “We hope people will start to explore what happens when you die and if there’s more, then what and how? We look around us at the world today, and there are awful horrors going on but we want people to know that beyond all that, there is something wonderful. That’s the message we hope to put across, that what you do in your life is important, because we all want to make this world a better place.”
