Covenant News

Musical Looks at Teens and Their Faith

EAST GREENWICH, RI (January 6, 2002) - Teens at Christ Church of East Greenwich found a way to put their talents to good use recently as more than 30 students helped produce the youth musical Truthslayers at the church.

The musical, directed by Teresa Dever, packed the church for both evening performances. About $470 was raised for the Providence (RI) Rescue Mission. The teens spent eight weeks preparing for the performances.

Truthslayers is taken from a mini novel written by Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler. The story involves five teens sent to an archeological dig in the Holy Land. It documents the stories of the church youth group members as they struggle in various aspects of their faith. In the midst of the struggle, you find other characters that are rooting for the five to fail in their faith journeys.

Most of the teen performers are in junior high or early high school. Truthslayers was designed for sixth through 12th grades. About 10 individuals had speaking roles with others rounding out the chorus, said Dever. Adults helped with the props and 10th grader Whitney Bonham was the student director for the group.

"I feel called to direct musicals because God has blessed this church with a group of talented individuals who want to perform," said Dever, who has directed three different musicals since arriving at Christ Church three years ago. "Significant bonds have developed and they just love to get together as a group. When the eight weeks of rehearsal was over, they felt lost - they wanted to continue getting together."

Last year, about three dozen were part of Code Red, a Christmas musical that told of an injured student who came to Christ at Christmas.

Christ Church, founded in 1988 as West Bay Covenant Church, has an average worship attendance of 550, according to pastor Lyle Mook. The church is located about 15 miles from Providence on the coast. There are around 100 children and youth at the church, said Mook, and the congregation is actively searching for a youth pastor to aid the church's growing ministry.

To find out more about the church and its ministries, call Mook at 401-884-8632. For more information on the impact of the student musicals at the church, call Dever at 401-886-0695 or email her at stdever@home.com.

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