Drama has been a part of the church since Jesus gathered with his disciples and the masses on hillsides near Jerusalem. Why would we be surprised to find a drama taking place as part of a worship service?

Scripture

“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.”

Matthew 13:34

New International Version

The man Clive Staples “C.S.” Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement, according to his official website.

Lewis wrote more than 30 books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. C.S. Lewis’s most distinguished and popular accomplishments include “Mere Christianity,” “Out of the Silent Planet,” “The Great Divorce,” “The Screwtape Letters,” and the universally acknowledged classics, in “The Chronicles of Narnia.” To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.

The following comments are from the senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in New Iberia, the Rev. Craig Davis.

Where did the idea come from of presenting the C.S. Lewis one-man dramatization?

I lead a men’s prayer breakfast from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m. on Tuesdays in the Ministries Center. One of the men in the group was visiting Houston and attended church where he saw the C.S. Lewis presentation and was favorably impressed. He passed the information along to me and I contacted them via email. The Texas Repertory Theatre Company was easy to work with. They made the scheduling and booking process very easy.

Have you done a lot of study on C.S. Lewis and his writings? How often do you use his material for a message?

I have read many of his works; “Mere Christianity,” “The Abolition of Man,” “The Problem with Pain,” “The Screwtape Letters,” these are ones that come to mind. Some of these I have used for church studies. I probably use C.S. Lewis material several times a year in sermons. A good reference for those unfamiliar with C.S. Lewis is the website CSLewis.com.

Was it challenging to find funding to present the program to the Teche Area residents?

The company is reasonably priced. I expected their quote to be higher. Let’s just say the performance costs less than an iPhone X. Anyone who is interested in bringing something like this to the Teche Area should investigate the cost before ruling it out. By the way, this is not a fundraiser for our church. There is no admission fee. This is still a United Methodist church service, and we will sing a hymn, have prayer and pass the offering plate. But there is no special collection. All are welcome.

Do you have plans for other types of programs like this, either during your regular service times or others?

This is a first for FUMC.

We will see how it goes and then decide. So far, the response from the public is amazing.

Would you consider an alternative time or night so other church congregations might attend?

One reason we chose our 8:30 a.m. Sunday service was so guests might attend the performance and then attend their church. There is a question and answer session after the performance but many may decide to go on to their church. If this goes well, we might decide to have more than one performance in the future. This is new to us and we are learning as we go.

Does FUMC still have a traditional choir plus a contemporary worship band for its different services?

Our 8:30 a.m. service is traditional with a choir and organ. The service at 11 a.m. is a casual service and we have a praise team do the music. There will not be an 11 a.m. service on Jan. 19. The sanctuary will be set up for C.S. Lewis. He needs that time to pack for home.

Have you considered how to combine with other churches to present community faith based projects? Would you be open to those possibilities?

I serve on the Iberia Christian Ministerial Federation with Rev. Zack Mitchell, and they do several wonderful projects during the year. And yes, we are open to community faith based projects. The funding will go further when we work together.