Contemporary Christian Plays for Churches, Theaters & Schools

I wish I could say that my ability to tell stories on stage is independent of the Word of God, but it’s not. Truth is, the deeper I get in the Word is the more my gifts manifest themselves and I have found myself moving from a passive member in Church to a Director, Musician, Teacher and Minister in training. How could someone so shy with a touch of speech impediment rise to such an occasion?

There is power in the Word.

I spent one year going through the bible and ever so often, I am reading with my mind elsewhere but reading just the same and even when it seems the Word is not registering in my mind and spirit, somehow…self-consciously it is. Reading God’s Word whether with or without focus somehow seeped into my being and begun a transformation that others identified before I did. Now I can testify of its power as I have seen a great improvement in my writing as well.

There is no substitute for the Word. The psalmist declares ‘Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my Path.” Without the Word we wander around in darkness, without power and purpose. Our gifts are developed through the Word and it is the Word that “Makes us Clean.”

Thing is, the secret is out. The enemy is very much aware of this power and it is his desire to rob us of this blessing, and if we are very observant…we would see that to some extent he is hard at work in destroying this desire for God’s Word, especially with young people. We are at war and somebody needs to hear that there is no victory outside of the Word.

Stop making excuses, stop falling prey to the devises of the enemy, stop ignoring the Word. The Bible was meant to be opened every day. Opening the Bible is opening yourself to God’s mind and heart. Reading the Word is like sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to what he has to say.

God’s Word WILL change you, but don’t just take my word for it.

We are told as writers to avoid clichés, but I just love this one: “It’s a dog eat dog world”

Almost all professions suffer from the reality of having more sellers than buyers, and we wonder when we will get our big break. It’s the hope of all writers, and if you have ever written anything, you know what I am talking about.

In all my years of writing Christian plays, I have met many writers…most of whom contact me to find out what to do next. It’s not an easy question to answer, but I try. Others have asked me to read over their scripts and make comments. This is not easy either as some lack structure, development, and a well thought out plot…but it’s my duty to encourage and not discourage…though for some a negative feedback is always a bad hit on their talent.

Then the question comes up eventually. If I can’t make it writing Christian content, would I have better luck writing secular content or a combination of both.

My answer: Never Compromise.

I did a playwriting course some years ago that required me to write a play and guess what, I wrote a secular play. It did not have the ‘cuss/bad word’ but some variations that my conscience could handle. It just so happens, I was asked by my church to put my talent on display and because this particular play won an award in a competition, I used it. One of my elder church sisters called me aside and pointed to one of those modified cuss words and asked me what it was and what it meant. I know they invented the word ‘shame’ and ‘embarrassed’ for moments like this, but it just did not quite define what I felt.

On that day I made a conscious decision never to compromise. The emails came asking “Do you only write Christian Plays?” The answer is always the same, ‘Yes!’

I lose customers and potentials, I lose money and I might never be famous…and just maybe none of my plays will ever be performed to a sold out audience, but guess what: I will cut my loses cause I will not compromise.

If the play don’t glorify Jesus, then it will not be written by me and I want to speak a word to those involved in the Arts whether it be singing, dancing, miming, acting or writing…don’t ever compromise your faith in Jesus cause He never compromised His faith in us.

When I wrote my first Christian Stage Play back in 2002, I never dreamed it would become so lucrative I could leave my 9-5 job and go into full time writing ministry. I am not saying it was easy, because it wasn't. All I am saying is that its possible and I was neither the first, nor the last to succeed as a Christian Playwright.

I live in Jamaica and the market for Christian Plays is next to 0. On a global scale, however, I was surprised to learn that there was an increasing demand for well written and anointed plays, especially for the African American Society, and today I can report that the demand is far greater than the supply.

What I have found over the years is that there are many other writers like me who write really good plays. The thing is that they produce it once and then the script becomes history. I have had numerous emails over the years asking how they can publish their work and when I respond, it would appear that its way too much work for them to even try. This article is for those who are willing to give it a shot. I know of one writer who has written only one play in his entire life and has made a living off just that one. So imagine if you can or have written more than one.

Online marketing can be challenging but the rules apply straight across the board for just about anything. I will outline the necessary steps to take if you are a Christian Playwright and success is your goal.

1. Write the play. I still have many ideas that never made it to the paper and some that I started and only wrote a scene or two. Finishing a script takes discipline and commitment. Obviously this is a necessary and the most important step to take on this venture.

2. Find someone who can edit your script to minimize grammatical errors, etc. Be ready to accept criticism. A successful writer learns to listen to critics with a smile. Apply whatever corrections and changes you decide on to make your script better and then you are ready to self publish.

3. Get a website. You can either pay to have one professionally built or you can use one of the free services online that allows you to build a website. The downside is, they will use your site to advertise so I would lean more towards getting one professionally done. I built my own website using Microsoft Front page. You can then purchase a domain name and hosting. I used go-daddy but the options are endless.

4. Sign up for an online payment. You can either use PayPal.com or 2checkout.com or both to process your payments for you. If you live in the US PayPal allows you to make withdrawal to your bank account or check for those who live internationally. 2Checkout will supply you with a debit/credit card from MasterCard.

5. Once you have all this setup, you are ready to upload pages to your website. Create a different page for each play that you write complete with Synopsis and a Small Excerpt from the script.

Those are the five steps to having an online presence as a Christian Playwright. Now you need people to find you. This is where Google and other search engines come in. You can manually submit your website to all these different search engines. You can also use Google Ad words, which is a paid advertising option, to gain more traffic.

There will always be churches and groups seeking for quality Christian Plays especially for Christmas & Easter. Don't bury your gift as its the custom of some but use it to help spread the gospel.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me at cleveland@christianplaywright.org.

God bless,
Cleveland O. McLeish
Christian Playwright
http://www.christianplaywright.org

The Heart of a Christian Playwright Website has been redesigned four times since 2002. I can't even remember what the first one looked like. I am hoping that with this new design the experience of each customer will improve dramatically and the ease of making purchases and getting the playscripts instantly delivered to the email address provided should eliminate some of the problems we have had in the past.

I invite you to take a look at the new Website; browse around a bit and leave a comment or feedback so we know what you think.

www.christianplaywright.org