Jesus Theater is a Creative Arts presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, originally created for camp ministries. It is designed for an audience of children or youth and is around thirty minutes in length. The production shares God’s story through the mediums of theater and visual art. It is appropriate for a wide range of ages, including adults.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Cor. 4:20). It is my conviction that whenever the Gospel is preached, it comes with a demonstration of power. In the Jesus Theater experience, the cast members encounter the power of God’s story in the rehearsal process. They then become living testimonies on stage, demonstrating the power of God with an authentic invitation for others to meet Jesus in similar ways. We call this “Testimony Art.”
These living, acting, and dancing testimonies become the art through which the Holy Spirit powerfully moves to bring others to Himself.
The Presence of God is key in this ministry, as He is the one that draws people to Himself.
One of the best ways to “catch” this mode of performing arts ministry is to attend a Jesus Theater Workshop, which is designed to train Directors to lead this ministry in their own context. I highly recommend the workshop for those who plan to utilize this material. When this training is not an option, these materials can be used with care in conjunction with the video resources provided.
Over the last few years, we have documented thousands of people who made salvation commitments to Jesus through the Jesus Theater ministry. It is my hope that together we will continue to preach the Gospel and see tens of thousands more come home to Jesus. Let’s labor in the harvest together for our Lord, so that He can have the reward of His suffering!
May you and all who touch this ministry encounter Jesus in a fresh and living way. May revival come to you and your cast as you dive into this story, and may more happen than you could ask, imagine or dream!
Be blessed! For Jesus,
Katie Luse
Since 2015, thousands of children have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior through Jesus Theater!
Jesus Theater Writers
The Jesus Theater ministry was birthed outside of me, before me, and has existed in some form for centuries. Preaching the Gospel Creatively is not new. There are many ways to do it, and effectively. I first saw a version of this art form produced by a friend and mentor, Becki Phillips, who brought the Gospel to life at a summer camp with camp staff. She used an art form we now call “choreodrama.” Carol Jaudes, a Salvation Army leader, encouraged me for many years to write and lead in this artistic lane. Years later, after a personal tragedy, Major Jason Knaggs invited me to start writing Jesus Theater for his camp ministry. That invitation was the re-birthing of creative ministry for me, and the birthing of a movement in my life.
For over fifteen years, I’ve been partnering with The Salvation Army, various Territories and Departments, to bring The Gospel to life using this art form for summer camps, mission teams, and outreaches. The Director’s resources below were produced in partnership with these groups and leaders, credited in the manuals themselves. In recent years, this partnership was primarily with Erin Morgan. Together, we learned a lot about how to write, direct, and prepare materials for multiplication. Together, we witnessed thousands of children coming to Christ. Every time a group of us dives into the Gospel story, we come out transformed. My Jesus Theater casts remain some of the most precious people to me in the world, we have lived a lot of life in rehearsals together.
In the midst of this journey, I developed a method of writing and directing for Jesus Theater based on best practices learned over a decade. This is the SPR Method of Writing a Jesus Theater. SPR stands for Simple, Powerful, and Replicable. It is not a one size fits all method, but it does provide a pathway of mentoring for writers who feel called to take the torch of this particular expression of Jesus Theater ministry, and run it forward in the coming decades. Resources and events for writers will be dropped here as they get developed. We are launching the first Jesus Theater Writers Workshop in Fall 2023.
Beyond any particular art form or method, I hope that my ongoing work in this field will inspire artists to find ways to preach the Gospel creatively through their own medium of art, marked by a supernatural wisdom that enables it to spread as fire does and should. Multiplication happens when we are brave to generously give away what we have, keep it simple, and bring real people into it.
Writers, come. Without you, we have no true legacy.
Jesus Theater Directors
Director Resources
These materials are designed to be utilized in conjunction with attendance at a Jesus Theater Director’s Workshop where important training is provided on how to direct the ministry with integrity to its design and purpose.
The following resources are available for each Jesus Theater Production:
Director’s Manual
Reference Video (For Rehearsals)
Music Information
Rehearsal videos shared with permission from The Salvation Army Eastern Territory, Arts Ministries. For more information on this ministry visit: https://arts.saconnects.org
