When they bring up the house lights following the April 8 presentation of the Passion play at Old Fort Baptist Church, it will mark the 178th – and final – presentation of a community ministry that began 25 years ago.
Old Fort Baptist Church is marking the 25th year of presenting the Passion play for the Summerville area.And even though Old Fort has become known around Summerville as “the Passion play church,” the time has come to move forward “with a new vision,” according to associate pastor Randy Sorrow.
Sorrow acknowledged that attendance at the play has been declining in recent years and said the “tremendous ministry” that began a quarter-century ago will end “positively” next week.
“God chose to use the Passion play, and it had a specific time,” he said. “We want to feel that God is using it for his glory. With the 25-year celebration, this is a good time to end it and to look to the future. We wanted it to go out with God’s blessing and God’s glory.”
Sorrow, who has been a part of the production for every one of its 25 seasons, said the church will continue to celebrate Easter in a public way, but in a different format.
The Passion play at Old Fort began in 1988, when former minster of music Tony Lollis introduced the idea. Church member Ron Burcham became a “driving force” behind the production, crafting the script and overseeing a movie-crew-sized corps of volunteers. (Sorrow said it takes about 250 people – choir members, actors, technical staff, parking attendants, nursery workers and more – to stage the play.)
Planning begins in the fall, and the first three months of the calendar year are a buzz of activity as the nuts and bolts of a major production are put together leading up to the week before Easter, when the church has presented as many as 10 performances in one season.
Eric Lethco, pastor of Old Fort since 1995, said the Passion play has become a centerpiece of the church’s ministry and that the community “has come to know it, and to know us, because of it. Some have even come to know the Lord because of it.”
The event has also served to involve church members in ministry who might not otherwise have been involved, Lethco said. “In that way, it has had a unifying purpose,” he said.
Sorrow said the involvement of so many church members in a singly focused effort is exciting to witness. “It’s the church functioning the way God intended – as a body,” he said.
The crucifixion, from Old Fort Baptist Church’s 2011 presentation of the Passion.Former Old Fort pastor Fred Astin said hundreds of people have made decisions for Christ as a result of the play’s message of hope and redemption. “Its impact on those who have witnessed it and those who have been a part of it is profound,” he said.
“The cast has unselfishly given up their Easter holidays to be a part of this effort, many of them for the whole 25 years of this ministry,” Astin said.
Lethco said his church will still do “production events” in the future, but “we’re moving in a new direction, and we’re excited about that.”
Around 4,000 people are expected to attend six presentations of the Passion play at Old Fort Church this year. Performances are set for March 30 and 31, and April 1, 6, 7 and 8. For information, visit http://oldfortbaptist.org.