It’s Great To Be Back!

We re-opened with Sweet Sixteen on Saturday, had a second performance Sunday, and I have to tell you—it is great to be back!

We’ll be doing shows every Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 throughout the month of June. I’m so thankful that we are able to stage this funny and uplifting play. As you probably know, we had only three performances before the shut-down. Since most of our audience tends to wait until the last few dates to attend, very few people had gotten to see it, and that just broke our hearts.

But, we’re back now, and the best way we could think of to offer as many opportunities as possible for you to come, was to open both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Our wonderful cast and volunteers were willing to throw in to make this possible.

I think everyone was feeling a little trepidation at first, just like when we all attended church for the first time a few weeks ago. It’s a little strange having the audience spaced here and there throughout the theater, but I think people were generally comfortable and cautiously respectful of one another’s space. We’ve always done reserved seating, so it was no big deal to leave every other row empty and space groups by a couple of seats.

After three months of this emotional roller-coaster we’ve all been on— loneliness, helplessness, confusion, outrage—it was so good to remember who we are. And to remind ourselves that none of this took the Lord by surprise.

“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

The news and social media will take that beautiful assurance away in a heartbeat, so we need to hold fast to it. Remind ourselves of it. Encourage one another to remember it. Having been prevented from gathering to do that, when it was the very thing we needed most, I have to admit that I have felt a lot more outrage than good cheer over these past three months, seeing the empty parking lots of church after church on Sunday mornings, while there were cars filling the lots at Walmart.

I joked at the theater over the weekend that if anyone had said we couldn’t open, we were going to claim the right to open as a grocery store, because after all, we do sell Holy Land Spices. Doesn’t that make us essential too?

I try, although sometimes unsuccessfully, to keep a tight rein on my political opinions here and at the theater. I know everyone gets more than enough of that on TV and online. However, it is not political to assert that there is only one true Way to effect real and lasting change in individual lives—and thereby, in families, neighborhoods, cities, states, the nation, and the world: The Way…The Truth…and The Life.

(It is here that I edited out a rather long, admittedly political rant about prohibiting Christians from gathering to worship together.)

We never envisioned Ragtown Gospel Theater as merely a live entertainment venue. We built it to be a place where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerfully conveyed in every concert and drama we present, and I believe we have remained committed to that mission for fourteen years. It is obvious that there are more tumultuous times ahead. We intend to continue to remain open, spreading the glorious, healing, uniting message of salvation through faith, by the grace of God, in Jesus Christ.

We hope you will feel comfortable to come see Sweet Sixteen. It will be good for you to laugh, and hear a full measure of reassurance presented in a very surprising and entertaining way. If you are more comfortable wearing a mask, then by all means do that. Everyone should take whatever precautions you need to take in order to feel safe venturing out.

Give us a ring at 877-RAGTOWN (877-724-8696) to make reservations, or if you want to get your tickets online now, just click right here.

We’d love to hear from you!  Feel free to leave a comment below, or just say “hi.”   We’ll be hoping to see you soon.

What A Day of Rejoicing That Will Be!