By
eHow Arts & Entertainment Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Things You’ll Need:
- Puppets
- Stage
- Scripts
- At least 2 puppeteers
Step1
Pray and ask the Lord to guide your new ministry. God says that if He doesn't build it, all your labor is in vain. Ask especially for ways to witness the Gospel to the littlest members of your congregation.
Step2
Post an announcement in your church bulletin asking for people who feel led to join you in your church puppets. In your announcement, give a date and time for a general informational meeting.
Step3
Plan your informational meeting. Decide the ministry's mission statement, the scope of performances and the specific items you will need to perform. The basic items include a stage, curtains, scripts and puppets, all of which can be funded by donations or part of your church budget.
Step4
Gather your stage, puppets and scripts and place them in a central location to your practice area in the church. For a beginning puppet troupe, make a very light and sturdy stage out of PVC pipe.
Step5
Set up your opening performance and set a practice schedule for the show. Ideally take three months before the show to get everyone acclimated to the script and have time to develop his or her character. Don't be too rigid in the beginning weeks because these are the most interesting to see what your puppeteers will do with the scripts and characters.
Step6
Adjust the practice schedule according to the proficiency of your troupe. Most likely you will practice once a week until the week before the performance, then maybe twice a week or more to get all the staging and placement kinks out of the performance.
Step7
Enjoy opening night. Roll with any unintended "changes" in the script and have fun. The kids will love and appreciate the puppet ministry and your efforts no matter how many slip-ups in the script occur.
