Music Bread and Wine

Music Bread and Wine

It's early April and we're I1ltllliTIg a little behind schedule, but we expect where they are. That may involve dances, concerts, overnighters, to have Issue 9 out before Cornerstone. We'll be there, by the way, so drop-ins, coffee houses, clubs, video, film, magazines, concert lines, if you have the opportunity to go this year, please stop by and introduce festivals, art, theatre, rallies, and more. It means a Christian radio yourself. We're driving from Seattle (45 hours) so we may not look our station that offers more than a token contemporary show, recycled best. The publication has grown a lot in the last year. In fact, it's been phrases and ginunicks. And serving youth means providing them a struggle to keep up with the volume of letters and phone calls we with real avenues to serve others - providing meals to the homeless, receive. We strive to remain a small and personal paper with practical collecting blankets, assis.ting shut-ins, working with kids on the street, articles, objective interviews, and a few surprises here and there. and every other conceivable ministry. Their ideas and vitality are Sometimes we get distracted and disillusioned. Sometimes we just get essential to the future of our church. We must offer them a vision of tired. Right now we're behind. I work full-time at Boeing, and Anne tomorrow that isrealistic,attainable, and founded on biblical principles. is working a part-time job. Our editors and contributors help out when I can't be convinced that luxury sedans, vacation homes, early their schedules permit. We also work with a loosely organized network retirement, and lakefront condos are what Jesus died for. The of Christians in our region to nurture alternative ministries and American Dream is a lie. It offers us another goal and reason for life. encourage local churches to offer programs that young adults will be Tithing isn't giving a percentage of yourself to God, but keeping what really excited about. you need and giving the rest to God - time, resources, energy, The Pacific Northwest ranks dead last in the nation for affiliation with enthus~m, talent... We aren't expected to live in poverty. Some of us a church. We have been wondering how churches can justify spending make a comfortable living, and that's fine - but we are accountable for seventy or eighty percent of the offering on overhead and salaries when how we use our resources. To those given more, more is expected. so many need so much. If beautiful facilities and well-dressed pastors And being a good steward means knowing that these resources are are what draw people into the church, we should have it made. We are going where they are most needed. Your money is not a substitute for convinced that, to effectively reach youth in this area, it's going to personal involvement. Do the right thing, for the right reasons, requireanewatrnospherewherechurchesdiscard outdated paradigms, embrace new ideas, pool their resources for local and foreign mission, ev""day. 6J,.!IIII1IIP"'b_--- reduce duplication of effort and competing programs, and meet kids ANGEl SFALL- TAPRCXJf'IHEA11~ Review by Jennifer Morison rites and rituals of pagan and Christian In its best moments the dialogue is at church contrasted sharply with the hot Theatre and the church. Strange worship. Today, when we watch actors on a once painful and hilarious. At the heart of yellow glare outside, emphasizing the bedfellows? Perhaps. Perhaps not. In the stage, we see incarnations of our spiritual the play, though, and in the heart of each meaning of "sanctuary." The director did a case of Taproot Theatre's production, selves. Admirable. Detestable. Strong. character, lurk significant questions: If this fine job of staging the steady stream of ANGELS FALL by Lanford Wilson, the drama Weak. Human. is my calling in life, can I walk away from it? entrances and exits--as if the tiny, bare is in the church. The cool, dim sanctuary of The characters in ANGELS FALL are all And what will happen if I do? It's the same church were the stillpoint at the center of a a poor New Mexican mission. too human. Each one carries a legacy of loss, dilemma--for the doctor, the artist, the priest madly gyrating universe. It's a logical place for a play. For most of failure and self-doubt. At the start of the and the tennis player. But Wilson offers no If the Taproot production can be faulted its history, the evangelical Christian church play, an accident at a nearby uranium mine easy answers. At the end of the play, when for anything it might be for trying too hard. has glared dourly at the bawdy onstage closes the highways, stranding four people the roads reopen and the characters scatter, When the actors overplayed, went for the antics and doubtful backstage morals of at the mission, along with the resident priest we can only guess where they will go. broadly comic, they blunted the play's theatre folk. But drama itself has always and Don, a young Navaho medical student. Taproot's scenic designers did an harsher edges and slowed the pace. This sprung from deeply religious impulses. Confined by the circumstances and admirable job of setting a mood for the production also added a pay telephone to Thea tre was born in tern pIes and confronted by each other, each one is brought production. The lighting was particularly the set (it was offstage in the original script) churches. Plays took their form from the to the edge of a "crisis of faith." effective. Soft, muted colors inside the and cut the four-letter words (on stage in the original). Despite the flaws, however, Taproot Theatre has shown itself capable in ANGELS FALL of a sophistication and nerve sadly lacking in most Christian theatre. Taproot Theatre Company started life in 1976 in residence at Seattle Pacific U ni versi ty. After several yea rs on their own, with no permanent space and an uncertain resident season, the company has now found a home in an abandoned movie house in Seattle. In May of this year they moved into their new offices and, when the necessary funds corne in, they will construct a 230-seat thrust theatre and shop on the site. A theatre, though--like a church--is more than a building. According to Alan Sapp, associate artistic director and director of ANGELS FALL, Taproot is in the midst of another kind o{transition. In the past, 75 % of their audience has come from the churches; but that will change, Sapp hopes, as Taproot mounts more and more plays outside the typical Christian fare. "We believe the Lord wants us to be doing theatre that bothers people," Sapp says, "plays that cause them to ask questions about their lives, plays that Christians can bring friends to see--friends that would never darken the door of a church." ANGELS FALL is a good example. "I see a lot of Lanford Wilson in the Professor," Sapp remarks. "An agnostic with vague memories of religion that have little relevance to his present problems" Sapp was first drawn to the play by the character of Father Doherty. Near the end of Act Two, Father Doherty reads his own question in Revelations: "Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" "That struck me as a powerful message that wasn't a powerful message," Sapp says, fiRT Club "not moralistic. Father Doherty is as fallible as any of the other characters." Of course, transitions take time. Sapp Alternalive Records & Tapes chose to cut the four-letter words from the script out of sensitivity to an audience barely 197 South Prairie Avenue 00 BradleY,IL60915 00 (815)935-2146 ready for a play that wasn't straight gospel­ -much less the rougher edges of the real world. "Deciding what kind of play to do when is much more critical for Taproot than for most theaters," he explains, "because of new & used CD's, tapes, vinyl, etc. free CD/tape offers our audience." Appropriately enough, ANGELS FALL independent/underground releases radio & sales charts ends with the holiest of Christian rituals-­ the Eucharist. The incarnation of grace in newsletter trade-in 'secular' music bread and wine. A simple offering. Take it or leave it. If pulpits are artists such as: sam phillips, elim hall, king's x, john hiaH, Isu, pierce peHis, peter case, the best place for sermons, perhaps peter himmelman, 77's, adam again, prefab sprout, da, the alarm, midnight oil, theatres are the best mark heard, chagall guevara, 441, bebe Be cece, t-bone, bruce cockburn, undercover, place for parables. For him who has ears u2, bride, throes, maria mckee, los lobos, kaja, jeff johnson, michael anderson, vector... to hear ... Since we're already late with this issue and our next is due in only two months, our usual product listing will appear in June. It is the most time-intensive aspect of this publication, but we have two months to complete it. Chris Estey and Tracy Jones , , from Counter Culture will be lending us a hand too. We have started working through the responses to our 1991 survey. Our feature article for independent artists is an answer to what many of our readers have asked for. We had no idea how long it was going to take to complete it. If you find any glaring errors, please feel free to call them to our attention.

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