By Dave Walsh
Staff Writer

This weekend, in celebration of Easter, two Lafayette churches — Faith Baptist Church and First Assembly of God — will be performing passion plays.

"Our church has always had a desire to reach out to the community," said Mark Dutton, a pastor at Faith Baptist playing the role of Christ.

The Faith Baptist Church has been performing its passion play for 10 years now. Although it originally started performing the play in the church, it now performs the play at the Long Center to attract more people. The Long Center also allows the church to put on a much more theatrical version of the passion play than what could be done at the church. This version involves more than 200 people and a full orchestra.

"The play shows a realistic picture of someone struggling with their faith and trying to find God," Dutton said.

Most of the dialogue from the biblical scenes in the play is scripture taken right from the Bible. However, the play still connects with a contemporary audience by adding a modern-day scene.

This year, the modern scene is between two college roommates, one a Christian and the other a young man struggling with his faith and place in life.

"By keeping the focus on the resurrection of Christ and basic questions like what am I doing here, I think the play helps people to understand their faith and the role of God in their lives," Dutton said.

Also, by incorporating the modern-day scene into the play, Dutton believes the play will be more entertaining to both the young and old alike.

"It's very entertaining, and the music is very powerful," Dutton said.

The First Assembly of God has been performing its passion play for seven years now and although it takes place in the church, it doesn't skimp on special effects.

"We have a great-looking set and we use lots of pyrotechnics, including dynamite fuses for lighting effects," Brian Moore, the play’s director and the actor portraying Christ, said.

Moore co-wrote the play seven years ago and adds and removes scenes each year to keep the play different. Moore, who works full time at the church and oversees most aspects of the production, said all the actors and crew rehearse together to help their timing and consistency.

"The play helps show everything Christ did for us in his life," Moore said.

First Assembly's play has 19 scenes and runs for about two hours. It also includes sound and lighting engineers to help the audience truly experience the play. The audience won't just hear thunder and earthquakes; they'll feel them through the church's sound system.

"We're joyful that other churches are presenting passion plays as well. First Assembly has a lot of good people working on their play out there," Dutton said.

Both churches will be running their plays through Easter, and space is still available for performances at either church.

For more information on the Faith Baptist Church play, call the church at 448-1986 or the Long Center at 742-5664. Tickets are free but needed for seating purposes. The play will be performed at 6 p.m. today and Saturday.

For more information on the First Assembly of God's play, call 474-1432. Tickets for today and Saturday's showings are $5 and can be purchased at the church office or the front door. The Sunday performance is free.