Drama ministries are no longer unique in churches. A lot of churches have them. And in keeping with the standard, someone may play Jesus, Paul or Peter, but that’s not what David Hope does.
Hope, a member of Woodmont Baptist Church, Florence, in Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association, presents one-man gospel dramas that fill the pews and glue people there.
This retired teacher, who was named Theatre Educator of the Year by the Alabama Department of Education in 2000, has made a nearly 30-year name for himself in theatrical circles across the state. It’s a feat he’s accomplished through both his own performances and the knack he has for conjuring acting talent from teenagers — his students have earned more than 500 state and national theater awards.
Since his 2002 retirement as theater instructor at Coffee High School in Florence, Hope has captivated the spiritual imaginations of congregations from Alabama to Albuquerque, N.M., with David Hope Ministries. Some pastors, such as Woodmont Baptist’s Jerry Rea, say the presentations are “different from anything you’ve ever seen” and give those who watch a sense of the story that helps them appreciate biblical principles.
The spellbound reaction of his audiences and the earnestness of his endorsements all indicate that Hope is fast becoming a very big deal. Just don’t tell him that.
“I’m not the creator of the talent; I’m just the receiver of it. … I don’t take any of the credit for the impact these dramas are having on people,” he said.
While the impact is significant, the secret, Hope said, is simple — the story is powerful enough itself. Pulling straight from the New Testament, he merely “dramatizes the Scriptures.”
“I don’t rewrite them; I don’t paraphrase them. I pull them straight out of the Bible and bring them to life,” Hope said.
The results, both on stage and in the soul, are “transformational,” according to his friend and former pastor Tom Whatley.
“He is exceptional. It amazes me,” said Whatley, chairman of David Hope Ministries’ board of directors. “He comes into a church with very few needs or demands. He doesn’t use props. He doesn’t have to have a stage set up. He doesn’t have to bring in lighting and all that stuff. He can use what they have.”
Whatley said the power of a Hope presentation lies in its visceral simplicity, whereby, devoid of costume, props or special effects, he alone assumes the biblically verbatim personalities of the Gospels’ main characters but with the finesse of an Oscar winner.
“I try very hard to accurately reflect [the] emotions and mindset … (of) those characters, and if you do that and you do it well, you don’t need all of these things,” said Hope of the typical theatrical accoutrements.
Usually performing in simple slacks and a shirt, he maintains that million-dollar budgets often have a way of impeding the receptive process unique to drama.
“I’m up there with Jesus hanging on the cross, but there’s no cross, there’s no special lighting, because I don’t want them thinking about the lighting. I want them thinking about that Man hanging on the cross,” Hope said.
“Journey with Jesus,” Hope’s third dramatic installment of a trilogy encompassing the entire life of Christ, debuted at Woodmont Nov. 26, 2006. “I wanted my ministry to focus on the life of Christ and that’s what I’ve done,” he said.
“That’s the goal, the purpose — to bring lost people to Christ and to edify, teach, instruct and faith-build the children of God that already know Him as Savior. I found that these dramas are doing exactly that … I really believe it is due to one-on-one, personal confrontation with the power of the Word of God.”
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