Theatre and Faith in Conversation at Covenant

My theatre journey at Covenant has been the most formative experience in my education. I’ve learned about myself and my limits as well as how to act and care for others. Integrating my faith has been at the core of this experience.

Between Two Worlds

I was in my first play when I was ten years old. We rehearsed and performed at a local community theater and I had the opportunity to interact with people I had never met and have never seen since.  Despite our distance and unfamiliarity, they could not possibly know the level of impact those few weeks would have on the rest of my life. Since then, my local theater has become like a second home, but there has always been one “problem”: I am a Christian.

Being part of the theatre world, there were those who mocked me for my faith, which led me to keep quiet about it. Additionally, growing up in the church exposed me to a quiet but persistent tension between faith and the arts. Some adults in my church feared that involvement in theatre would pull me away from my faith or toward unbiblical influences. There was a time in my life when I was convinced that these two worlds were completely separate. I never saw a contradiction between theatre and my faith, but I was always under the impression that the people around me could not reconcile them. My church struggled to see the redemptive potential of theatre, while my community theater often seemed to shun faith integration.

Faith and Performance in Conversation

Attending Covenant has shown me a new perspective. I have learned many valuable lessons about the fair treatment of actors and the responsibilities of those working in production. I have grown as an actress, and given my time to some of the most rigorous rehearsal schedules I have ever attempted. But I have also grown in my faith. Covenant College Theatre showed me a different outlook. I am reminded of an essay by our very own Professor Camille Hallstrom titled “Theatre as Incarnation,” in which she argues that Christians imitate Christ’s incarnation when we embody the stories we put on stage. Covenant did not simply teach me that faith and theatre can coexist, it taught me that they can illuminate one another. I have seen how God uses performance in His Word to tell His story. Performance has become not a distraction from belief, but an expression of it. Deep conversation and practical work have shown me that my artistic pursuits can be united with my Christian faith and that the two have never been mutually exclusive.

Now What?

I no longer carry a feeling of guilt in pursuing my passion. I am optimistic moving forward because now I see a world where my work fits together with my faith. Covenant has given me the apologetic framework I needed to pursue my goals with confidence. I want to place truth at the center of all my artistic endeavors. My hope is to demonstrate that theatre, like all of creation, was declared good by its Creator and remains worthy of thoughtful, faithful engagement, even in a broken world.