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Stewardship – Make ‘Em Laugh!
It’s mid-summer. At churches across the land, Stewardship
Committee Chairs are emerging from their hideaways, scouting
around for new committee members, calling preliminary meetings,
and peering ahead to the Fall Campaign.
Last year at St. Paul’s, we centered the campaign on an evening
of desserts, skits, and short talks about religion and money. We
called the evening Sweet and Hot at St. Paul’s.
On a Wednesday evening in early October, parishioners arrived at
7:00 PM at the Parish Hall, which was
nicely decorated and had a bountiful array of desserts spread
out on tables. We gave folks twenty minutes to choose a dessert,
find a chair, and chat. Then we went into the program, which
consisted of three short skits, interspersed with equally short
talks from members about their own approach to giving. After the
third skit, our rector wrapped things up. We were out of there
by 8:30 PM, which pleased me very much. I figure, if your
friends are nice enough to show up for an event designed to help
them part with their money, at least keep things moving.
I wrote and directed the skits, casting from the parish. We read
from scripts on the night, so no memorization was involved, and
two rehearsals were plenty. The Angel wore a white nightgown,
along with wings and a halo purchased for about twelve bucks
from a costume store. Her entrance was a sensation. In the
following days, we got lots of positive feedback from those who
came. One parishioner told me that we covered all the topics
that she and her husband talked over between themselves about
giving to the church. Another said that he woke up in the middle
of the night with lines from the skits running in his head.
Here are the three skits. Feel free to modify them for use to
fit your own church’s needs. And best wishes for the annual
campaign.
Edythe’s Gifts
(3 Skits for Stewardship)
by Margaret D. McGee
Cast:
EDYTHE, a new member at St. Paul’s
ANGEL
HOWARD, canvasser and parish treasurer
BETSY, canvasser and on the budget committee
THE REV. TED, canvasser and retired clergy
All three skits take place in
Edythe’s living room.
Set:
Two chairs and a small table or
desk.
Props: File folder, empty plate, pledge card, envelope,
phone, calculator.
Edythe’s First Gift
Edythe’s Second Gift
Edythe’s Third Gift
All three skits in one PDF file
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above will display our file in a new window. Within that
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Adobe Reader (PDF) format.
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click here.
All three skits in one
MS Word DOC file
Right-click the link above and choose "Save Target
As..." to directly save the Microsoft Word (DOC) file to your computer.
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