Praise Lutheran Church uses puppets to educate and inspire Posted 3/16/01 by Erin Johnson Staff Writer Rev. Timothy Rehwaldt, the pastor of Praise Lutheran Church in Eagan, said that he thinks puppets are an innovative way of sharing messages with his congregation and the community, messages that might not sink in as well coming from a live person. ìThereís something non-threatening about those little, fuzzy guys,î Rehwaldt said. For about five years, Praise Lutheran has had its very own youth puppet program, called the Hands of Praise Puppet Ministry Team. The team will be performing its annual puppet concert at Praise Lutheran Sunday, March 25 at 7 p.m. This yearís concert will feature ìEscape From Egypt,î the story of the Israelites being led out of captivity by Moses, performed by a live actor and puppets. ìIt connects to the deliverance from sin when Christ came into the world and died on the cross, and then rose again on the first Easter Sunday to save us all from that sin,î said Troy Billings, co-director of the puppet team. ìThat message is all worked into the ëEscape From Egyptí program.î The Hands of Praise Puppet Ministry Team is made up of youth who meet every Sunday to learn puppeteering skills and produce skits, which the group performs for churches and organizations around the area. The group performs for its own church the third Sunday of each month. ìWe invite youth in our congregation that are in fifth grade on up. There is no upper age limit,î Billings said. ìThey start out by learning the basics of good puppetry techniques. That includes entrances, exits, lipsynch, live-action and control ñ making the puppet look like itís actually alive.î The team currently has more than 100 puppets, which are either made by members or bought from puppet companies. ìWeíve been adding to our puppet collection over the last five years, and we reuse the puppets as much as we can,î Billings said. ìChanging the costumes, maybe putting a hat on them, that type of thing.î Performances range from original skits produced and choreographed by the team to prerecorded songs, all with Christian-based themes. Team members are able to travel to national puppet competitions, such as the recent Regional Puppet Festival in Spring Lake Park, which featured 800 puppeteers from the Midwest and Canada. The team attended workshops and learned new puppetry skills, and also competed in song and skit categories. ìWe have fun at competitions and concerts,î said Valerie Green, 14, who has been a member of the team for three years. Every Sunday, the team warms up to a training CD called ìPuppet Aerobics 2000,î which gives the kids arm strength and teaches them how to use the puppets appropriately. Because arm strength is so important in working with puppets, kids must be in fifth grade to join. There are four levels of expertise within the program ó apprentice, journeyman, advanced and master. So far, none of the members has reached master status. ìWe have to choreograph a song to become a master,î said Carissa Green, 13, an advanced student. The master level also requires the the student to develop three character voices and perform a certain number of times. The program began when the wife of Praise Lutheranís former pastor suggested the church start using puppets. Billings, whose last church had a puppet program, offered to get the team started. ìMy family and I moved back to Minnesota in 1995 and joined the church,î he said. ìWe have good friends at our old church in Illinois that lead a puppet team down there, and they came up to visit and talk to the pastorís wife. They said ëWell, Troy, you can just do it.í So, they twisted my arm and I got things going.î Billings admits the program has been a good experience. ìItís been a lot of fun, a lot of hard work,î he said. ìUsing puppets allows us to appeal to and reach a broad range of ages. We can get the message across a little easier with the puppet presentation.î Rehwaldt agrees. ìItís a wonderful addition to our ministry,î he said. The Hands of Praise Puppet Ministry Team is available for performances at any area church or organization that is interested. For more information on the program, call (651) 688-8749. ©Thisweek Newspapers