To celebrate Easter, local churches look to live re-enactments, performances

Before the congregation took on the roles of Pontius Pilate, Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ, they bowed their heads to pray.

"We're here to relive when you died on the cross. We're here to thank you for your sacrifice," said the Rev. Johnny Calhoun, pastor of Mount Olive AME Church in Annapolis. "Everything is going to be all right because Sunday is coming."

The church held a "14 Living Stations of the Cross" performance on Good Friday, where parishioners re-created the last steps of Jesus' life through monologues ranging from the point of view of bystanders to Jesus' mother Mary.

To celebrate Easter, it's become increasingly popular for churches in Anne Arundel County to have live re-enactments to honor the Holy Week, specifically the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For many local Christians, the performances serve as a stark and visual reminder of the meaning of the holiday.

Through the performances, the church members were able to bring their own perspective and interpretations of the Scripture, said Muriel Hicks, who portrayed Jesus during Mount Olive's Stations of the Cross.

Hicks suffered from a stroke a couple years ago, and she said the performance made her reflect on the pain she felt at the time and how it compared to what Jesus went through.

"He had to bear the cross. I didn't think I could bear the cross when they asked me to do this. But this made me realize how amazing Jesus and God are," said Hicks, who wore a crown of thorns replica and a white smock with fake blood marks during her performance.

A handful of churches in the area, like Fellowship Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, re-create the Last Supper the Thursday before Easter Sunday.

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Keith Queen performs the fourth station of the cross, Jesus is Denied By Peter. Mount Olive AME Church recreated the 14 living stations on the cross on Friday night. (By Matthew Cole / Capital Gazette)

According to the Bible, the Last Supper is the final meal Jesus had with his 12 apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. During the course of the dinner, famously depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's painting, Jesus informed the men that one of them will betray him.

Many of the Last Supper re-enactments follow a similar format: The performers re-create the poses and expressions of the da Vinci painting, and one by one, the apostles give a short monologue about the relationship with Jesus and the looming fear that they might be the ones to betray him.

Susie Sherwin, a member of Fellowship Baptist Church, said the re-enactment is the church's "Easter card to the community." While church members read the passages and Scriptures, the current society is "very visually oriented," she said.

"It's a chance to see and hear the disciples and it causes us to think about ourselves and feel the impact," Sherwin said. "It's a whole other level to watch the crucifixion and think, 'He did that for me.'"

For Ralph Betz, Asbury United Methodist Church's re-creation of the Last Supper has led to "a lot of personal growth." Betz has been a part of the performance since the church started it more then 20 years ago, and now serves as the director.

Playing disciples like Simon, Peter and Nathanael has connected Betz with the Scriptures in a different way, to where he said it's made him re-examine his life and how he would have handled the situations the disciples face.

It's even given him a better understanding of Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus and later killed himself.

"I sympathized with him a lot," Betz said.

David Hartman has played the disciple Matthew for several years, and he said the performance still "gives him chills down his spine." Like the disciple he plays, Hartman worked as a tax collector.

This initial connection led Hartman to read the Book of Matthew, which he described as a "moving experience."

"Now whenever there's readings by the Book of Matthew in church, I perk up," Hartman said.

The performances can often be an emotional experience for audience members, said Mark Eldridge, who plays Judas in the re-enactment. During the performance this week, a parishioner told Eldridge that seeing what the apostles were thinking before Jesus' death "brought tears to her eyes."

"It helps people see a different side of the story," he said. "They have a vague idea; they know about Jesus dying on the cross and resurrecting three days later, but they don't know the turmoil. They don't realize how the disciples felt."