For over 45 years, Friends of the Groom Theater Company has been helping churches and other organizations use theater and storytelling in worship and Christian Education. Here you’ll find a wide range of how-to resources for staging scripture, exploring stories through movement and improvisation, building community, and engaging groups with creativity and purpose. Each activity has its own page with a demonstration video and downloadable instructions—everything you need to lead it yourself. More resources are being added regularly as we continue to build the library. 

THE ART OF THE HOLY BACKRUB

A fun Bible storytelling activity using a playful backrub technique to engage and warm-up a group

AUDIENCE CUE CARDS

A storytelling technique using cue cards for audience response and participation

BIBLICAL SLIDE SHOW

An activity for groups to present Bible stories in the form of frozen scenes or tableaux

BODY SCENERY

A kid-friendly technique for telling a Bible story where performers use their bodies to make all the necessary set pieces

BODY SCULPTURE

A group-building exercise that can also be used to explore Biblical themes and verses through frozen poses created by pairs

DUAL TRANSLATIONS

A way of staging scripture where two performers alternate reciting different translations of the same passage

ENACTED WORD

A collection of creative approaches to memorizing and staging scripture, especially suited to worship settings

GESTURE STORIES

A fun way to tell a Bible story with audience participation, especially suited to children or intergenerational audiences

GROUP SCULPTURE MASTERPIECE

This team-building activity invites participants to improvise a group sculpture with their bodies, representing a specific Bible verse or theme supplied by a leader

MOTION PICTURE SCRIPTURE

A creative group technique for interpreting Bible passages and stories with repetitive movements and lines

PRODIGAL IMPROVISATION

The Parable of the Prodigal Son creatively told using the techniques of Body Scenery and Audience Cue Cards

PSALMS IN MOTION

A collaborative group activity that interprets psalms through improvised expressive movement

SCRIPTURE PYRAMID

An imaginative way to stage a verse of scripture one short phrase or word at a time

STEP INTO THE STORY

A way to explore Bible stories where participants voice a character’s perspective on the events that occured

TABLEAUX VIVANT

One of the most effective ways to stage a story from the Bible, where actors pose in a series of frozen scenes