Mark Holt acted in both worship service skits and large seasonal musical productions at his church.

“Many people came to have faith in Christ through these productions and I got to be a part of that,” Holt said. “When I switched to a church in my own community, I lost that opportunity because they don’t do productions.”

Holt and Zitzow are among a group of Twin Cities Christian artists who are looking to a new nonprofit organization, Christian Arts Ministries (CAM), to fill the void they feel as many evangelical churches move away from traditional choirs, orchestras and theater groups in favor of more contemporary guitar and praise team-led worship.

The director of the fledgling organization is the Rev. Ken Parker who has been known in the Twin Cities for more than two decades as the creator and director of large-scale musical productions based out of Grace Church in Eden Prairie where he served as music minister. Following Parker’s departure from Grace Church last January, more than 400 people attended an event that celebrated his years of ministry.

“You could say that Christian Arts Ministries was born at that celebration,” said Ron Dahl, chairman of the board of CAM. “As the audience listened to a choir and orchestra present Ken’s wonderful music and remembered how many lives had been touched by his productions over the years, people said ‘we have to find a way to keep this going,’ and the idea of a Twin-Cities wide music and theater company began to develop.”

The organizers of CAM believe that there are large numbers of Christian musicians and actors now being under-utilized in their churches.

“We want to be a place where former choir members and actors can rekindle gifts and make them ministries,” Parker said. “We’ll give them a home where they can join with others in worship and evangelism by doing large-scale presentations, great choral music, variety shows and seasonal musicals.”

He was quick to stress that CAM is not trying to compete with churches.

“We are absolutely committed to the local church and will insist that our people are attending and actively involved in their churches; but if they don’t have opportunity to use their musical or theatrical gifts, we want to put them to use for kingdom purposes,” Parker said. “We will offer believers with an artistic bent a creative environment and a supportive group committed to both the Christian message and the Christian lifestyle. In addition to growing in their craft, they’ll also find opportunities for spiritual growth through Bible studies and small groups.”

Christian Arts Ministries intends to put on three productions during its inaugural year: an original production called “Born of a Virgin” this Christmas, a variety show in the spring and a city-wide, patriotic musical next summer. Since the new ministry has no rehearsal or production space, CAM will be collaborating with area churches and nonprofits.

“The advantage to that is flexibility,” said Parker. “We can be in spaces throughout the area, making this a truly Twin Cities ministry. We envision an ongoing ministry where distinctly Christian public presentations can intersect with today’s culture.”

CAM is aiming high, looking for venues that can seat at least 1,000 and planning on multi-evening presentations. The intention for the patriotic production is to use an outdoor venue that can accommodate thousands.

“We want to go all out for the kingdom,” Parker said, “creating powerful and beautiful productions that will leave people saying ‘Wow, what are they doing next?’”

In addition to the big productions, Parker intends for CAM writers and actors to develop drama vignettes and musical programs that can be made available for use by local churches, Christian businesses and organizations.

At an age when many are ready to retire (he just turned 65), Parker is energized as he launches this new organization to do what he loves—helping people develop their gifts in service to Christ.

“We are not merely a theater company or a musical organization—CAM exists to lead people to Christ,” emphasized Parker. “We won’t present secular theatrical productions that are already available around town, but, primarily through original productions, we’ll help audiences come to see Christ as Savior and Lord. CAM is a way for those who love Christian performance arts to support gifted musicians and actors both with finances and by attendance at high quality presentations. The audience and performers will work together to share the Gospel with those who still need to hear about faith in Christ.”

“I can hardly wait to be involved in a big production again,” Zitzow said, “singing and rehearsing, doing something really special for Christmas, it’s been a long time coming.”


ACTION POINT:
CAM is looking for singers, actors, writers, directors, dancers and technical personnel. To learn more about Christian Arts Ministries, visit their Web site at www.christianartsministries.com or attend a kick-off event for the new ministry that will be held at The Hopkins Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.