Since its debut more than a decade ago, Palace of Praise’s annual “Sounds of Christmas” production has become a holiday tradition for many in the area.
Over its four-night run each December, the production draws more than 4,000 people to the church located on Herschel Bess Boulevard, just down the road from Three Rivers College.
This year’s production debuts at 7 p.m. Sunday at the church and runs each night at 7 p.m. through Wednesday, Dec. 20. Admission to the play is free.
“We started Sounds of Christmas 14 years ago,” said Terrie Faughn, a pastoral assistant at the church. “It begin as a Christmas play for our church, but has turned into a wonderful community event in which people make plans in their holiday season to come to watch it.”
The play is written and directed by Palace of Praise associate pastor Randy West. He writes a new story each year, which keeps the production fresh.
“What inspired me to want to do this production is really my personal passion for Jesus Christ and the importance of knowing that the true meaning of Christmas — the story needs to be told,” West said. “And it’s all out of my love for people, and people need hope. Through the production, it’s a way that I can portray hope to them and help them to understand their answer is Jesus Christ.”
“Sounds of Christmas” is not your average church Christmas play. There are 150-200 people involved in the production of it each year — and while the play does not run until December, work on that year’s production begins during the 90-degree days of early summer.
“I usually spend June and July writing the production,” West said. “And then we start our cast selection in August — and by September we start practicing, so we practice September, October, November and December. It’s about four months (of work) and it takes about 200 people to put on the production because a lot of people, even though they’re not on stage doing the acting, (there are) a lot of people behind the scenes doing play sets.”
And it’s not just a play. There is a dinner theater associated with the production, plus elaborate costumes and sets — and a few other things.
“There is dancing,” Faughn said. “There’s all the Christmas carols which will be in there. You might even see somebody ice skating in there. You will see Santa Claus show up at some point in the play. So it is really a full range of things.”
Said West, “It’s a church effort that we have. And that’s what we like about it too — although it is for community, it’s also something for our church. It gets our people in our church involved.”
There are also a few more things for the children, said Mallory Morton, Palace’s children’s pastor.
“We have a pre-show which involves a lot of our children from our children’s ministry department,” Morton said. “We have different people involved as far as every age group, from little kids to older people that we have involved in our play. That, in turn, brings out every age group of an audience, so it appeals to all ages.”
And Morton’s daughter, Maggie, is the central character in this year’s “Sounds of Christmas” production.
“It’s really going to bring out every emotion from the audience,” Morton said. “It’s about a 9-year-old little girl named Ellie, which is actually played by Maggie Morton. In the play, Ellie is using her faith the size of a mustard seed to share with those around her the message of hope at Christmas.”
Mallory Morton said Maggie is excited to be playing a key role in this year’s production.
“This is something that is new to her,” Morton said. “She doesn’t have any experience in theater, but she has taken it on and you would never know it. She just loves being able to be onstage but most importantly, I think she’s excited to see the lives that might possibly be changed through the message of this play this year.”
Over the years he has done “Sounds of Christmas,” West is excited most about the lives which have been changed through it.
“People tell me they’ve been touched,” West said. “They find a relationship with Jesus Christ and give their hearts and lives to Jesus. They find hope and their lives are transformed. It’s just amazing to see.”
Which might be another reason “Sounds of Christmas” has become such a success.
“One thing that’s always stood out with the Christmas play is how it has grown, and how that people have started making it their family tradition,” Faughn said. “They come back year after year. … People come back and they look forward to it every year. They just make it part of their Christmas season and their family tradition to come out and enjoy the play as a family. And it has become a real staple in our community to bring people together.”
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