As fun as it is to watch kids grow as actors and actresses, there is nothing more exciting than seeing them grow and bloom in their spiritual walk. However, before you can become an effective spiritual leader to your drama troupe, YOU have to be at work on your own spiritual walk! Through prayer and your daily life, you must set an example of how to live as an actor and a minister that they can follow.

It all starts on your knees. Everything good that comes from God begins with prayer. Bathe the ministry in prayer. Pray before rehearsals. Pray after rehearsals. Pray before performances. Pray after performances. Have people outside the group pray for you. Pray before planning meetings and writing sessions.

In your private prayer times, pray for every member of your troupe: for their Christian walk, their witness at school, and their witness in drama. Write down special concerns and follow up on them.

Have a daily time of scripture reading, devotions, worship, and prayer. Share openly with the group members your spiritual struggles, triumphs, and learning experiences. Have an open heart to hear their own stories and experiences, and pray with them when they need it.

You should also establish one or more accountability relationships, where you meet weekly with one other person to discuss personal struggles and pray about them. You might even do accountability with one of the older kids in the drama troupe. However, if you do start accountability with one of the kids, make sure it is someone mature enough to keep everything you say confidential. And select someone of the same sex, since males and females deal with entirely different issues and struggles.

You will find there is a special bond that develops in the theatre because of the tremendous amount of trust required by the art form. The performers depend on each other to know their parts and hit every cue exactly the same way every time. If one person drops a line, the others ad lib or cover for them so the scene does not die.

The need for trust is even stronger during improvisation. When the performers trust each other, they are not afraid to take risks because they know their partner(s) will justify their moves. And the better the actors know each other, the easier it is to create a scene on their feet.

This kind of trust very often carries over off stage. Your drama kids may confide in you or their counterparts things they've never told anyone else. (And if my experience is typical, then be prepared for anything and everything!) They're going to depend on you to listen, to be their friend, to pray for them, and not to judge them. Pray that God will give you a willing heart and wisdom to fill whatever needs they might have.

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