Good News: An Easter Pageant

This is a digital product. At the time of purchase, you will download a ZIP file. No products will be shipped to you.

Good News: An Easter Pageant is designed to meet your Easter pageant needs. It is designed to be an expandable, shrinkable, pre-recordable, Zoom-able, intergenerational pageant that can be adapted to your setting, no matter what is happening in the world.

Participants will journey through some of Jesus’ life and ministry, to the despair of his death, and then to the Good News of the resurrection. They will discover how the good news of Jesus is often bad news for those who would like to accumulate power over others. But in the end, death was not the end of Jesus! We witness how Jesus lives. His message of love and justice gives us hope. Bad news, tragedy, and sorrow do not have the final word!

This script does not depict a story of penal substitutionary atonement. Nor will you find themes where God is required to kill Jesus to satisfy a need for wrath and blood. This script outlines the way in which Jesus upended corrupt systems of power. Because of his power, popularity, and message, those systems retaliated. This script emphasizes the ways in which the Good News of the Easter story gives us hope and inspires us to create a world reflecting the Risen Christ.

What comes with the Good News: An Easter Pageant?

• A How-To Guide: This guide will help you figure out how to use and direct your Easter pageant in a way that fits the needs of your congregation and community. It asks you questions about how you plan on making your pageant happen and offers suggestions to help you tailor it to your community.

• Pageant Planning Guide: This planning guide lists Scene Cards, Characters, and Image Backgrounds in one place. We have also provided extra space to write notes, thoughts, casting ideas, visual and sound effects, and anything else you dream up, so your pageant goes smoothly.

• Script: This screenplay contains elements and suggestions to help your pageant succeed, whether it is performed in-person or virtually, and is written to provide various roles for all ages and reading levels. It is also broken down into distinct scenes, so it is simple to cast and organize by families and locations if need be.

• Scene Cards: You can use the ten scene cards to announce transitions and set new locations as each scene begins. You might also use them during video editing if you’re creating a movie version of this pageant. Additionally, there is a Title scene card and a Copyright scene card (which includes the necessary copyright and attribution information).

• Image Backgrounds: Eight beautiful illustrations have been created to help enhance your pageant and fill in some places that you might want some added scenery. You can use them as a Zoom background or with a green screen.

• Media Kit: We have included graphics to help you advertise your pageant on social media, in emails, and on your website and newsletter.

How can I learn more?

We created a Pop-Up Facebook Group for our Easter Pageant, and we hope it will be a supportive space for people to share ideas, brainstorm together, and learn from one another. The group will only be active during certain parts of the year. You can request to join the group here.

You might also consider picking up our Illustrated Resurrection Set to add additional possibilities and creativity to your pageant.

Purchase details:

After completing your purchase, you’ll instantly receive a link to download a ZIP file. Once you unzip the file, you’ll find the PDF with your planning guide and script, another PDF with just the script, and then folders for the Media Kit, Scene Cards, and Image Backgrounds.

FAQ

If you haven't had a chance to download the sample yet, please do so! It will answer most of the questions you probably have about putting on a virtual pageant! You can download a sample here!

Here are a few frequently asked questions that we wanted to give you some quick responses to:

What was your theological approach to the story of Jesus' death and resurrection?

Any retelling of the Jesus story is complex and layered with our own cultural and theological perspectives. In this script, we took care to create an experience that is faithful to the story, appropriate for all ages, theologically sound, and progressive. We wrote a pageant for an intergenerational cast and audience, telling the Easter story in age-appropriate ways. There is no depiction or description of the crucifixion, no description of violence, and no gore.

While many retellings of the Easter story lean into anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic tropes, we recognize how the life and teachings of Jesus reflect the beauty of his Jewish identity and community ideals. In this retelling, neither Judas nor Jewish faith leaders are blamed for the crucifixion of Jesus.

How long is the script?

A group of us did a table reading and it took about 30 minutes to read through the script. So it's safe to estimate your pageant would be about 30-40 minutes long.

How many people do I need for the pageant?

You can put on this pageant with as few or as many people as you want! Because of the benefits of digital media, there is no minimum cast for this pageant. One person could conceivably perform all the parts. The ideal virtual cast could be between 20 and 40 people in about 6-10 different homes.

Can I put my finished product online (Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)?

Absolutely! You can read detailed information about your license on the copyright page, but yes, you may broadcast your pageant and/or post a video of your pageant online. We ask that you credit Illustrated Ministry for the creation of Good News: An Easter Pageant. You may want to use our Copyright Scene Card or use the provided info to create your own.

We also ask that you not share any portion of the copyrighted material from your purchase online or with the general public. This includes the script itself, planning documents, or digital image backgrounds.