Christian Puppetry

[dsarver]

I second that! Very well put.

 

[JoeyMuppet]

I'm in favor of universal truth.

Same here...

 

[ravagefrackle]

I like Buck tend to avoid discusions of this subject , but from a purely secular point of veiw involving only performance , here are my thoughts.

Puppetry in my veiw is often considered a lesser art by lay people of all walks of life, People tend to view it as a "Childs" activity so it is rarely given the thought and respect it deserves.

in general the puppet ministry work i have seen is done by well meaning but less than talented puppeteers, the simple truth is , they are doing this for the most part on a voulenteer basis,and i cant fault them for trying to get thier message(what ever that maybe) out,But even as a kid , i knew bad puppet stuff when i saw it.

But its not just Puppetministry people who are guilty of this, lots of people do bad "puppetry".just look at some of the stuff on Youtube, or Basic cable, heck even on some local public television stations, Their is a reason the big budget puppet shows are very selective about who they hire to puppeteer.

Unfortunetly , i do not think that much can be done to sovle this, unless all of these different Religions (be they christian or any other denominations) are willing to spend the time and money necessary to train better performers, write better shows, and build or buy better puppets.

just my thoughts ,

 

[rtgentry]

I have been doing puppets in church for about a year. I had a guy help me at one point . Since then I am still solo. I use a human to interact with. Or just use them to MC certain things. Or to make announcements. I also use them to tell stories to the kids.

Truth is churchs wont spend the money on PRO Puppets due to that not being the point of the ministry. Untill builders start offering better prices for them maybe they shouldnt knock them so much.

 

[rtgentry]

I buy all my puppets and use them at church. I dont expect them to purchase them. I wouldnt want to share anyways lol

 

[ravagefrackle]

I have been doing puppets in church for about a year. I had a guy help me at one point . Since then I am still solo. I use a human to interact with. Or just use them to MC certain things. Or to make announcements. I also use them to tell stories to the kids.

Truth is churchs wont spend the money on PRO Puppets due to that not being the point of the ministry. Untill builders start offering better prices for them maybe they shouldnt knock them so much.

justa personal opinion here, but ,most builders can not and should not lower their prices just so a ministry can use them, we builders are spending just as much time on puppets that will be used in a secular shows as we are in ones aimed at a particular religion.
its a little unfair to blame pro builder for lack of quality in a show.The mas produced puppets that most people can afford to buy for use in the ministry show can be manipulated in a proffesional way , it just takes practice, and skill, and talent to do so.

unless the builder is interested in supporting a ministries work, in that case more power to him,

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Personally, I think the cost of puppets is irrelevant. I just helped a school here in Mexico do a big 20 minute science-based show that involved about 40 puppets of cells, insects and a giant 20 foot long caterpillar that morphed in to ten butterflies. The teacher spent about $35 on materials and it looked great.

It does require creativity, but lots of people do great puppet shows with very little money. Look at The Rag Show, you could do that with a couple of sticks, scissors, glue and access to a photocopy machine.

 

[wes]

I always agonize over discussing this subject, because on the one hand I don't want to attack someone's grandmother or a group of teenagers doing puppetry in a church basement for Sunday school, but on the other hand I would really like to see the artistic standards of the medium raised.

I know I"m guilty of crenging at this site but I have to remember that,they are doing the best they can with what they got, over the years I have learn to not be a Puppet snob as my sister would call me. The best way I deal with these situations is to offer my help and most people say sure, go ahead and we have fun with it.

Here's a little true story:

I will never forget the time my I went with my grandparents and their friend to one of their friends church, he was the pastor and had grew up with my family. They found out that I was coming and at that time I was at the end of my Senior year in school and doing alot of Puppet Classes arounnd the state.

They knew I was comming and they put on a puppet show for us. It was horrible, they used the bapitismal as a puppet stage (which is cool I had to use that to and many people do!) you could see heads, hands, and arms. They flip the puppets around like rag dolls, lips sync was non-exsitant! Everyone on my pew leaned over and looked at me with smile and I fakingly smile back not to show my horror.

My Grandmother reach over and squezed my nee and patting it as to say "it will be over in a littile while." Later the people came up to me and asked me how I like it, I didn't want to hurt any feelings! I told them a Lye! I said it was good and a good song that they might want to wotk on their lip sync just a littile. When we got to the car to go home, I wasn't going to say anything but my Grandparents friend couldn't hold it in, "That was the worst display of puppetry I have ever seen!" and then My Grandparents add their thoughts but we all agreed that their ententions were good and pure.

I think from then on I decided that i would offer help to any church that needed puppetry on some scale. It really is different at every church.

 

[ravagefrackle]

Personally, I think the cost of puppets is irrelevant. I just helped a school here in Mexico do a big 20 minute science-based show that involved about 40 puppets of cells, insects and a giant 20 foot long caterpillar that morphed in to ten butterflies. The teacher spent about $35 on materials and it looked great.

It does require creativity, but lots of people do great puppet shows with very little money. Look at The Rag Show, you could do that with a couple of sticks, scissors, glue and access to a photocopy machine.

i agree with you thier , its true you can do a lot with less, but most of the Ministry shows i have seen are using the old Hand and rod puppets, ,

 

[dkmontgomery]

I Can Relate

I agree that we must do the best with what we have. However; I also agree that puppet builders should not drop their prices to where they are giving away their work. Everybody would like to be able to buy something for nothing. I know that much time goes into professional puppets. There are some builders out there; however, that offer some great puppets at great prices that work well in church. Agian, as it has already been stated, it takes practice and technique to make any puppet useful regardless of the setting of the presentation whether secular or church. You can spend alot of money on a character, but that doesn't mean it will be successful. I saw a guy at a convention some years ago utilize a basic Rat puppet (with no legs) outside of a puppet stage. I was a bit sceptical at first (he was not a ventriloquist) but his technique and routine brought this character to life. It was amazing.

We should all strive to improve in quality and technique. I for one feel that churches should see puppet ministry and kids programs as more than just a second hand ministry. I feel anything that goes on for kids is as important as what goes on with the adults. Let's do our best regardless of the venue.