Jessica Wright
During this Easter season, the Rome Passion Play was, yet again, a beautiful reenactment of the life of Christ that has reached thousands of people every year. The play, performed by volunteers from North Rome Church of God and the community and sponsored entirely by countless organizations and citizens around Rome, displays Jesus’ story spanning from His birth to His resurrection. Though the music was incredibly powerful and the scenes were both creative and engaging, North Rome Church made the focus solely on the greatness and holiness of Jesus Christ and what God did for His people through His Son.
A full band and choir, directed by Barry Garland, were on stage during the entirety of the play, playing and singing to music that went directly with the scenes being acted out. I watched the choir members intently and could not help but be immediately moved by the way they openly and joyfully worshipped as the actors and actresses portrayed both Jesus’ biggest joys and his biggest hurts. Throughout the entire night, shouts were echoed in excitement, hands were raised in adoration, tears were shed in awe and, inevitably, hundreds of lives were changed.
According to Terry Addis, pastor of North Rome Church, 217 people gave their lives to Christ during the eight shows performed on the weekends of March 21-23 and March 27-30. In a Facebook post after the March 31 performance, Addis commented that over 300 people were involved in creating the Rome Passion Play while 7,000-8,000 people were in attendance and 3,600 people watched livestream performances. He added how blessed he felt to be a part of the entire process.
“So thankful to be the pastor of North Rome Church of God and an amazing group of wonderful people!” Addis expressed on Facebook. “Words fail to adequately thank Barry Garland and everyone who worked so faithfully and cooperatively to enable us to impact Rome, Ga., with the good news!”
Senior business administration major Jillian Lance has been involved with the Rome Passion Play for two years, and this year she played Claudia, Pilate’s wife, along with various other roles. Lance said the impact the play makes year after year on so many people is worth every minute she spent.
“I think it was humbling to be a part of being able to tell the story of Jesus to so many people, and it was really rewarding to know that many people gave their lives to Jesus,” said Lance. “It made all the work and countless hours preparing and performing all worth it.”
Lance said it was not only the music and content that made the play such a compelling performance but also the atmosphere the volunteers created from start to finish.
“Every person involved in the play is passionate about it, whether they are cleaning up after, working on set, being a greeter or playing Jesus,” Lance commented. “It just holds a special place in everyone’s heart at our church.”
According to Lance, North Rome’s Outreach Program did an entire performance for 100 homeless people after feeding them dinner. Lance said 20 people stood up during the call to salvation that night.
“Just knowing that some of those people go from having nothing to gaining everything… That one performance would have made it worth everything,” Lance said.
