Christian Puppetry is a continually emerging form of entertainment and ministry. Though puppetry itself has existed for thousands of years, the modern Christian form is relatively new. The Muppets gave puppetry a whole new look and life in the mid-twentieth century. "Puppet-fever" engulfed Americans. With the new public interest in puppetry, both in America and worldwide, Christians began to see the potential in this art form.

Beginning then and continuing to this day, churches in nearly every Christian denomination have started small puppet groups. Usually such groups' purpose is to serve their own children's ministry programs, but some reach outside their own walls, performing for other churches or secular venues. Some teams travel internationally to third-world countries, where children and adults have neither experienced this kind of entertainment, nor heard about Jesus Christ.

Christian Puppetry has grown so large that thousands of performers gather yearly at festivals to showcase, share, and learn more about their art form. One of the largest Christian puppet supplies distributors, One Way Street, hosts regional festivals to serve church teams, as well as a world-wide festival (I-Fest), lasting an entire week.

Recent Trends

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Though rod-arm puppetry continues to be the most common technique in Christian circles, some other forms have begun to gain popularity. Two of these are listed below.

Blacklight Puppetry

Blacklight Puppetry capitalizes on the novelty of ultra-violet lights, or blacklights. Lighting the staging area with only these specialized lights, the audience can see only the objects that are coated with a special paint. The idea of controlling what the audience sees is a major responsibility of any puppeteer, and blacklight has provided a new way of accomplishing it.

Dowel Rod

Dowel Rod Puppetry combines interpretive dance and the use of (typically) two simple dowels. This style has been popularized and widely taught by Jeff Smith and adapted by churches across America. Routines usually involve a song that tells a story or conveys a message while performers move in a choreographed dance, employing their rods in equally choreographed ways.

External links

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• Small Lutheran Team, Smiling Duck Puppet Troupe
• Christian Puppet Supplier, One Way Street
• The Muppets
• Puppet Resources, a free on-line site where Christians upload their favorite puppet scripts for other users to borrow and perform.
• Kidology Children's Ministry site with an emphasis on puppetry, run by Karl Bastian.
• Puppets and Stuff a free pro-puppetry location with a large base of puppet scripts, many of them Christian.
• Puppet2Puppet Puppet Plays] a free site offering Christian plays for Puppet Ministry
• Cool Kids Ministries] has a nice Puppet Ministry section

Christian art | Puppetry