Theatre to host interactive worship drama

Jason Taylor, a youth director at Second Reformed Church, Pella, Iowa, and a member of the traveling worship team Happy the Dog Ministries, will present “An Evening of Hymns and Scriptures” on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. in the England Theatre at Northwestern College. Community members are invited to the free event; seating is first-come, first-served.

Audience members can expect an evening of interactive biblical drama, storytelling and singing. Taylor has experience as both an actor—performing solo shows—and worship leader. Content for “An Evening of Hymns and Scriptures” grew from worship workshops he’s been leading at Second Reformed Church for several years.

During a portion of the show, Taylor will be joined on stage by Northwestern sophomore Brianne Hassman, Spencer, Iowa, to perform a Bible story in Gullah, a creole language spoken by American slaves of West African descent. The story will be drawn from “De Nyew Testament,” a Gullah translation of Scripture that Northwestern theatre professor Jeff Barker describes as “a great struggle to read but an immediate delight to hear.”

Taylor is married to Andrea Jo (Brummel), a 2003 graduate of Northwestern College and service coordinator at Second Reformed Church. They both were members of the college’s summer theatre touring company in 2002.