
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991                   TAG: 9103310080
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SALISBURY, MD.                                LENGTH: Short

CHURCH GIVES PASSION PLAY FOR PARKED

Maryland motorists can see the Passion play without leaving their cars.

The Salisbury Baptist Temple is staging a drive-in production Wednesday through tonight. On some nights, up to 300 cars roll in.

"People come that won't go to church," said Pastor Oren Perdue. "If they want to light up a cigarette, they're in their own cars. It's like being in their own houses."

"We used to do a sunrise service for Easter, but one year we got rained out and we thought, `All that work for one shot,' " he said last week. "So, three years ago, we started this."

Worshipers can see a spot-lit Jesus on the cross while the words of the play are broadcast on their car radios. About 85 people participate in the play, which lasts a little more than an hour.

The play re-enacts the Passion of Jesus: the triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, the betrayal, the trial, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and the Ascension.

by CNB