Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993 TAG: 9306110113
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By THERESA HUMPHREY
DATELINE: ELKTON, MD. LENGTH: Medium
Just ask Jim and Bonnie Blank, who travel to churches of all denominations throughout Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania with their cast of puppets and volunteers known as the Kingdom Karacters.
"We feel like maybe somebody will listen to what the puppets might say when they might not listen to a Sunday school teacher or a grown person," Mrs. Blank said.
The couple, who own a real estate agency in Elkton, have been involved with the puppets for two years. But the idea to teach children about devoting their life to Christ began six years ago when their 23-year-old daughter Diana was killed in a car accident.
"I guess Diana's death was the key that got both of us thinking about being saved. Bonnie and I had been going to church, but we were backsliders," Blank said.
Borrowing on the Muppets concept, the puppet troupe could hardly go wrong trying to grab the attention of a restless audience.
They rock the rafters when Herschel the puppet does a spin off of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" with "Read It," referring to the Bible. A blue-faced, bewigged George Washington commands attention when he says, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible," before breaking into his rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
"Baby" lets loose with her best vocals on "America the Beautiful," interspersed with Scripture read by "Louie the Pastor" about God creating heaven and Earth.
The Blanks' unconventional approach to the Gospel doesn't stop with puppets. Mrs. Blank also does Christian-based clowning and Blank is getting involved with ventriloquy.
Randy Benefield, operations manager for One Way Street, a puppet and children's ministry supply company in Englewood, Colo., said Christians are increasingly turning to unconventional methods to spread the Gospel because of competition with television.
"They are discovering that puppets are the way to go to accomplish that attention-getting teaching and it's fun even for adults," Benefield said.
One Way Street conducts Christian puppet festivals and weekend training workshops throughout the United States. Attendance has grown steadily over the years.
The Fellowship of Christian Puppeteers was formed in 1976 by members of the Puppeteers of America, who wanted Christian-oriented scripts to use for their shows, said Robert Cipperly of Spartanburg, S.C., the group's treasurer. Based in Englewood, Colo., the group has about 300 members nationwide.
Although the Puppeteers of America had learned technique and production from some of the nation's best puppeteers, they "had nothing in the line of scripts and organized programs in teaching the Christian vein because they were afraid they would offend some other people," Cipperly said.
by CNB