The message of Easter is conveyed in a special way each year in the tiny Marlin Coun tv
community of Farm Life.
By Sheilfi Tnnuig>
The Message of Easier attracts more than 20,000 people to
Piney Grove Missionary Baptist CJiurdi in Farm Ufe each Faster.
In a Williamston barbershc
Billy Peel snips a wayward strand
of hair from a customer's head
and gives ihe barber's chair a deft
twist. Twelve miles away, in a house
across from the Piney Grove Mis¬
sionary Baptist Church. Nancy Man¬
ning leans over her Singer sewing
machine, stitching a band of cloth to
the hem of a child's robe. Mean¬
while, Jimmy Griffin discs a rich low¬
land field.
Peel, Manning and Griffin will
soon leave their daily jobs behind
and transform themselves into Pon¬
tius Pilot, the Virgin Mary and Jesus
for an 1 1-day Easter stint.
Odd goings on? Not if you live in Farm
Life. North Carolina.
It's business as usual here as 130 church
members from Piney Grove Missionary
Baptist Church prepare to stage one of
eastern North Carolina's most popular
passion plays — in a most unlikely loca¬
tion.
It’s tempting to say their outdoor
drama. The Message of Faster, has put the
community of Farm Life on the map.
Tempting, but not true. Even though
more than 20,000 people will make the
pilgrimage to Farm Life lor The Message
of Easter this April, the community is so
small it doesn't even show up on most
Martin County maps.
So what makes this isolated show so
popular? “It's because of its simplicity and
its sincerity," says Nancy Manning, who
plays Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Like most other cast members. Man¬
ning has no formal training in drama,
although she has played the role of Mary
since the play's inception in 1980. She
jokes that she joined the cast in self-
defense. The first year of the production,
the play's author and director. E.T. Tay¬
lor. asked Manning and her husband if he
could stage the narrated drama in their
front yard. “(The yard) was right in front
of the church, and it was big." she
explains. "I became involved because the
play is in our yard. It was either join or l>e
overwhelmed."
It turns out the Mannings' yard wasn't
quite big enough. Three hundred spec¬
tators sat shoulder to shoulder on quilts
spread across the lawn that first night.
After the final performance that season,
the Mannings began casting about for a
larger performance space. "We have a
field over to one side that we used to raise
corn in.” she says. “And we decided we’d
do better raising Christians."
The field, now known locally as
•Jerusalem South." has been home to the
production ever since.
The Message of Faster apparently took
root in fertile soil. As its reputation has
grown, so have its audiences. And so has
the cost of staging the show. As a result,
the 200-member Piney Grow Missionaty
Baptist Church liegan hosting a flea mar¬
ket each weekend before Thanksgiving to
raise funds. The first major item on their
wish list? Bleachers, about $50,000 worth.
Those went up in Jerusalem South a lew-
years ago.
“We're buying lighting
equipment this year,” Man¬
ning says. “We spent from
$ 1 6.000 to $18,000 this year.
But we made about $9,000."
The difference will be made
up from money saved from
flea markets past. “We
haven't bought anything
since we bought the bleach¬
ers." she says. "We’ve been
very blessed."
Besides raising operating
cash, industrious church
members help keep the pro¬
duction's overhead to a min¬
imum. Manning's husband, S.F... takes
care of the sets. A gardener in the church
has created a New World version of the
Garden of Gcthsemanc within Jerusalem
South's borders. But since Eastei often
falls at a time when even the most mira¬
cle-minded gardeners have little in
bloom, some flowers used in the produc¬
tion are silk.
“The men will bring in background
trees and that sort of thing." Manning
adds.
( >tlier technical aspects of the sh< >w tail
under the jurisdiction of other c hurch
members. "Wo have so many talents in
our church." she says. “We have electri¬
cians and computer expei is. . . . Another
lady and I are seamstresses, and we made-
all the costumes."
Initially. Manning admits, they found
the notion of whipping up 130 Biblical
costumes somewhat daunting. “In the
I >eginning. it was quite a bit of work," she
says. “But now we just have to add a band
on the liottom as the children grow up."
Even so. gearing up lor production is
hard work. “It takes a great deal of time."
she says. "We* usually work about every
Saturday beginning in February. We
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