Puppet Ministry
The St. Andrew Puppet Group is a youth-focused ministry, with opportunities for parents and adults without children as well. The goals of this ministry are to:
Provide another way for youth and adults at our church to interact and get to know each other
Support Sunday worship
Encourage participants to have fun learning basic puppet skills
The St. Andrew Puppets perform about once every two months at the beginning of Sunday services. Usually, this will be the last Sunday of the month. To prepare for the performance, participants (and a parent or guardian) are required to attend one-hour practices on the two Sunday mornings preceding the performance.
During the summer months, practices are before the 10 am Sunday service. During September to May, when we have two services, practices are scheduled after the 11 am service.
FAQs about the St. Andrew Puppet Group
Do I need to bring a puppet—or know how to operate one? No puppets or puppet experience are needed. Puppets will be supplied at the first of the two rehearsals. Participants may take the puppets home after the first rehearsal and keep the puppet to practice with. Puppets are returned after the Sunday performance. You’ll learn everything you need to know about caring for and operating your puppet at the practices.
Is this a long-term commitment or can I do this on occasion with my child? There is no long-term commitment. Youth and adults can participate occasionally or regularly.
Is there an age limit? Because of the hand strength/coordination and attention involved, we’re currently limiting participation to individuals in grade three and older.
What if there is no young person in my family? Can I still be involved? Yes! Interested adults without children are welcome. To keep the focus on youth, we’ll prioritize giving hand puppets to our youngest puppeteers. Older youth who are comfortable using our larger puppets (rod puppets and one-armed puppets) can operate them. Parents of our youth participants are invited to help out if we need more puppeteers.
But, depending on the Sunday and how many people volunteer, there is often the need for other adults to operate the large puppets or to help wave signs or other props during performances. So, if you have no children participating you are still welcome to join us. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the young people in our congregation and their parents.
How do I sign up? If you would like to be involved, and you can commit to being at two Sunday morning practices before our performance, send an email to Steve Kramer (spkramer@comcast.net) with your name and the name(s) and ages of your child(ren), if applicable. Please also let me know which month you’d like to participate.
About a month before each performance, I’ll make a list of participants and send out email notifications. If there are more interested participants than we have puppets and props for, priority will be given to youth and adults who haven’t yet had a chance to participate. Then, the rest of the spots will be assigned to repeat participants who would like to be involved again. A rotating system like this allows us to give a wide range of people a chance to participate.
What if I still have questions? Feel free to contact Steve Kramer at the email address listed above.
Reflecting Jesus’ calling, we, the community of St. Andrew, proclaim that the gifts of God are for all, so we welcome and advocate for equity and justice for… All abilities and disabilities, All believers and unbelievers, All races and ethnicities, All religions and creeds, All gender identities and expressions, All countries of origin, All sexual orientations, All immigrants and refugees, All economic levels, All spoken and signed languages, All…no exceptions!