Glorious Tidings

'His 2000th Birthday' aims to send timely message of God's love
By Suzanne P. Campbell
Staff Reporter

Homeward Bound Theatre Company of Chanhassen will present a holiday production, "His 2000th Birthday", a one-hour show sponsored by Colonial Church at Heritage Square and Westwood Community Church.

"Our church is very committed to outreach," said Pastor Cindy Shepherd of Colonial Church. "So instead of putting on our own Christmas pageant as usual, we wanted to do something that would impact others in the community this year.

"Some of the students in our church have been involved with Bruce Kirkpatrick and his Homeward Bound program and I've known John Prin, the author of the play, for years," Shepherd continued. "When I heard they were collaborating on this Christmas play I contacted Bruce. We asked to sponsor a Chanhassen production."

"Out church mission board purchased 100 tickets, which we provided to our members so they could invite friends in the community," said Shepherd. "We hope that people will receive the Christmas message, not as a dusty old story that happened 2,000 years ago, but with a contemporary flair that points out its relevance for today."

"My heart for 'His 2000th Birthday' was to broaden the focus of most Christmas dramas," said author John Prin of Edina, who is a former Hollywood screenwriter. "I wanted to expand beyond the birth of Jesus to look at God's ultimate plan of redemption."

The play opens in heaven with the decision to send Jesus as Savior to the world. It then moves to Bethlehem where a man named Obadiah and his children are, like Mary and Joseph, seeking a place to stay. The two families meet in the Bethlehem stable. Fast forward 2000 years. The same characters, now a model family, are getting ready for the Christmas Eve service. The oldest daughter, Abby, is pregnant, unmarried and reluctant to go with them because of her situation. Both worlds unite when Abby meets Mary and a miracle occurs.

"This play sends a message of God's love for all people of all ages," said Prin.

Kirkpatrick, who is managing director and co-founder of Homeward Bound Theatre Company along with his wife Donna, is producing the play. He and Prin met through Media Fellowship, a local group of Christian media professionals.

According to Kirkpatrick the group's name represents the two facets of their mission, turning people homeward toward Christ and returning to the values of home and family.

"Initially, Homeward Bound was formed as a ministry to creatively impact the world for Christ," said Kirkpatrick. "But fairly quickly we realized that our focus on positive relationships and family values fit well with school programming so we set up a non-sectarian educational division. We work with community education classes in 60 school districts doing after-school programming. Right now we are one of the largest providers of educational programming in the Twin Cities."

At schools throughout the seven state area, Homeward Bound uses trained actors, ages 15-19, to present programs on areas such as prevention of drug and alcohol use, sexual abstinence, anger management, suicide prevention and dealing with depression.

"The kids become actor/educators who do dramas, lyceum programs and lead classroom discussions," said Kirkpatrick.

"His 2000th Birthday" is a new venture for Homeward Bound. "Normally we don't sell tickets because we are sponsored through the schools," said Kirkpatrick, "but we have the professional actors. We see this production as timely and in keeping with our mission. If it goes well we may make other productions like this in the future."

Prin has an even broader dream. "In the next decade I would like to see this message of God's love presented throughout the nation," he said.