The Sunday Morning Puppeteers: A Behind-the-Scenes Look

     Every Sunday morning, College Church member Heather Rollins, her youthful puppeteers, and puppets Jimmy, Susie, and Frizzy, team up to present entertaining but valuable spiritual lessons during Children’s Worship. How do they do it?
     Before going behind the scenes to find out, here’s some College Church puppet history. Former member Craig Russell created the names and personalities of the puppets in his scripts for Children’s Bible Hour on Sunday nights. In 2012, after the demise of Bible Hour, the scripts found a home in Children’s Worship, where the antics and lessons of Jimmy, Susie, and Frizzy live on (in sometimes updated form).
     Heather Rollins became involved in 2015 as coach of the puppeteers. She eventually became coordinator of the Lads-to-Leaders Year-Round Puppets program (YRPP). Children’s Worship presented the perfect opportunity for puppeteers to perform regularly and receive recognition from L2L. Last April, Elizabeth Crouch, Lincoln Green, Reed Green, Abby Guy, Easton Mitchell, Kage Mitchell, Katelyn Brooks, Jordan Laing, Maddie Rollins, LJ Valentine, and Claire Wang were all recognized for their work at the Lads-to-Leaders convention.
     Their success owes a lot to Heather’s behind-the-scenes preparation. She helps students who sign up for the YRPP, which rewards participants based on the number of puppet shows they are in during the year. Ten shows earns a bronze prize, 20, a silver, and 30 gets the gold.
     Each week, she records who performs in the show. The second-to-last week of each month, she sends an email asking YRPP parents to provide the dates of their child’s availability the following month. On Thursday of each week, she assesses all the data—available children, those who need to do a show, and how many parts are in the script—and assigns the puppeteers accordingly. Then she sends an email to the parents with the scripts and assigned roles. For good measure, she names an alternate and sends a reminder text on Sunday morning.
     Heather’s pre-Sunday organization blesses the puppeteers as much as the audience. Kage Mitchell likes puppets because it's a different way to tell people about Jesus. Like L.J. Valentine, Kage believes young kids sometimes connect better to a silly puppet than a speech. Humor is a big factor. Claire Wang loves hearing the audience laugh, and Lily Crouch thinks that young kids respond better to fun things. Easton Mitchell feels his puppets are an extension of his personality (the energetic Frizzy). Others, like Elizabeth Crouch, assume different personalities through puppets and thereby lose their nervousness.
     The puppet program has grown in numbers, and having puppeteers of up to seven years experience has improved the quality of shows. With experience comes opportunity for leadership. Heather has added the position of backstage manager, so that selected students have the responsibility of setting up shows. She hopes that one day she will be able to pass the puppet baton to some of them!
     It’s a blessing to have Heather and her charges do this behind-the-scenes work each week. If the smiles of the kids in Children’s Worship are any indication, the effort is well worth it.