June 2005

Contents of this issue of the Joan K. Snipes e-newsletter:
- Biblical Productions by Cavalli and Watson;
- upcoming Bible workshops in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Dear Readers,

In April I had the privilege of seeing Alex Cavalli's dramatic Bible presentations -- "Paul, Face to Face" and "The Gospel According to St. John." Dr. Cavalli, a physicist from Austin, Texas, performed in both Alexandria, Virginia and in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Comments I heard after the performances included "amazing," "stupendous," "magnificent," and "delightful."

I found the one-man play of "The Gospel According to St. John" to be especially compelling. The copyrighted script includes about 45% of the Gospel, but seems very complete in the presentation. Cavalli and his producer, Joe Ann Watson, used the King James Version for their text, but carefully and thoughtfully edited it. I came away with a whole new appreciation for the Fourth Gospel.

For example, I never before noticed that the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus to death. As the Evangelist notes, this decision resulted because: "by reason of him [Lazarus] many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus." (See John 12:10, 11.)

Another thing that stood out to me in Cavalli's printed program and his performance were the seven signs: turning the water to wine in Cana, healing the nobleman's son in Cana, healing the man at the pool of Bethesda, feeding the multitude, walking on water, healing in Jerusalem the man born blind, and raising Lazarus at Bethany. Five of those seven signs are unique to John's Gospel. Bible scholar Raymond Brown calls the portion of the Gospel text after the prologue "the Book of Signs." (See p. CXXXIX, in Brown's "Gospel According to John" from the Anchor Bible series.) I find use of the word "sign" satisfying because of its link with the Hebrew people's question, "What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee?" (John 6:30)

Cavalli's presentation does not include the appearance of Jesus to his disciples at the sea of Tiberias when he charged Peter to "Feed my sheep." Chapter 21 of John's Gospel is considered a "supplement" and is regarded by some scholars as a later addition to the Gospel. (See Benson Y. Landis, "An Outline of the Bible: Book by Book," p. 118.) This fact was another new bit of information for me.

The Evangelist spells out his purpose in writing the Fourth Gospel in these stirring verses from the end of chapter 20: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

The Cavalli and Watson productions reflect years of Bible research, spiritual insight, practice and experience. They are a truly unique and wonderful way to help people become more biblically literate. I cannot imagine anyone not learning something new during one of these presentations, and, for some, experiencing Scripture in this way might be a life-changing experience.

Might you consider bringing Alex Cavalli to your community to perform? Doing so involves a fair amount of planning and organization, but what a meaningful gift for your friends and neighbors. Cavalli has been performing John's Gospel around the country for 15 years, yet relatively few people have had the opportunity to actually attend one of these brilliant performances.

The ad hoc committee with which I worked in the Washington, DC area did a super job of finding venues, designing an invitation, handling finances and getting the word out. If you have questions about how to approach such an undertaking, I am happy to talk with you. Since our activity was also a success financially, our DC-area committee will give $300 seed money to another group wanting to bring Alex Cavalli to their area. Please contact me for details on this first-come, first-served offer.

To learn more about Alex Cavalli and his performances, please see his website at www.biblicalvoices.com.

UPCOMING BIBLE WORKSHOPS

In June I will be conducting Bible workshops in Elyria, Ohio; Lansing, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana. Please email me for details.

An Arkansas Sunday School teacher and workshop attendee recently wrote: "Thank you so very much for a most practical and productive 3 hours. I learned lots and have only just begun to dig into the wealth of info in your book. I'm very grateful to our Board at church for making your workshop available to our members."

If your church is interested in sponsoring a Bible workshop, I am currently booking dates for both the late summer and fall.

Yours truly,

Joan Koelle Snipes

Volume 5; No. 3
Published six times a year by:
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