Good News - October 2019

26 OCTOBER 2019 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition COVER STORY THE FORT LAUDERDALE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT OVERTHEYEARS BEGINNING IN 1983, THIS IS THE 36TH YEAR FIRST BAPTIST FORT LAUDERDALE WILL PRESENT THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT TO SOUTH FLORIDA AUDIENCES. VOLUNTEER CAST • The cast and crew together total over 675 volunteers. • There are 145 singers in the Pageant Choir • The Orchestra is comprised of 28 musicians • Everyone performing on stage is an active member of the church, giving their time, talent and treasure. ANIMAL ACTORS • The camels practice their route 2 months prior to the show opening. • The donkeys can remember their routes after running through it twice WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE • Over 1.2 million have attended the show. • There have been 534 performances in 35 years. • In 1984 the first Christmas Pageant had 5000 total in attendance with only 3 shows. • In 2018, the 35th year of the Christmas Pageant, there were 38,409 in attendance over 15 shows. • The farthest patron to see the show came all the way from China. • Broadcast on public television stations for 20 years. • Aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). AWARDS • Three Emmy Awards • One Telly Award • Two Communicator Crystal Awards PASTORS AND PRODUCERS • 1984-1993 Pastor OS Hawkins and Pageant Coordinator Sandy Casteel • 1994-2016 Pastor Larry Thompson and Creative Director Jeff Crevier • Currently Pastor James Welch and Programming Director David Gross ABOUT FIRST BAPTIST FORT LAUDERDALE • Currently, First Baptist FTL has over 6,000 members. • More than 70 nationalities are represented. • Services are available in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and American Sign Language. • The Sunday Worship Experience includes 9 a.m. Sunday School and 10:30 a.m. Sunday Worship. • The auditorium seats 2,550 people. FEEDING THE TROUPE • More than 80 lbs of popcorn is consumed by the cast during the three week run in the green room. • About 675 cast meals are prepared in between the matinee and the evening performance on the three Saturday show days. • Over 6000 chocolate chip cookies are sold over the three weeks. www.ChristmasTickets.com David Gross Photocredit: TorreyRoberts