Scene 1:

Gaius’ house in Corinth, where a Christian community is gathering for dinner and worship.

Attendees:
Gaius (Daniel Dietz) - a wealthy merchant
Quintilla  (Katherine Maddy) – Gaius’ wife
Erastus (Brandon Brush) - the City Treasurer of Corinth – Roman citizen, arrogant, pompous
Aquila (Daniel Fappiano) - a tentmaker – one of the leaders of the church, Jewish Christian
Ammia (Nicole Verrilli) – young daughter of Gaius and Quintilla
Marcus (Adam Brush) – household slave
Maximilla (Libby Corcoran) – Quintilla’s mother, older woman, crotchety

Narrator (Karla Maddy):  A gathering in one of the “household churches” of Corinth in the year 49 AD…

(While the narrator speaks, participants come in, each bringing something – bread (Quintilla), wine (Erastus), scrolls (Aquila), basket of fruit (Ammia) and set them on the table.  Quintilla busies herself at the table.  Erastus keeps to himself; Ammia chatters to Maximilla, who sits in a chair.  Gaius comes in reading a scroll.  Marcus comes in with cups and goes out again.  Each character acknowledges the congregation when the narrator refers to him/her.)

…at the house of Gaius, a well-to-do merchant and gentile, who has been a Christian since hearing Paul speak a year ago.  His wife Quintilla, his daughter Ammia, and his mother-in-law Maximilla, and their servant Marcus became followers of Christ soon after that.  Aquila is a Jewish Christian tentmaker. Paul stayed with Aquila and his wife Priscilla when he lived in Corinth.  Erastus is a wealthy and influential Roman citizen and treasurer of the city of Corinth who is new to the faith.

(Marcus comes hurrying in with a scroll)

Marcus:  Look everyone!  A messenger just brought a letter from Paul!  (he brings the scroll to Gaius)  I wish I could read it!

(Gaius puts his scroll aside to look at Paul’s letter.  All except Erastus (who hangs back a bit) and Maximilla (who stays seated) gather excitedly around the scroll – let’s see, what does it say?, wonderful, I can’t wait etc – Ammia jumping up and down to try and get a look at it)

Gaius:  Aquila can read it out loud to us after the meal.  Is everyone here?  I know Crispus is together with Chloe and her house…

Aquila:  Yes, and Stephanos and Fortunatus have gone to visit with our brothers and sisters in Rome, and from there they plan to travel to Paul in Ephesus.

Erastus:  Rome?  Are they crazy?  I thought Caesar threw out all the Christians! 

Aquila:  There are still some who worship in secret, and we reach more every day.

Ammia:  Isn’t that dangerous?  

Maximilla:  I suppose not, especially if you don’t mind ending up as lion kibble…

(everyone gasps, groans etc in disgust, Ammia looks scared)

Gaius:   Maximilla!

Quintilla:  (in a reassuring voice, hugging Ammia)  I’m sure they’ll be fine.  Paul has preached in some very dangerous places, and he’s not only still alive, but still spreading the good news about Jesus! Let’s have some supper.  Everyone sit down.  Marcus, would you serve the wine and water?  Ammia, put Paul’s letter in your father’s study till we’re ready to read it.

(Ammia takes scroll and walks out, looking at it as she goes.  Everyone else puts all the food etc under the table and then they go off and get coffee cups, munchkins.)

Scene 2:

Narrator:  Now we move to the year 2005.  It’s 10:30 on Sunday morning, and Katherine is leading a study group on Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  Today they are discussing Chapter 12, verses 12 through 27.

(Participants, Katherine first with the munchkins and a Bible, walk into room with cups of coffee in their hands.)

Nicole:  Mmmm, I love munchkins.  I just wish they weren’t so bad for you…

Libby:  (reaching in and grabbing one) There’s nothing bad about a munchkin!

Katherine:  Sit down, help yourselves – I see you all got coffee downstairs. 

Daniel D:  Yes, but it’s so crowded in Memorial Hall now.  There are too many new people.  It used to be I knew everyone who went to this church…we were all from Southington, knew everybody’s parents, kids…now I don’t know half of the people!  Did you know a lot of them are Catholic?

Adam:  And some of them have never been to church before…and I hear some families come from other towns!

Brandon:  Well, we do want to have a church that is open to everyone.  We can’t tell people they can only come if their parents were Congregational and they live in Southington.

Daniel D:  Oh, I didn’t mean…

Katherine:  (interrupting, hoping to get the class started)  Did you all have a chance to read Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians?

Adam:  I’d like to know what you did mean!

Daniel D. (defensively):  It’s just that some people just don’t feel comfortable with all these new people.  Not to mention that we had to add another contemporary service just to accommodate them.

Nicole:  At least they didn’t change the traditional service.  I hear some churches in California only have contemporary services!  I would miss singing the old hymns.

Libby:  Well, California….  They are different out there.

Danny:  I don’t mind the new people.  They bring new life to the church.  But it’s hard to meet all of them.  A lot go to the contemporary services – and even when I go to the contemporary services, I don’t always see the same people.

Katherine:  (desperately trying to get the bible study started)  Maybe we could start reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians to help us begin our discussion? 

Nicole:  Yes, of course.  I’ll start… (opening Bible)

Libby:  (reaching for the doughnuts) Just let me grab another munchkin first.

(Participants exchange coffee cups and munchkins for the food (two baskets and wine cups) under the table.  Ammia goes offstage to get scrolls.  Marcus “pours” wine as narrator reads…)

Scene 3:

Narrator:  Back in 49 AD, the Corinthians are sharing their meal of bread and wine – just as Jesus shared bread and wine with his disciples in the Upper Room.  In this Christian community, a servant has the same right to sit at the table as the city treasurer!  It is amazing, and sometimes unsettling, to them how Christians of all economic levels are equal in the eyes of the Lord.  At the same time, they do have difficulty resolving some of their differences…

Erastus:  (arrogantly)  Well, I think that Jewish law really has no place in this new Christian faith – there are Jews who think you can’t follow Christ unless you are circumcised!  That’s just ridiculous! (takes a drink)

Maximilla:  Paul teaches us to be like Jesus…and he was circumcised!

Erastus:  Yes, but Paul doesn’t mean…

Aquila:  What about the law of Moses?  Don’t you think the ten commandments have value in our faith?

Quintilla:  Of course they do!

Gaius:  How can we pick and choose which laws to follow and which to ignore?  We don’t even know all the laws, because we weren’t born Jews!

Erastus:  Exactly!  Therefore, we must make our own laws, based on Christ’s teachings!

Quintilla:  But all we know of Christ’s teachings we heard from Paul and from Aquila and Priscilla…do we know enough to make laws?

Aquila:  Paul says the only law that matters is the law of love.  That applies to EVERYONE.

Ammia (coming in with Paul’s letter):  Listen to this…I’m just learning to read, but it looks like Paul is telling us we are body parts!

Marcus:  Body parts?  That can’t be right!

Maximilla:  If Erastus were a body part he’d be the…

Quintilla:  Mother!  Aquila, what does Paul really say?

Marcus:  I want to hear about the law of love.  I think I know what you mean, but I’m not completely sure.

Aquila:  Let’s see…(concentrating on the scroll)

Gaius:  Didn’t Paul tell us that Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind?

Ammia:  Yes, I remember that!  And to love your neighbor as yourself!  Except I have trouble with that one because our neighbor is so ugly and gives me nasty looks whenever she sees me…

Quintilla:  Ammia, dear, I think “neighbor” means any person, not just someone who lives next door.

Ammia:  That’s even worse!

Aquila:  I think I’ve found what Ammia was reading.  Paul says we all have spiritual gifts, and everyone’s gift is not the same.  We are all part of the same Spirit, though, and need to use our gifts to help others.

Marcus:  But what about the body parts?

Aquila:  I’m getting to that…it’s a long letter, you know.

Erastus:  Maybe you should start from the beginning.

Maximilla:  No, I want to hear about the body parts first.

Erastus:  I need another glass of wine (pours himself another)…

Aquila:  (pointing to scroll) Actually, I think this section would be a good reading for our worship tonight.  Who would like to begin with prayer?

Gaius:  I prepared one.

Aquila:  Great!  Let us pray.

(all bow their heads in prayer until Narrator starts, then switch food/cups - except Nicole, who has to find the Bible reading)

Scene 4:

Narrator:  Almost 2000 years in the future, Nicole is about to read the advice of Paul to the Corinthians, just as the Aquila read it to the household of Gaius in Corinth in 49 AD.

Nicole:  (reading from 1 Corinthians 12:12-26)

Katherine:  So, what is this section about?

(all remain silent)

Daniel D.:  Okay, I’ll take a stab at it.  I think what Paul is saying is that we’re all the same in Christ.

Brandon:  No, it’s not saying we’re all the same – it’s saying we’re all different.  An eye isn’t the same as a foot.

Libby: But they’re both parts of the same body.

Danny: Right – so we’re not the same, but we all need to work together.  If one foot decides to go a different way from the other foot, the body would be in trouble, wouldn’t it?

Adam:  It would fall down.

Katherine:  Wait a minute.  Does that mean the whole body has to be in agreement?

Daniel D.:  Well, yeah…that would be good.

Brandon:  But how can an ear think like an eye?  They’ve got totally different points of view!  I mean, one can hear what’s being said, and the other can see what’s being said.

Nicole:  So if someone’s saying something mean, but smiling when they say it, the eye and the ear won’t agree on how to react.

Libby:  I get it.  But if the eye and the ear talk to each other, they might agree…

Adam:  Or NOT…

Daniel D.:  Okay, hold on.  Are we actually talking about body parts here, or people?

Katherine:  Both, I think.

Daniel D.:  But body parts send their information to the brain, and the brain makes the decision – not the body parts themselves.

Nicole:  That’s right – so it doesn’t matter what the different parts think.

Danny:  It does too matter, because they send their opinions – information – whatever – to the brain.

Adam:  But the brain makes the decision!

Libby:  I’m confused.

Katherine:  All right, who’s the head of the body, according to Paul?

Adam:  It doesn’t say.

Nicole:  Not here, but somewhere else it says that Christ is the head of the body.  Or maybe it’s that we’re all parts of the body of Christ, so Christ would be the head.

Brandon: How can Jesus make decisions about how we should act?  He’s not here to tell us.

Katherine:  But the Bible is here, and tells us a lot about what Jesus said and did.

Scene 5:

Narrator:  In Corinth, the household of Gaius is coming to the end of their worship time and their own discussion of Paul’s letter. 

Quintilla:  So Paul is saying we all have different talents and abilities…

Erastus:  And different opinions and experiences…

Ammia:  But we can all work together!

Marcus:  Because believing in Christ makes us one in His spirit.

Maximilla:  I don’t know.  Some Christians are just TOO different.  I know they are baptized and follow Christ the same as I do, but they’re more radical in their ideas.

Erastus:  And some are just too stuck in the mud…

Aquila:  But since we are all part of the same body, we have to learn to tolerate each other.  Paul says,  “The eye cannot say to the hand “I have no need of you.””  We all need each other’s different talents.

Gaius:  What about the law of love?  It’s not enough just to tolerate each other, we have to love each other…we have to love everyone, Christian or Jew or idol-worshipper.

Erastus:  Whether or not we like them?  That’s harsh.

Quintilla:  I think it’s something we have to work on.  It doesn’t always come easily, to love people who aren’t like you.

Maximilla:  I’ll say!

Aquila:  Why don’t we pray about that?

Ammia:  May I say the prayer?

Aquila:  Of course…

Scene 6

Narrator:  In 2005, the Bible study is almost over…and the study group is finding that Paul’s letter has meaning for them too, even though it was written to address the problems of the Christian community in Corinth.

Katherine:  I think that was a good way to summarize what we talked about, Daniel.  So how do we apply what Paul is saying to our daily life right now?

Nicole:  I guess for me, it would be more tolerance for people who are different and who may not want to worship like I do.

Daniel D:  I should make an effort to get to know more of the newer people so I don’t feel so uncomfortable.  I’m sure they have a lot to offer the church community.

Adam:  I think that everyone in the church has a lot to offer.  We should accept and embrace everyone with love, no matter who they are.

Libby:  Amen.   (grabbing box) Any more munchkins?

THE END