WELLSVILLE – Allegany County residents, their families and
those world-wide will be able to access a free viewing this Easter weekend only
of an onstage production of Jesus, filmed at the internationally-known Sight
and Sound theater in Lancaster, Pa.
The Hope Center in Wellsville, an outreach ministry of the
Mission Genesee Valley coalition of churches and other Christian organizations,
is encouraging viewing of this film via television, internet or cell phone
application.
Casey Jones, Hope Center Planning Group chair, said this
opportunity is particularly timely this weekend with it not only being Good
Friday, the day of Jesus' death, through Easter, the day of His resurrection,
but individuals and families being under stay-at-home orders, except for
essential services, due to the coronavirus.
“Jesus, as reflected
through the production, is the greatest story of Hope that the world has ever
known,” Jones said, “a basis of the Hope Center's Help * Hope * Healing
mission.”
The film is being made available through Trinity
Broadcasting Network (TBN), said to be the the largest Christian television
network in the world that is committed to sending the message of hope and the
grace of Jesus to the world via live streaming.
It is being made available any time this weekend from Good
Friday through Easter Sunday via computer connections and cell phone apps,
along with specific times on TBN cable, dependent on accessible cable
providers. Viewing information,
including a movie trailer, is available at www.JesusEvent.com.
Sight and Sound Theater started over 40 years ago in rural
Lancaster County where a dairy farmer went from producing milk to providing
live entertainment with a purpose, starting first with a slide projector. The enterprise grew to a 2,000-seat theater
and later expanded to a second facility in Branson, Mo., where stories of the
Bible come to life on stage, featuring massive sets, special effects and live
animals.
Some 675 staff members write, produce, design and build the
original shows which draw nearly 1.5 million people from around the world each
year.
Filmed in front of a live audience, the production portrays
the bustling streets of Jerusalem to the raging Sea of Galilee, with the
computer-driven boat of Jesus' disciple Peter and his colleagues rising eight
feet off the floor during the storm. The
production includes live animals such as horses, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep,
camels, alpacas and more.
This is the fourth production to move from stage to screen,
including Jonah in 2017, Moses in 2018, and Noah last year.
Jones said that although the Hope Center is encouraging
everyone to see the Jesus film due to the reputation of Sight and Sound, those
using computers will need to register through the TBN site that also provides
links to other video products.
“Viewers may be exposed
to offers for other free films, presentations or promotions on the TBN site
that are suggested to be of Christian content,” he said, noting that “the Hope
Center and Mission Genesee Valley have not viewed these offerings and,
therefore, do not affirm their content.”
The Hope Center normally centers on drop-in, information and
referral, and reading assistance for children and adults, including those with
dyslexia. It also hosts seminars and
workshops in its education center to acquaint individuals and families about
issues of importance to them and in their churches and communities and is
developing a Christian lending library.
It has curtailed those operations since the coronavirus hit New York and
currently is publishing community and families-related information about the
pandemic, including a Nightly Update, on its Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/HopeCenterAlleganyCounty.
Last year, the Hope Center, through an anonymous donation,
hosted a free showing of the Christian movie, Breakthrough, at the Grand
Theatre in Wellsville.
