LEWISBURG, Penn. -- Most Christians are not used to picturing their savior as a 17-year-old girl in jeans. But over the past few weeks, the parishioners at Beaver Memorial United Methodist Church have gotten used to the idea of Christ as a high schooler.

Since the beginning of Lent, Pastor Brian Vasey and his daughter, Brandy, have put on a series of one-act dramas depicting Jesus being tempted by Satan.

“As Lent was about to begin, I was looking for something I could do to strengthen the congregation here, their journey of faith,” said Vasey. So instead of rattling off the same old sermons about sacrifice and faith, the pastor chose to showcase the mini-plays, with a twist: He put his daughter in the role of Christ, while he played Satan.

The dramas depict Satan — wearing a tuxedo and red tie — tempting a casually-dressed Jesus, with Lucifer being repeatedly rebuffed and becoming increasingly angry.

Vasey has done the dramas before at other churches and filled the Devil’s shoes many times, so he had no qualms about accepting the role. And Satan is the meatier part anyway, a cinch for someone with an acting background like Vasey.

“The pastor admitted he was “pretty leery” going into the first drama because he was worried there might be some negative backlash along the lines of “Well, Jesus isn’t a girl.” But there’s been none of that, he said. “We’ve gotten very favorable feedback. People seem to appreciate what we’re doing.”

SOURCE: Daily Item