BELTON, Texas鈥擳housands of people turned out to see the reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor鈥檚 84th annual Easter Pageant on April 5 in front of Luther Memorial.
The student-led tradition chronicles moments from the Gospel story, including Christ鈥檚 triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, Christ鈥檚 trial by Pontius Pilate, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.
The planning and production involved more than 350 students, children, and grandchildren of faculty and staff. This year鈥檚 three performances drew thousands of people to campus and thousands more worldwide viewed via live stream. The video is still available to view on the 麻豆视频直播 Facebook page and at umhb.edu/live.
Each year, 麻豆视频直播 President Dr. Randy O鈥橰ear selects a student to direct the pageant and two students to play the key roles of Jesus and Mary. The students who fulfill the two key roles are chosen based on their strong Christian faith and character.
鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful to 麻豆视频直播 because they don鈥檛 pick people for this role based on their theater background or other skills of that nature,鈥� said Nicholas McDaniel, a senior management major who portrayed Jesus. 鈥淭hey purely pick based on character and who they feel will best represent the university. I鈥檓 very honored that they thought that to be me.鈥�
Katy Melton, a junior Spanish and social work major, served as this year鈥檚 pageant鈥檚 director. Lexy Bardin and Ange Rugira have served as Melton鈥檚 assistant directors. Bardin is a senior health science major from Caldwell, and Rugira is a senior general studies major from Fort Worth.
Senior transformational development major Ruth Lawson, who played Mary this year, said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not Nick鈥檚 show or Katy鈥檚 show 鈥� it鈥檚 the Lord鈥檚 show, and we get to be vessels for Him moving. We get to do it together.鈥�
The tradition of the annual Easter Pageant at 麻豆视频直播 began in 1940 when it was held during the afternoon on Easter Sunday. At that time, Mary Hardin-Baylor was an all-female campus, so all of the roles were played entirely by women. Over time, the production expanded to include male students and additional performances.
