In 1994 my husband and I moved from the frozen tundra of Michigan to the green fields and forests of Tom’s native Mississippi. Our temporary exile to the land of ice and snow taught us to appreciate a lot more than just the weather at home. We couldn’t wait to get back to a place where being an active and invested member of a Christian faith community — belonging to a church — was the rule rather than the exception, as it had seemed to be in Michigan.

We spent as much time searching for our new church home as we did finding a house. While Natchez was filled with friendly and welcoming churches where we knew we would have the opportunity to grow and serve, no other church had a youth group like the one at Jefferson Street United Methodist Church.

Our first dinner theater production — “The Crucible” — astounded us. We realized immediately that no matter which church we belonged to, this was the youth group we would want our children (still mere twinkles in their Daddy’s eyes) to join. We joined Jefferson Street United Methodist Church, and our dinner theater odyssey began.

As a teacher at Trinity Episcopal Day School I grew to have a love-hate relationship with the dinner theater. I loved the opportunity the play gave students to experience great literature and get comfortable in front of an audience. I hated the way long hours of rehearsals and performances led to missed assignments and bad grades. I still remember the time a parent committee came to me and requested that I postpone the due date of the 11th-grade research paper because of the dinner theater.

But every year as I sat in the darkened basement theater watching the children I loved learn new things about themselves and about the world through the transformative power of the theater, I knew the trade-offs were worth it.

This year I am seeing this 25-year-old Natchez tradition with fresh eyes. Back when we joined Jefferson Street United Methodist Church so that our then non-existent children could one day be part of our church’s youth group, it seemed like that day would never come.

But I blinked, and my son was in junior high! The late night practices, the frantic wardrobe searches, the tedious line memorizations consume my family. It doesn’t seem possible. Yesterday I stopped to watch a dress rehearsal.

“Where is Thomas?” I asked.

“On stage,” my friend replied.

“I don’t see him.”

“You don’t recognize him,” she laughed. “He is the man in the navy blue suit.”

Thomas will grow to be a man under the careful eye of John Hudson and the Jefferson Street United Methodist Church Youth Group, including the dinner theater. He will learn lessons about accountability and responsibility. He will learn humility, and he will learn confidence. Most of all, he will learn that he can glorify God in everything, including drama, and for that I am profoundly grateful.

This year’s play is “It’s a Wonderful Life,” by Doug Rand, a re-telling of the classic film. There are over 50 young people in the cast. Performances will be at 6 p.m. tonight and Thursday and at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for youth, and $4 for children and can be reserved by calling the church office at 601-442-3795. Proceeds from the dinner theater support the youth group and help fund their activities, including the annual summer trip. I invite you to support this dinner theater — which is so much more than entertainment — by attending one of the performances.

Delecia Seay CAREY is head of school at Trinity Episcopal Day School, a member of Jefferson Street United Methodist Church and serves as publicity chairman for this year’s dinner theater.