Translating the Judson Model

Heather Kirk-Davidoff

Westminster Presbyterian Church’s experience with hosting the renowned Bread and Puppet Theater is an example of how a local church might translate André Daughtry’s discussion of the Judson Model in their own context. In his article for this issue, Daughtry references a performance by the Bread and Puppet Theater at Judson Memorial Church in New York City.  

Our church’s relationship with the Bread and Puppet Theater began in 2022 when the company reached out to us, seeking a venue in the New York Capital Region. Westminster has a history of supporting the arts, having employed a full-time minister of music and arts for years, but this focus has largely been on classical choral music and organ performances featuring our famous Skinner pipe organ. Hosting Bread and Puppet was a significant departure from our usual fare. This is why the enthusiastic support from the few families in the church who did know them was essential, particularly since hosting requires preparing lunch and dinner for the artists and helping to house them.

While Judson’s unique physical structure facilitates a “sanctuary that functions as a laboratory,” we have a traditional, Gilded-Age sanctuary with fixed pews. So part of the experience of hosting Bread and Puppet in our space is embracing the dramatic tension between radical performance and a highly traditional setting. Bread and Puppet hangs their art throughout the sanctuary and stages their show in our front chancel. One year, they used our pulpit to deliver some of their lines.

The shows attract large crowds of more than three hundred people who are largely not involved with Westminster’s regular life. As member Lily Mercogliano Easton notes, “Bread and Puppet brings in a community of people who are deeply moved by their art and music. Their experience at a performance is connected to aspects of worship—but in a form that is very different from what happens on Sunday morning. I think that’s really cool.”

By offering our space, we adhere to the Judson tenet of non-censorship, fostering a community space rooted in social justice and free artistic expression. We witness the “ultimate concern”—the fundamental concern that gives meaning to existence—expressed by the artists and experienced by their audience. This active commitment brings us closer to the spiritual community Tillich envisioned.