by Judy Cates

CTA's Arts in Ministry referral program aims to bring artists of all sorts together with the audiences who desire their talents. Here's a profile of another group registered with us. Don't miss Beacon Street's performance, "Artfully Done," Saturday evening, Nov. 15, at CTA National Conference in Detroit.

It was exam week, 1970, for graduate student Bob Kloos. But it was also the closing performance of Godspell at the Lakewood Civic Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. A friend said, "C'mon, Bob, you gotta see this." By the time he left the theater, Kloos was singing along -- a strange happening for someone whose Myers-Briggs declared him an introvert. "It was the arts that did it," says Bob. "I said to myself: this is great! This should be in church. I'll take it to church." So he became a mime and began, in his words, "anointing everyone with greasepaint." And everyone loved it. Soon everyone seemed to be saying, "Get me!"

Thus began a performing arts ministry for Bob Kloos. Several years later, it evolved a little more. Kloos connected with Clown, Mime, Puppet and Dance, founded by Methodist minister Tom Nankervis of Nashville, which flourished in the early 1980s and ran a dozen performing arts conferences that drew 400 to 700 participants each time. In 1986 at a follow-up conference in Cleveland, Kloos met some of the people who eventually became part of Beacon Street. After the conference left town, it took two years to form the group, but by 1990, the performers were receiving a monthly stipend and a fee schedule was established. By February 1992, Bob was hired as artistic director and full time performer.

Meanwhile, some changes in Bob's personal life were taking place as well. Ordained a priest in 1974, he had worked for the Cleveland diocese for 17 years. In 1991, he decided he would like to explore a relationship with the juggler in the troupe, Jean Hulseman, now Jean Kloos. The rest, as they say, is history.

Beacon Street's mission is to use the arts -- song, story, mime, clowning and puppetry -- to proclaim the Gospel. Two-thirds of their operating funds come from fees they charge. The rest is supplied by donors. In turn, they donate 16 percent of their services to organizations unable to pay even their modest fees. Currently, there are three full-time staff: Bob Kloos and Barb Ballenger as performers and Kathleen Slater, the business director. Two other co-founders, Maria Livers and Jean Kloos, jump into performances on occasion. Barbara was working for the diocesan newspaper in Cleveland when Bob invited her to "run away and join the circus." She was pursuing a Masters in Pastoral Ministry, so a full time ministry job that used her creative musical talent was too good to pass up. She recently published her first audiotape of original songs, and continues to free-lance for the paper. Maria, a vocalist and flutist, co-produced a CD in 1995 and has performed with many community theater groups and the Lyric Opera of Cleveland.

Although the bulk of Beacon Street's work is with junior high students, organizations with gospel-related programs for any and all age groups are the target audiences. The troupe uses a variety of participative/interactive techniques to demonstrate values and relationship experiences. Recent newsletters describe a "group juggle" designed to explore group dynamics; a plaster face mask project to teach care and concern for others; and recently, a transition ceremony to help students and teachers being relocated adjust to the move. For this, an original song, sung in rounds, was written by Barbara Ballenger. Beacon Street is planning an institute for performing arts ministry in summer, 1998.

Learn more from Bob Kloos, Beacon Street, P.O. Box 23451, Chagrin Falls, OH 44023-0451 216 338-4904