After over a decade, Andrews University brought back its Passion Play production on April 4, 2026. It was an event that brought the campus, as well as the community, together to celebrate the story of Christ’s death and resurrection.
“It was a dream that we created in the living room that slowly grew into a reality,” Andrews alum Leo Aguilera said. Aguilera, his wife, Bethany, and another couple, Katie and Justin Mertz, were the first to come together to lay the foundation and come up with the idea to revive the Passion Play. They began the process in early June of 2025 and then proposed the idea to Pioneer Memorial Church in August.
Angelisse Villamizar, a Center for Faith Engagement employee, became involved with the Passion Play because of her connections with Aguilera. The two grew up together and worked at summer camp, so Aguilera knew she would be a good asset to the team.
Villamizar came on as the logistics and operations director for the event. She worked hard to find volunteers and actors who were willing to participate.
As the idea started to build, there were a lot of decisions to be made. The team took a lot of inspiration from Southern Adventist University. A lot of the equipment and costumes came from the Center for Youth Evangelism and past Pathfinder camporees. The team was not only able to partner and receive donations from PMC, but they also had support from the North American Division, the Lake Union and the Michigan Conference.
“It was just a blessing from top to bottom,” Aguilera said. “Every door opened when it needed to open.”
Some of Aguilera’s best memories stemmed from interacting with the volunteers and actors. “What made it so fun was just to have so many people from different walks of life and different ages come together for the same mission,” Aguilera shared.
Villamizar’s favorite part of the planning was the search process. “I loved being able to contact volunteers and ask, ‘Hey, do you want to help in this area? Do you want to be a greeter? Do you want to be an actor?”
Villamizar remembers that the weekend before the event, the team was short 50 volunteers. Thankfully, through a lot of prayer and more advertising after PMC’s church service, the team was able to find more than enough volunteers. “It was just a great reminder of how God provides,” Villamizar said.
A total of 500 volunteers came together to help out with the Passion Play. Aguilera found it very impactful that so many people came together for the same purpose and truly wanted to have a part in the special production. “To see people step out of the pew and do something about their faith is truly inspiring to me,” Aguilera shared.
Aguilera also enjoyed working with the team to build all the sets, even though in the end, quite a few of them didn’t get to be used due to the rain and the decision to transition all the scenes to an indoor setting. The team had a lot of fun constructing the Resurrection set as well as Pilate’s Judgment Hall and the Crucifixion set.
The Marketplace was also another element that brought the Passion Play to life and allowed the community to interact with each other. Unlike a theater show, people are able to become immersed in the environment. Guests were able to walk through the Marketplace and pet the animals, shake hands with townspeople, and taste bread and other little samples. “People got to use all five senses, and that’s something that’s really important to us,” Aguilera said.
As far as music components, the Passion Play team wanted music that would complement the scenes and make them very inspiring and exciting. They used “Por La Via Dolorosa” by Sandi Patty for the crucifixion scene and the iconic song “Arise My Love” by NewSong for the resurrection scene. Both songs added to the layers of emotions portrayed in each of the impactful scenes.
Villamizar shared how she witnessed many people who were touched by the resurrection scene. “I had to open the door for people as they walked by after the scene ended, and I saw a few people with tears in their eyes, and in my head I was like, ‘That’s why we do it’ because you could clearly see that it had touched that person.”
Aguilera and his team are very proud of what they were able to accomplish and thankful for all the people who helped and supported them with the event and entire production. Aguilera hopes that everyone who participated as well as came to view the Passion Play was able to be blessed and take away something new and meaningful from the experience.
“I feel that oftentimes the story of Jesus, because we hear it so much, loses its power and its meaning,” Aguilera shared. “But being able to show this presentation makes it real for a second. It makes you walk into the story and feel what was going on in those moments. It reminds you that this isn’t just some fairy tale story but something that actually happened.”
Aguilera’s prayer is that the Christians who came were inspired to make the story real within their own lives and become more involved within the church, and that those who don’t have a strong walk with God were inspired to ask questions and become more curious. He hopes that all the children and students who came will see that even as young people, they have the ability to create new things that can impact others.
Villamizar hopes that everyone who volunteered or came out to see the play was able to draw closer to God. “The logistics are important, the planning is important, but at the end of the day, what really matters is that the whole project leads people to Christ.”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.