BELHAVEN — Ask anyone in the Belhaven area what he or she knows about West Belhaven Church of Christ, and the answer is pretty much the same.

“They say, ‘Oh, you guys do the Easter drama,’” said Gail Gibbs, choir director and church member. “So it makes a positive impact in the community.”

It’s a big, church-wide effort to recreate the story of Christ’s last days, an effort that includes participation from almost all of the church’s members, according to Terry Raupe, publicity chair for the event.

Next week, the church will perform its interpretation of the story in song and drama for the ninth year running.

Gibbs said the musical is widely participated in by a majority of the congregation, whether it’s actually performing in the drama, singing in the choir, narrating, helping with sets and costume design or other aspects such as helping with parking or greeting audience members at the door. All the scenery and costumes are homemade, according to Gibbs.

Gibbs said many scenes throughout the performance are powerful for those watching.

“People who don’t normally go to church, this puts the whole gospel in a nutshell because it tells who Jesus was and what he did for us to give us salvation if we’ll just accept him,” Gibbs said. “It’s really powerful. We bathe everything in prayer, asking the Lord’s will to be done and that people will be reached through this effort.”

The church makes the environment look as authentic as possible, Gibbs said, even going so far as setting out palm trees and covering the walls with rock-design wallpaper. Upon entering the church, attendees can see a marketplace, with tents filled with produce and breads, giving an authentic visualization of what Jerusalem looked like in Jesus’ days, Gibbs said.

Raupe said in past years, the church has seen an attendance of 150 people per night and has received very emotional reviews from attendees, a nod to the impact the drama has on those who attend.

“We think this is one of our services to the community that we do every year,” Raupe said. “We just invite anyone to come, and we just enjoy getting together and doing this as part of our outreach to the Belhaven area and beyond. We want to make the story available to people and hope they make a decision to accept Christ and what he did for them.”

The performance is free to the public and offered two different nights — March 24-25 at 7:30 p.m.

West Belhaven Church of Christ is located at 1080 W. Main St. in Belhaven.