DECATUR — When it comes to putting on an annual passion play, a recurring and  inevitable question arises each year: “How can one tell the same story in a  different way?” Luckily for First Church of the Nazarene, worship pastor Cathy  Woolaway never seems to run out of fresh ideas.

“Every year we change the script and the music and the cast, but the message  stays the same,” said Woolaway, whose free productions of “The Passion” begin  Thursday. “My thought for this year was actually to start at the end and then  move backward, so it actually starts after the crucifixion. After all, you can’t  really spoil this story because everyone knows the end.”

Woolaway explained the reverse version of the story is intended to frame the  crucifixion first and foremost while lending greater context to the miracles and  life of Jesus that precedes it.

“I think what I wanted to do this year was not shock that audience, but bring  the cross to the forefront right away,” she said. “It should be the first thing  fixed in the audience’s mind. Then we can go back and tell the perspectives and  stories of the characters who encountered Jesus. They are stories with strong  messages of forgiveness, grace and love, and what Jesus endured going to the  cross for us.”

The story is told through the viewpoint of three different characters, which  is also a first for one of Woolaway’s Passion play productions. These three are  the Samaritan “woman at the well,” the disciple Peter and the Roman centurion  who observes the crucifixion. Each has a special significance to Woolaway, but  the woman at the well, in particular, is a story she has wanted to tell for  quite a while.

“I think people will see aspects of themselves in all three characters,” she  said. “The woman at the well was living a life of sin. It was a difficult time,  and I think women, in particular, can identify with her struggle. Jesus met her  where she was and didn’t judge her; he had grace and mercy for her. All he had  to share with her was the good news of forgiveness.”

The free productions of “The Passion” are meant for an all-ages audience and  are intended to offer perspective to anyone, regardless of their level of  faith.

“I think it’s like the Bible itself in that way,” Woolaway said. “You can  read a passage and it will affect you differently based on where you are on your  journey of faith.”

One final new participant in this year’s version of “The Passion” is senior  pastor Tim Crump, who will be playing one of the Roman soldiers marching Jesus  to the place of crucifixion. Unsurprisingly, it was somewhat uncomfortable for  the pastor to portray a role that would require him to brutalize a  representation of Jesus, even in a play.

“It’s causing me to think about the death of Jesus in a way I never have  before,” Crump said. “It gives you a sense of responsibility as a human being.  Our sins are what motivated Jesus to make the sacrifice that he did.”

Crump hopes the play, as in previous years, will help those who see it  reflect upon their lives and the role that faith has played in them.

“I hope we recognize that none of us are good enough, but we don’t have to be  in order to be saved,” he said. “We can become exactly what God wants us to be  at any moment in our lives.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “The Passion”

WHEN: 7 p.m. March 29, 30 and

April 4, 5, 6

WHERE: First Church of the Nazarene, 1177 W. Hickory Point Road

TICKETS: free