[1] In 1984, Dargatz and Rhodes began to develop The Promise in cooperation with Word Music, Inc. and Kingdom Development Company, making way for a new type of passion play that effectively blended Christian popular music with the timeless story of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The cast exceeds 100 actors and includes live animals such as donkeys, sheep, horses, doves, and camels.

Prologue A young shepherd boy, Reuben, appears looking frantically for his sheep and encounters Chaya the shepherdess who tells him of David tending flocks in the same fields.

She assists him in finding his sheep through song ("Psalm 23") A mother and daughter, Tirzah and Abigail, prepare dinner for father and son, Reuben and Ephram, who are returning from a long day tending their herds in the fields, while the young boy Caleb rests on a bed, he is crippled.

After family greetings and excited talk of the upcoming Passover the mealtime prayer and Sabbath evokes questions about Gods covenant and Reuben explains its like a promise.

Reuben continues to narrate the telling of the story from the family home in a small upper room located off the main stage that is illuminated only during those parts.

The Archangel Gabriel announces the birth of baby Jesus, and shepherds and three Magi travel to Bethlehem to worship Him ("Saviour").

After Herod dies, the angel directs them back to Nazareth, where Jesus grows up but it is not long before his parents find him teaching in the Temple.

("Sh'ma Israel"§) Jesus grows up, and his cousin, John the Baptist, calls for sinners to repent and be baptized in the Jordan River ("The Kingdom of Heaven/One Voice"§).

Jesus calls twelve disciples and begins teaching the common people the Beatitudes, explaining his love for them ("Come Unto Me"§).

In the next scene The apostles sing and dance, telling the crowds "He Is Jehovah" but as they cross the Jordan a great storm suddenly sets in and they fear they will perish and call out to Jesus who calms the sea.

Jesus heals the blind, A woman with the issue of blood("The hem of his garment"§), Ruben's lame son, casts the demons out from a man and raises a child from the dead in the marketplace .

Jesus and his disciples make his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as the crowds celebrate and lay palm branches before him ("We Cry Hosanna, Lord").

Jesus and His disciples meet in an upper room to celebrate the Passover, and he gives them some of his final teachings, assuring them that His spirit and His peace will always be with them ("Shalom").

Jesus is put on trial before Herod and then Pontius Pilate, who initially refuses to condemn Him, since He had committed no crime.

The "firepit" and the action there are implied to exist in modern times, while the rest of the stage is where the Biblical story takes place.

The story maintains continuity through this device; Grandpa's narration "fills the gaps" between scenes in Jesus' life.

Peter, Andrew, and John have a short scene in which they are warming their hands by the firepit and discussing Jesus' death.

[2] From 1990 to 2012, Lighthouse Christian Church's Impact Productions in Fond du Lac, WI performed The Promise during Holy Week with breaks in 1995, 2006, and 2009.

Lighthouse Christian Church never charged an admission price as The Promise was always considered "a gift to the community".

produced by Forest Community Theatre.|date=June 2013 Since 1992, The Promise has been performed annually in Litchfield, Illinois at Zion Lutheran Church and School.

[5] The Promise has been produced internationally in Seoul, Korea, at the Olympic Stadium, and in South Africa, as well as other countries around the world.

Since 1992, The Promise has been staged roughly every other year by Northwest Baptist Church in Reisterstown, Maryland, on the weekends of Palm Sunday and Easter.

Starting in 1992, The Promise was performed in Litchfield, Illinois under the organization Contemporary Christian Music Ministry.

Performances continued for 24 straight years (though a counting error caused us to celebrate our "25th and Final Season" in 2015), in the same location, Zion Lutheran Church and School.

Trace Creek Baptist Church in Mayfield, Kentucky has performed The Promise since the year 2000 (with the exceptions of the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to COVID-19).