I’ve had a chance to be in more documentaries than I ever hoped, by an order of magnitude. (A couple good ones are releasing soon…stay tuned!) It’s not something I love doing, but I do love seeing projects come together. The filmmakers I’ve worked with over the past few years have been such interesting and thoughtful people, and I’ve enjoyed learning my way around (the edges of) their world. It’s also true that the medium of film reaches an entirely different audience than print, and allows for a different set of creative possibilities.
One of the filmmakers I met early on was Paul Reuter. Paul reached out years ago, and to be honest, I can’t even recall if he’s ever filmed me for something or if we only ever talked about filming something. (The latter, I think.) He does like to remind me that I told him I was too busy to meet up with him. (In my defense, I was!) But we did grab a few minutes together, and then stayed in touch through the Covid interlude. Last year we got together for brunch on one of my trips out to New York, and I heard more about the projects he’s working on.
Paul has long been mulling over doing a project that examines the dynamics of faith and politics, but in a way that gets beneath the surface. He’s finally come up with an idea. The project is in its infancy. Its working title is The Flock, and its purpose is to examine what’s happening in America’s churches. He writes: “Pastors are quitting their posts, and long-time church members are being forced out of their congregations. This happens for seemingly one underlying reason: the understanding of what Jesus’ words mean in our moment. What happens when Jesus’ words mean something different for the congregation and/or for their pastors?”
Paul hopes to bring depth to this phenomenon, and to ask if there is a way to move forward. “Are we able to change our ecclesial culture for the better? What if we are just getting this plain wrong?”
To do this, he’s looking for “stories of the displaced.” For stories that complicate our narratives, that explore why people leave churches and why they stay amid the confusion of the culture wars. His goal isn’t to critique Christianity, “but to bring the stories of division and displacement into the light. If we can listen to one another’s stories, if we can hear accounts from both the pulpit and the pew, from leaders and laity, then perhaps we can move through our struggles and towards a better path forward.”
This may end up being a film series, or something as simple as a video podcast. Time will tell…
Paul has shot documentaries for American Experience, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and for Ellis Island and the Smithsonian. (He’s also worked on a season of Law & Order.) With respect to his faith, he describes himself as “a heartfelt believer in the teachings of Jesus,” and he is looking to interview others who would say the same. You can read more about him here.
I know many readers of this newsletter have stories to tell. I’ve heard some of them. And I know many of you know others who do. If you’d like to connect with Paul and share with him a brief summary of your experience, you can contact him at: Flockdocumentary@gmail.com. And feel free to share this post with any others who might be interested.
And if you haven't read, “After Jesus Before Christianity”
“A Historical Exploration of The First Two Centuries of the Jesus Movements“
A scholarly work…
Kristin,
I am a 77 year old man, and as such I was forced to grow up in the “Jesus and John Wayne” model of masculinity. I believe I have resisted as I have not passed that on to any of my five children, three boys and two girls, who all grown in to decent adults.
Below is a quote from Bonhoeffer that speakes to a need for reform newer than 500 years past.
https://frightfullypleased.blogspot.com/2008/04/on-baptism-and-bombs.html
Thoughts on the Day of the Baptism of
Dietrich Wilhelm Rüdiger Bethge
21 May 1944
Today you will be baptized a Christian. All those great ancient words of the Christian proclamation will be spoken over you, and the command of Jesus Christ to baptize will be carried out on you, without your knowing anything about it. But we are once again being driven right back to the beginnings of our understanding.
Reconciliation and redemption, regeneration and the Holy Spirit, love of our enemies, cross and resurrection, life in Christ and Christian discipleship - all these things are so difficult and so remote that we hardly venture any more to speak of them. In the traditional words and acts we suspect that there may be something quite new and revolutionary, although we cannot as yet grasp or express it. That is our own fault. Our church, which has been fighting in these areas years only for its self-preservation, as though that were an end in itself, is incapable of taking the word of reconciliation and redemption to mankind and the world. Our earlier words are therefore bound to lose their force and cease, and our being Christians today will be limited to two things: prayer and righteous action among men. All Christian thinking, speaking, and organizing must be born anew out of this prayer and action. By the time you have grown up, the church's form will have changed greatly. We are not yet out of the melting-pot, and any attempt to help the church prematurely to a new expansion of its organization will merely delay its conversion and purification. It is not for us to prophesy the day (though the day will come) when men will once more be called so to utter the word of God that the world will be changed and renewed by it. It will be a new language, perhaps quite non-religious, but liberating and redeeming - as was Jesus' language; it will shock people and yet overcome them by its power; it will be the language of a new righteousness and truth, proclaiming God's peace with men and the coming of his kingdom. 'They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it' (Jer. 33:9). Till then the Christian cause will be a silent and hidden affair, but there will be those who pray and do right and wait for God's own time. May you be one of them, and may it be said of you one day, 'The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter till full day' (Prov. 4:18).
The part that speaks most loudly to me is the need for a “New Language” which I believe is 21st Century Physics and Mathematics!