Mindy goes to a movie

Movie Night, Greenwood Village South, Greenwood, Indiana
Dean was at home in Fresno this past week, and his work schedule restricted the time he had for visiting a new church. I, on the other hand, was visiting my dad in Indiana to celebrate his 90th birthday. While there were plenty of "church" activities available, we'd already written about a wedding and about worshiping at Southport Presbyterian Church. Due to other obligations, I wouldn't be able to visit the morning devotional times, Bible studies, or hymn sing held at various times through the week at Greenwood Village South, the retirement community where my dad lives.

What to do?

Thankfully, two showings of The Hiding Place were scheduled for the weekend. It's the only film made by the Billy Graham Association in which Billy Graham doesn’t appear, and while Dean had hoped to include it in April's Christian Movie Month over at Movie Churches, there just weren't enough weeks.

The film (based on the book of the same title) is the true story of one family’s response to the Nazi persecution of Jews in the Netherlands during World War 2. Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie lived with their elderly father, a watchmaker, and their lives had revolved around family and service to the community, with Christian faith motivating their everyday activities. As persecution of Jews became more and more brutal, the sisters realized that they had to find a way to care for those their father called “the apple of God’s eye.”

When a man they'd offered to help betrayed them, Betsie, Corrie, and their 85-year-old father were arrested. Casper ten Boom died ten days after their arrest; the sisters were held and eventually transferred to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Corrie struggled to forgive the brutal guards and to trust God's love, even as she recognized His care for them in such things as providing medicine and allowing them to have a Bible.

I wondered what it would be like to watch the movie with people who had some memories or even first-hand experiences from that time. I also wondered how the audience -- generally church-goers, but not exclusively -- would respond to the very evangelical message of the film.

It turns out, the audience was pretty much like any other movie audience: they joked about hurrying from dinner to the movie (one man had brought his dessert along). They teased the employee who brought popcorn and got the movie started. One woman in the row ahead of me wondered aloud where else she’d seen one of the actresses. One couple left after the scene in which the ten Booms were arrested, and I wondered if it was because of the scene’s violence.

I was surprised that the 40-year-old film had as much impact as it did when I first saw it, years before Schindler’s List. A few quotes will give you an idea:

When their nephew says, “Whatever helps Holland is right” while asking Betsie and Corrie to pass information vital to sabotage a German project (by bombing it), Corrie refuses, wondering, “What will we be like when this is over?”

Later, a Jewish professor hiding in their home asks her, “You have your father and your religion. Has it been enough?”

Corrie smiles, “More than enough. God has been very good to me.”

A pastor refuses to help the ten Boom family hide a Jewish baby. “Where would the church be without their pastor?” he asks, noting that he could be arrested and that the Bible instructs people to obey the law.

Corrie’s father, who has embarrassed the pastor by wearing a yellow star as a symbol of his support of the Jews (who are required to identify themselves), tells him, “We are meant to obey the law of the land unless it goes against the higher law. I will take off the star, but we will keep the child.” That baby is the first of many, many Jews whom the family hides, providing ration cards, false identities, and room in their home -- including the secret room behind Corrie’s closet.

In other words, the film held up. Issues of concern for the suffering, persistence in difficulty, forgiveness when wronged, and trust in God's care resonated with me. In spite of the movie's two-and-a-half-hour running time, few people got up for more popcorn, whispered, or even went to the bathroom.

As the credits rolled, the two dozen people in the meeting room left much more quietly than they had entered. I wondered if the lateness of the hour (it was after 9:00 pm) or the emotion of the story was the reason; I wondered if anybody in the group talked about the movie the next day.

I wondered how far I’m willing to go in God’s service and how much I'm willing to trust Him.

We go to church in a movie theater

Celebration Church University Campus, Fresno, California
Have I whined to you lately about our current schedule? My work schedule was supposed to include most weekends off, but that didn’t happen, so I’ve been working most Saturday nights (11:00 pm to 7:00 am Sunday). Because of that, I have trouble staying up to get to worship services that start later in the morning. Mindy is scheduled to work most Sundays from 10:45 am to 7:00 pm or so -- making even the few local Sunday evening services difficult. In other words, our jobs aren’t ideal for writing a blog about visiting churches.

And that’s why we were excited when we learned about a Sunday worship service at 8:30 pm. We’d gone to the movies (Isle of Dogs, two thumbs up though there’s nary a church in it) at the Maya Cinemas in Fresno, and among the film promotions, we found a flyer reading, “Live Your Best Life. Make A Difference. Celebration.” The church service is at the movie theater.

8:30 pm is ideal for our schedule. Do you know who else that time is ideal for? College students!

Celebration Church in Fresno has four campuses: Fresno, Clovis, Madera (with a Spanish language service), and this one called the University Campus. The theater is in a little shopping mall right next to the Fresno State University campus, an easy walk from dorms and apartments. (We recently visited Mad Duck Craft Brewing Company in the same mall for our bar blog).

As we approached the theater we were greeted by sign holders (“So Glad You’re Here” and “The Best Is Yet To Come”). I’m not sure what people seeing A Quiet Place thought of the signs, but we knew they were greeters for the church service. The sign holders directed us to a greeters table where we were given green bracelets to distinguish the churchgoers from the paying moviegoers. On the way to theater 13 (of 16), Tyrell greeted us. He was volunteering at a table with signups for water baptism and small groups.

We found seats in the mostly empty theater, and as 8:30 approached the rest of the seats filled up quickly, mostly with what looked like college students. I noticed several people bringing in coffees and waters that didn’t seem to come from the snack bar. (I didn’t notice anyone bringing in popcorn or soft drinks). It was nice to see people greeting each other happily, many hugs.

The song leaders warmed up (I appreciated that one was wearing a Nirvana t-shirt). We first sang David Crowder’s “How He Loves” (“He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy”) and then “Reckless Love.” (Sometime I want to take time to consider the violent imagery in contemporary Christian choruses, but not today.)

A young woman named Andrea led in prayer (“Thank you for this space”) and welcomed first-time visitors, encouraging them (us) to fill out an “I’m New Here” card. She introduced the speaker, Andrew. The guitarist, who’d been strumming gently in the background since the singing time ended, continued to play quietly. After a minute or two, Andrew hushed the strings.

Andrew began his message by stating their mission as a church, “To help people live their best life. There may be things we disagree about, but a fulfilled life, that’s what we’re fighting for.” He read John 10:10, where Jesus says He came to bring us abundant life. He said God has given us a recipe for a fulfilled life, and one of the ingredients in the recipe is relationships -- the focus of the message.

When he said, “It was God’s idea that we shouldn’t do life alone,” I heard those around us encourage him by saying, “Word!”

“Come on, man!”

“Truth.”

Andrew pointed to the importance of vulnerability in relationships. He noted that the things he was talking about that night were things he needed to work on in his own life.

He concluded pointing people to the most important relationship in life, a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He encouraged people to pray along with him to begin that relationship.

There were brief closing announcements, for a small group gathering nearby and upcoming baptisms. Everyone was invited to have some pizza, which was served right outside the theater. While theater seats aren’t ideal for chatting, many people were sticking around to chat outside. The weather was pleasant and as was the conversation.

I worked in movie theaters during college, seminary, and for a while after we were married. I feel at home in a movie theaters, so Celebration Church meets at a time and place I love. Even better, it’s ideal for college students. This campus of the church began services in February, and the volunteer “the Dream Team,” who greeted and facilitated the service, seemed quite pleased with how things are going so far. So are we.

We go to the Movies for a Mission

Maya Cinemas Fresno 16, Fresno, California

We were sorry we’d eaten dinner before the movie, because the party room had two kinds of sandwiches (croissant and rolled wraps), chips, dips, and a veggie tray. I would have loved to feast but I only could handle a few chips and a couple of celery sticks, and a bottle of water for the show.

We shouldn’t have been surprised by the good spread. The Fresno Rescue Mission knows a thing or two about feeding people.

Fresno Rescue MIssion sponsored the Saturday evening screening of Same Kind of Different as Me, a new film from Pure Flix about two men changed by an encounter at a rescue mission. We bought tickets for the event online (tickets included the VIP reception beforehand; hence the food) and found ourselves in the theater party room shortly after 6:00 pm surrounded by posters of Kung Fu Panda (and others) and friendly people who’d come for the screening. We met sisters Saroya and Teresa, who were in fact identical twins (to be honest, Mindy had met Teresa the night before while shopping. Mindy was thrilled to see her again) We talked about our kids; Saroya has a daughter in New York, and one of our daughters had considered the college Teresa’s daughter’s currently attending in New York. Teresa and Saroya were there because they wanted to support the rescue mission. Saroya also said they were there to support Christian movies, “That’s very important to us.”

I also talked with a couple of people from the Mission itself. Deborah Torres, who’s the Chief Development Officer for the mission, said she hoped the event would “bring awareness to the Rescue Mission. We can all do something, we all have something to offer, whether working at the Rescue Mission or the animal shelter.”

I also asked Don Eskes, the CEO of the Fresno Rescue Mission, what they hoped to accomplish with the screening. He said, “We hope to inspire people to get to know those who are different from themselves. Only through relationships can we affect change.”  He said it’s important to not just pass by homeless people, but to give them time. “Tell me your story,” is what many people want to hear. Too often we pass by the homeless, not even thinking of them as people, he said.

Almost all the seats reserved for the event,the seats in the stadium seating section, were filled, and nobody needed to sit in the front rows on the floor. Before the film began, a couple of people spoke to the group. Rob Carter introduced himself as a promoter of faith based films in Central California. He urged people to support Christian films by recommending the film we were about to see and and by going to see The Star, an upcoming animated Christmas film, and I Can Only Imagine, a film featuring actor Dennis Quaid and the band Mercy Me. Deborah from the mission urged people to stick around after the film to ask questions and perhaps have a chance to win a framed movie poster.

We enjoyed the film. I’ll save most of my thoughts about it for an upcoming post at Movie Churches, but I’ll mention this one thing that bothered me, since Deborah addressed it immediately after the screening.

In one scene of Same Kind of Different as Me, a homeless man entered the mission’s dining hall during a meal, yelling and accusing someone of stealing from him. He smacked tables with the bat, and then smashed a large glass window. Finally, a woman (Deborah Hall, played by Renee Zellweger) confronted the man, and he left. But the man continues to return from the mission for meals.

At a similar mission on our cross country trip last year, we heard about a man who plugged a boombox in the wall of a mission’s chapel just before the service started. He turned up the volume (the boombox was playing only static), and when someone on the mission’s staff asked him to turn it off, he refused. entered the mission chapel just before a service and plugged a boombox into the wall and turned up the volume. It wasn’t even music that was playing, but radio static. Someone on the staff asked him to turn off the machine, but he refused. When he was asked to leave, he eventually started to make his way out; once outside he cursed at a staff member and shoved him, then threw the boombox at another staff member, hitting him in the head.

The staff member, a former police officer, quickly subdued the man. Police soon arrived and arrested the man. The mission’s director asked us not to identify the location of the mission, since such incidents were extremely rare, and they want guests to feel that the mission is a safe place. The police had been called because they wanted the other guests, especially those with children, to feel safe coming for a meal, for classes, or for a worship service.

So I was happy that before taking any questions, Deborah said, “If you come to the Fresno Rescue Mission, you don’t have to worry about someone wildly swinging a baseball bat.” There were only a few other questions, but Deborah encouraged people to come to the mission, if even for just a tour of the facilities.

After all the questions, Deborah asked who wanted the poster and several people raised their hands. (Mindy whisper-shouted, “Auction it off!”) Then Deborah asked, “Who was the real star of Same Kind of Different as Me?”

People murmured, but Mindy called out, “Greg Kinnear… Renee Zellweger… God!” (She told me later she couldn't remember Djimon Hounsou's name.) The third answer was correct, and we ended up with the poster. But of course the real prize of the evening was meeting so many people concerned about reaching out to the needs of hurting people in Fresno.

We Go to Church in a Movie Theater

Cornerstone Church, Fresno, California

We always turn in the guest registration cards when we visit a church because we want to know how well churches follow up on visitors. But this Sunday, people were anxiously filling out visitor cards and waving down ushers to take them because there was a drawing involved. We’ve been to churches with pretty good gifts for first time visitors: candy, coffee mugs, t-shirts, books, etc. But somehow the chance of winning something (in this case two free movie tickets) excites people more than a sure thing.

The drawing took place just before the evening's feature movie began, and the audience was asked, “Who’s going to win?”  Plenty of people shouted out “Me!” The guy in front responded, “Alright, we’ll find out which of you is a false prophet!”

Cornerstone Church meets in downtown Fresno in an old movie theater, what was once The Wilson. Usually they do regular church things in the building -- prayer meetings and worship services. But during the summer, the church has teamed up with a radio station (The Spirit, 88.9) to use the building as a movie theater again.

This past Sunday night they showed the 2016 film, Priceless. We saw the film before, last year when we were visiting a church, a bar, and a movie theater in every state (it was our South Dakota film). The good thing about the film is that it raises the issue of human trafficking, a real problem that the church needs to address, that individuals need to be aware of it. But I’m not sure it gives the best solutions for dealing with the problem. There may be flaws in a plan involving a man approaching a streetwalker, offering money, and then using motel room time for job counseling. It might not be best to arm oneself and take on criminal prostitution gangs alone. Good solutions in movies, of course, but perhaps not in real life -- and this is an issue in real life.

It’s good that the organization “Made for Them” was represented at the event, since they have more practical ideas for dealing with the problem. They are a nonprofit organization that works to fight human trafficking through, of all things, fashion. They work to educate people about the issue through their MadeForThem fashion line. They also provide jobs and job training. And they provide resources for businesses that are looking to be socially responsible.

It was good to see Cornerstone promoting this good ministry, and to see they have good ministries of their own. Pastor Jim Franklin founded Cornerstone Community Care, a non-profit that partners with local schools to help at-risk youth and founded Feeding Fresno, an outreach to feed needy families. We also saw promotional material for SUM Bible College and Theological School, supported by the church.

But that night was all about going to the movies. The screening was free, and the refreshments were quite reasonable as movie snacks go ($1 for anything, popcorn, sodas, waters).  Cornerstone does many good things; providing a night at the movies may be a lesser one, but it is still a good thing. We might go back in August for the next summer screening: The Case for Christ (if just for the cheap popcorn).

Statistics:

Service Length: 1 hour 41 minutes

Movie Length: 1 hour 37 minutes

Visitor Treatment: No particular attention was paid to visitors; everyone was encouraged to put their names, addresses, email, and phone number on the cards in order to win movie tickets.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none

Our Rough Count: 400

Probable Ushers’ Count: 475

Musicians: None
Songs: None
Snacks: Bottled water and soda, popcorn, candy, pickles, and maybe more were available for purchase

Distance to Church: 7.5 miles

Open WiFi: no

Tie/Suit Count: none

Church Website: cornerstonefresno.com

Evergreen Valley Church and Church on the Hill, San Jose

Throughout the month of November, Mindy and I visited churches that were featured in movies, so for the last month, I've dealt with false expectations you may have from those films ("The church used for Sister Act doesn't sing sanctified doo-wop," "Horses are not tied in front of the church location for High Noon," "Dustin Hoffman is not eternally knocking on the glass of the church from The Graduate"). So I was going to deal this week with false expectations you might have with the churches from the film I'm in Love with a Church Girl.

But who are we fooling here? You haven't seen I'm in Love with a Church Girl. You could watch it on Netflix, Amazon or even YouTube, but you haven't yet, so it would be silly to deal with false expectations you'd have from watching the film. There are, however, some interesting things about the origin of that film that I'd like to write about before we visit the churches.

IiLwaCG was written by Galley Molina while he was serving time in prison. He had been a drug dealer, and he wrote a fictionalized story of the experiences that led him out of his life of crime to faith in Jesus Christ. He came to serve at Evergreen Valley Church in San Jose. He raised funds to make a film of his story, but Evergreen Valley Church was too small to serve as a film location, so the production company went to the nearby Church on the Hill, also in San Jose. This Sunday we experienced a happy double feature, visiting both churches.

First of all, on the off chance there is someone reading who saw the film; I should let you know that there was no Lamborghini in the parking lot at Evergreen Valley Church. Before the 9:00 am service, I talked to one of the pastors on staff, Greg Trapp. He told me Pastor Galley is one of their ministers of worship at Evergreen Valley, but he wouldn't be there that morning.

I could understand why the film wasn't made at Evergreen. The sanctuary was relatively small and narrow. But it did fill up, and this was one of three services for the weekend. The music also filled the room. (I was warned by a parishioner named George before the service that the music could be loud; obviously concerned it might bother us. Thank you, George; it did not.)

"I was a manager at a Kmart for ten years. Last Friday was Black Friday. I don't like Black Friday. But I like Good Friday. Black Friday brings chaos, but Good Friday brings peace." That was how one of the other pastors, Dennis Hadley, introduced communion. (There are seven pastors on the staff of this relatively small church.) Communion was served in a rather unique way. The trays passed contained plastic cups in stacks of two. The top cup had grape juice and the bottom cup had a wafer. The church serves communion every week, believing that most important thing they do is commemorate Christ's sacrifice for our sin.

The sermon was given by the Senior Pastor, Tim Wood (and yes, rare IiLwaCG viewers, that is Pastor Tim from the film) on the theme of Thanksgiving. "We may be Post Thanksgiving Day, but we are not post thanksgiving."

When the first day of Advent falls after Thanksgiving, it sometimes provides a quandary for service planners. Should the theme of the service be Thanksgiving or Advent? This week we were able to celebrate both. Thanksgiving was the theme at Evergreen, but at Church on the Hill they were celebrating the First Sunday of Advent.

The church is visible at distance with a unique look, a bit like a circus tent with a globe on the top. There is a school on the property, so soccer fields are next door to the building. Music from a variety of Christian artists can be heard from the parking lot.

Approaching the building greeters shook our hands. Inside the lobby there were people enjoying beverages and snacks from the café. I looked in the sanctuary and was handed a bulletin (Mindy had gone in a few minutes earlier). Though musicians were playing, I thought they were practicing because there were a number of empty seats. But the service had, in fact, begun. (And only about half of the large space had chairs. There was a good deal of empty space.)

After some worship choruses, we sang my first carol of the season, “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” During the announcements, people were invited to an evening of decorating the church lobby for Christmas, “so that we won’t just have the prettiest place in San Jose but also the most welcoming.”

A woman was invited forward to give her testimony and light the first Advent candle of the season, the Candle of Hope. A nicely done video also presented the theme of hope, presenting a variety of sentiments (from “I hope for peace on earth” to “I hope Dad stays sober.”)

The sermon was, not surprisingly, on the theme of Hope, using the first chapter of John and a survey of that Gospel. The pastor acknowledged that there are plenty of reasons why people might lose hope (everything from reports of terrorism in the news to personal tragedy), but insisted hope can be found in Christ.

I had a chance to talk to a gentleman named Paul who was in the lobby with a couple of his young children. I asked him why he came to the Church on the Hill. He said he appreciated their young pastor. He also said he had grown up in the church, and “I’m a faithful guy.”

It was obvious looking around that there were people who hadn’t stayed faithful to the church. It was a bit strange. It was a large facility and people seemed to act as if they were still a mega church, but were no longer that. Mindy did a bit of research, and found that Church on the Hill had indeed had some struggles in the recent past. It seems like there are still good folks at the place, and I hope that God can continue to work through this ministry. As the preacher said, there is always hope, particularly in this season of Advent. I trust God will continue to work on the Hill and in the Valley in San Jose.

Statistics:
Evergreen Valley Church
Service Length: 1 hour 10 minutes
Sermon Length: 21 minutes
Visitor Treatment: Just like in the movie (sort of), Mindy was escorted in when we arrived...but only as far as the restroom door. We were greeted and given bulletins as soon as we came in the building, and each of us was greeted as we walked around before the service began (we think at least three of the people who greeted us were pastors). Pastor Greg was especially welcoming. There was a greeting time during the service when people went out of their way to greet us, and after the service, an usher made sure we went to the information table for the visitors' gift (a logo'd shopping bag with a devotional). We filled out the visitor card that was available in a number of locations around the building.
Followup by Tuesday Morning: We got a personal email on Sunday from Pastor Greg
Our Rough Count: 87 plus balcony (we didn't see how many were there, but guess around 30)
Probable Ushers' Count: 135

Snacks: none, but there was a table with bags of bakery bread (with Bible verses) in front of the church (we took some that had caraway seeds. It is delicious)
Musicians: 1 man on various percussion instruments, 1 man on drums, worship leader (man) on keyboard, 1 man on electric bass, 1 man and two women singers
Songs: "First Loved me"
"When I Think about the Lord"
"Thank You for Loving me"
Miles to place: 117
Total California Miles: 17,160
Church website: evcsj.com

Church on the Hill
Service Length: 1 hour 10 minutes
Sermon Length: 43 minutes
Visitor Treatment: One of the two greeters outside the building shook our hands and welcomed us. We filled out the visitor card in the pew.
Followup by Tuesday Morning: none  an email invitation Tuesday afternoon for the evening's lobby decorating party and an email from the pastor asking us to say hello in the lobby next week (we saw him in the lobby this week but didn't want to interrupt the conversation he was having)
Our Rough Count: 180
Probable Ushers' Count: 200
Snacks: Coffee and a variety of foods available at the Cafe. (Among the service opportunities listed in the bulletin was doing the shopping to stock the Cafe)
Musicians: worship leader (man) on acoustic guitar, man on drums, man on electric bass, woman singer
Songs: "Cornerstone"
"O Come, All ye Faithful"
"Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down)"
Miles to place: 12
Total California Miles: 17,160
Church website: churchonthehill.com