I was so glad to get the following challenging Facebook comment on one of our upcoming movies; glad because responding to the comment gives us a chance to explain our philosophy of service to our south-east Calgary communities. Here’s the comment:
How does showing this movie Glorify christ? I’m genuinely surprised and shocked, to see this movie of all the possible Christmas movies that could be shown. Dover needs light brought to it. This movie is not Christ’s light.
That’s one person’s opinion. To be fair, there are plenty of churches where that’s considered the only orthodox opinion for a church-member to hold. But Luther, and Lutheranism, hold Christians to a higher standard: knowing that God gifted each of us with reason, Luther calls on Christians to use their gift of reason in the service of the communities they serve, duly separating eternal matters from temporal matters. Movies are certainly a “temporal matter”. So, using reason and compassion, here is how we answer that comment:
For the last 27 years, I have stood on the Valleyview Park hillside and watched the Easter morning sun rise over the community of Dover (yes, even during COVID. We drew big distancing circles on the hillside so each cohort could have their own circle!?) I can assure you that there is a great deal of light in Dover already, and Emmanuel Community Church is blessed to be situated here.
During our seven-year search for a new pastor — culminating in a call this summer to Reverend Doctor Laura Holck — one thing we discerned VERY clearly is that God is sending us out, into all south-east and especially Dover, to serve ALL God’s people, even (and perhaps especially) people who do not share our particular religiosity. Our call to serve requires meeting people where they are and meeting the needs that they actually have.
Here in Greater Forest Lawn, we have discerned a deep need for connection between the many diverse ethnic, religious, and economic segments of the community. Many struggle to support their families in the face of high prices, social isolation, language difficulties, and cultural misunderstandings. We aim to serve our community by, in all Christian love, offering free events that meet actual needs – unconditionally. We have our congregation/community breakfasts and welcome everyone, WITHOUT requiring that they first listen to a sermon before they will be fed. We have the free Children’s Christmas Market (–>> Coming up on December 15!!!<<– and don’t inquire into the spirituality of the two-to-twelve year olds who come to find gifts for their parents and other3 family. And, while we will be showing “Journey to Bethlehem” (December 6 at 6:30pm) for the people who DO want to watch a specifically Christian story, we are also showing “Nightmare Before Christmas”(December 13 at 6:30pm )as a way of serving those of our neighbours who might feel shut out by an overtly proselytizing Christian movie.
All that being said, there are some good reasons for showing “Nightmare Before Christmas”. First, it shows how powerful the magic of Christmas really is. Christmas touches Jack as nothing else ever has. We see that in real life all the time: Christ is born and laid in the manger and that profound spiritual event gilds even Christmas commercialism with wonder that appeals far beyond the small community of committed Christians. And second, when Jack tries to take control and to adopt a role that is not what he is gifted for, it’s disastrous; just as it is disastrous in the Church when one person tries to do everything and only one kind of gift is valued. The bible itself (1 Cor 12:12-20) teaches us that all of our gifts are valued by God, and we should never be asking people to give up their gifts and their individuality in order to be accepted.
