Church pushes R-rated film

It’s been called the spiritual awakening America desperately needs.

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” opens nationwide this Wednesday. Churches around the Midlands are advocating the controversial film by renting out theaters and holding discussions about Jesus Christ.

Pastor Kent Ingram of Kilbourne Park Baptist Church says his church has rented out a theater Thursday and Friday nights at Wynnsong Theaters.

His church is asking its members to do something it does not normally do -- see an R-rated movie. The film earned its R-rating because of graphic violence dealing with the crucifixion.

Pastor Ingram understands the concerns about the graphic violence in the film, but while he thinks children should not see it, he does think that teenagers are old enough to handle the experience. He’s allowing his 14- and 16- year-olds to go see it.

The pastor says it is the only way to show the Christian view on the spiritual ramifications of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

“We’re hoping that people will come and see the spiritual violence of the cross and in that, will experience a life changing experience,” Ingram said.

In the pastor’s eyes, just seeing the film is not the only reason for renting out the theater. He says his church partnered with a secular radio station to give away tickets instead a religious station because they are trying to reach out to people outside the faith.

And WNOK also thinks giving tickets away to the controversial movie is a great idea.

“We think it’s a great opportunity to give listeners a chance to go see a movie that’s very topical and very talked about in the media and we hope they’ll enjoy getting free tickets and seeing the movie,” says T. J. McKay, the program director at WNOK radio.

It’s not just in Columbia. Churches around the nation are joining in the evangelization effort. McLean Bible Church in Fairfax County near Washington, D.C. bought more than 11,000 tickets for private screenings of the film.

Frazer United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama has sold 800 tickets.

The church sold the tickets at a discounted rate of $5 for each of three private screenings. The church did a mass mailing to 33,000 homes asking people to come see the movie and then come to the church to hear the rest of Jesus’ story.

Pastor Ingram says this outreach is a specific way to evangelize the Christian faith to those outside of it. But he also says the film is key for Christians who want to strengthen their own faith. He feels that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is not only the most important event in Christian history, but in all of history.

Whether it is too violent, just another evangelism tool or just a good film remains to be seen. And that is what Pastor Ingram and Kilbourne Park Baptist hope people in the Midlands do this weekend.

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LandonJones

Landon Jones is finishing up his BA in broadcast journalism and graduates May 7th, 2004. The most important things in his life are his faith and his marriage. He’s been happily married since June 7th, 2003 to Laura Jones. Starting in August, he and his wife will spend a year in Russia doing missions work, teaching English and learning Russian. After that he hopes to work in TV production. His favorite hobbies are reading, playing golf and anything to do with the South Carolina Gamecocks.