wfn.org | GENESIS TELEVISION SERIES PROMISES CHALLENGING FARE

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TITLE:GENESIS TELEVISION SERIES PROMISES 
June 26, 1996
Episcopal News Service
James Solheim, Director
(212) 922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

96-1512
GENESIS TELEVISION SERIES PROMISES CHALLENGING FARE

BY KARIN HAMILTON
           (ENS) What could be more natural than to get together with a group
of close 
friends, share a dinner, or at least a few snacks, and watch a television show
together? You cheer, boo, cry, and laugh together, and offer
astute and instant analysis, in case you find it lacking onscreen.
           Now, add that to another increasingly common event in the lives of
modern Episcopalians--that is, group Bible study--and you
have the basis for what looks like a prime-time winner this fall.
           Starting in October, PBS will offer GENESIS: A LIVING CONVERSATION
WITH BILL MOYERS, a 10-week series of
discussions on 10 wrenching and often steamy stories found in the book of
Genesis. "Whether we are believers or not, we share a culture
steeped in the stories of Genesis," said Moyers.      
           "Open the first book of the Bible and you're at the source of three
great religions, with people whose names echo through the
centuries and themes as fresh as the morning news: rage, envy and murder;
brotherhood, faith and courage; power, ambition, seduction and
intrigue; and dreams of redemption," he said.
            For more than two thousand years, Jews, Christians and Muslims
have plumbed the stories in Genesis for their religious, moral
and ethical implications. Each episode in the series will focus on a different
story, from the creation of the world to Joseph's exile in Egypt.
The conversation is introduced with a dramatic reading by either Alfre Woodard
or Mandy Patinkin. Then, Moyers sits down with a group
of seven notable men and women--renowned scholars, clergy members, artists,
writers, and others--to consider the many questions raised by
the story. 

ETERNAL ISSUES MADE CONTEMPORARY
           Contemporary issues are brought into the same forum as eternal
debates
about the nature of faith, the struggle between good and evil, and the path to
redemption. Participants examine the lessons of the stories
from the perspectives of their own lives, their communities, and the events of
the world--no one tries to mask his or her own religious
beliefs, but respects the integrity and boundaries of the religious traditions
of all others in the group. 
           The show was conceived after Moyers found a similar interfaith
discussion group in New York, led by Rabbi Burton L.
Visotzky, who is one of the discussion group members. Moyers wanted more
people to share the experience, and both he and his wife, with
their team, have spent two years developing the television program, selecting
the discussion members, and preparing supplementary material
for home study. 
           The series premieres on Wednesday, October 16, at 8 p.m. on PBS
(check local listings) and continues on subsequent Sundays,
beginning October 20 at 6 p.m. Doubleday will publish a 112-page guide,
TALKING ABOUT GENESIS: A RESOURCE GUIDE, to help
facilitate a discussion of these stories. A companion book to the series, by
Bill Moyers, will be available from Doubleday in October, 1996.

--KARIN HAMILTON IS EDITOR FOR THE DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT.