Film festival entry features New York congregation
Aug. 1, 2007
NOTE: Photographs available at http://umns.umc.org.
A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom*
It started with a winking eye, a toothy smile and two sneakers "the size of a Mini Cooper."
Alice Rose, a member of Christ Church United Methodist in Troy, N.Y., was looking for a subject for an entry in a film festival at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. ecumenical movement.
She remembered the adult-size body part puppets left over from a parade a few years earlier. And she thought of the message on diversity and unity from 1 Corinthians - about the church being one body and many members - and it seemed to fit.
The resulting four-minute film, "One Body, Many Parts," was one of 10 films screened July 20-21 during the Oikumene Film Festival at Oberlin College in Ohio. The festival was part of a conference sponsored by the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches.
Another entry, "For Those Who Stayed," was submitted by the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns and produced by Hilly Hicks for United Methodist Communications. That entry focused on African Americans who chose to stay within the denomination despite discrimination. The commission led the 2000 United Methodist General Conference in a liturgical "act of repentance for racism."
Media as a worship tool
"One Body, Many Parts" is just one example of an intentional focus on media at Christ Church. "We've been experimenting with using media in worship for a long time now," Rose explained.
Two years ago, the small but growing congregation, which averages about 100 people at Sunday worship, decided to make a major investment in media technology, installing plasma screens, purchasing cameras and updating the sound system.
But Rose, 43, wasn't happy with the religious video content available for sale. She found most videos either had high-end production values with light content or meaningful content with bad camerawork.
"Between cost and trying to find pieces that matched what we were looking for in worship, we decided to create some of our own stuff," she said.
Rose is trained as an engineer but lately has been doing some video production for her husband's small software company. Topics of previous pieces for the church include the authorship of St. John's gospel, the human cost of war and the story of Moses.
She's also passionate about using puppets, particularly with her Sunday school class, so it wasn't surprising that the body-part puppets were put to good use.
The giant ears, eyes, hands and other parts meshed with the reading of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, which points out that "the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body.'"
Mirroring the message
The performers in the film, all volunteers from the congregation, are ages 8 to 80 and represent "the breadth of our church family," according to the Rev. Nina Nichols, the pastor at Christ Church. Maria Zemantauski, a flamenco guitarist who has played at the church, provided the music.
"The actual creation of the piece was a reflection of its message," Rose said. "It was really a moving experience for a lot of us."
Nichols agreed. "The message, certainly, is in line with who the church is trying to be," she said.
Anyone interested in "One Body, Many Parts" can contact the church at (518) 272-8392 or visit the church Web site at http://www.christchurchtroy.org/. More information about the Oikumene Film Festival and a link to video of "One Body, Many Parts" and the other films can be found at http://www.ncccusa.org/faithandorder/oberlin2007/oikumene.html.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org
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