ONCE upon a time, pastors warned churchgoers against the evils of the silver screen. Now they are packing believers and unchurched guests alike into movie houses across the land.
The difference is what’s playing – “The Passion of the Christ,” by Hollywood heavyweight Mel Gibson. With its R-rated, bloodstained recreation of the last hours of Jesus’ life told in English-subtitled Aramaic and Latin, film insiders predicted Gibson’s quixotic project would be a box-office flop. Instead, the movie opened with numbers rivaling Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. And in the audience sit many faithful church members, their seats often reserved for them by pastors.
Making its debut on Ash Wednesday (Feb 25), Gibson’s movie opened on 4,643 screens in 3,006 theaters with $10 million in advance ticket sales, according to Larry Ross, media representative for Icon Productions, which made the film.
Churches are buying out entire movie houses – “four-walling,” as it’s known in the trade – to encourage their members to attend “The Passion” and take their unchurched friends with them.
Using Gibson’s widely publicised movie for evangelism is part of a multifaceted promotional effort by Vista, Calif.-based Outreach magazine. The magazine’s website offers a variety of products based on the film, ranging from direct-mail postcards to “affordable Passion-themed New Testaments.” Outreach sent “most churches in the United States” a DVD that included a movie trailer.
Accompanying the recommendations are endorsements by prominent religious leaders, including well-known evangelicals Billy Graham, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Southern Baptist Convention president Jack Graham.
In early January, Outreach screened the film at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., where best-selling author Rick Warren is pastor. More than 3,000 pastors and church leaders saw the movie and heard Gibson talk about it at the church, according to David Chrzan, pastor and chief of staff at Saddleback.
Warren’s church subsequently bought 18,000 tickets to offer members.
With Warren offering a two-part sermon series on “Understanding the Passion,” Chrzan said Saddleback already felt the impact of Gibson’s movie. The weekend Warren began the series, 23,000 people attended, the largest crowd ever except Christmas and Easter.
In Plano, Texas, Prestonwood Baptist Church member Arch Bonnema decided to go beyond reserving seats for others, instead buying 6,000 tickets to give away. “When I saw it, it really changed my life,” Bonnema said, adding, “It made everything else I had done look meaningless.” – MCJ |
