Is this a new way to boost church attendance?
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Porn Film Gets Churches Talking
Documentary Creating Groundswell Against Porn, Ministers Say
By DEAN SCHABNER
Jun. 3, 2005 - For more than three years, two young California pastors
have spread their message about the pernicious effects of pornography
through the Internet, at booths set up at pornography conventions, in a
documentary movie making the rounds of film festivals and in national
media. Everywhere, that is, but the one place they really wanted -- the
nation's churches.
Over the last few months, all that has changed, as one church after
another has held events known as "Porn Sunday," inviting Craig Gross and
Mike Foster to screen their documentary, "Missionary Positions," and to
talk about pornography and the problems they believe it creates in
people's lives.
So many churches now have expressed interest in having them come speak,
the two have decided to do a nationwide event this October.
They are hoping to have at least 200 churches register across the
country to participate in the event once they make the official
announcement and launch a new Web site dedicated to the national "Porn
Sunday" on June 15.
Their final individual church event will be this Sunday, at People's
Church in Franklin, Tenn., outside Nashville, Gross said.
"We can't keep up with the amount of requests to do these 'Porn Sunday'
things, so we're doing a national 'Porn Sunday,' " Gross said. "It's
crazy, because before three months ago, we couldn't get into a church.
Now the doors have opened up at the churches, thanks to one church that
invited us in and they said they had one of the best days they've had in
church."
That church was Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., where an
acquaintance of Gross and Foster, teaching pastor Bob Hill, asked them
to make three presentations one Sunday this past January. More than
13,000 people turned out to hear the two men talk and to view the film.
Since then, the presentations have been held at a number of other
churches, including Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich., where
billboards advertising a "Porn Weekend" drew local controversy and more
media attention, and Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, N.C.
Though the name given the events and the claim on Gross and Foster's Web
site that it is the "#1 Christian Porn Site" might seem like the cynical
approach of a couple of media-savvy publicity hounds, but they say the
point is to get people to hear their message, which is all about
healing, repentance and salvation, and helping people live fulfilling
lives.
Not the Normal Christian Approach
Neither Gross nor Foster looks much like what you might expect when you
hear the word pastor. With their gelled hair and hipster clothes, they
look more like grown-up club kids.
And the anti-porn message they lay out on their Web site
www.xxxchurch.com and in their appearances at porn conventions, churches
and anywhere else they can get people to listen to them is also not what
you might expect from men of the cloth.
"It's not the normal Christian approach that gets people turned off,"
Gross said. "We understand this issue, we understand the people involved
in it. Instead of telling people they're going to hell if they don't
repent -- we know that's not what they are going to listen to -- it's
time we talk about something real here."
What they talk about is the damaging effect they believe pornography has
on people's lives, how it interferes with their relationships and in
some cases costs people their jobs.
"We talk about the dangers," he said. "It's fantasy, it's not reality.
Experts are concerned this is going to spoil people's future sex lives,
not enhance them. We feel like it's getting in the way, it's stopping
people from doing the things God wants them to do."
Religious Resonance
What some church leaders have said since the "Porn Sunday" events began
is that the issue -- and the unorthodox approach Gross and Foster have
taken -- has had resonance with their congregations.
The pastor at People's Church said he believes that is because
pornography has become so accessible through the Internet, and is
invading people's lives through the spam they receive in their e-mail
boxes.
"It's a real problem with the culture, and we have no reason to believe
it's no different with the church," People's Church Pastor Rick White
said.
Addiction to pornography is different from other addictions, because it
is more private, he said, and people are less likely to want to admit to
it than people with other addictions. Even people who want help are
embarrassed to ask for it, and don't know where to turn, he said.
The decision to hold a "Porn Sunday" has created some controversy in the
community, and he knows a few people will not attend -- especially those
with young children, but it's an issue the church should address, he
said.
"It's swept under the rug, no one wants to talk about the issue. We
thought this would be a way we could unmask it," he said.
The movie has an "R" rating, and White said the church will not allow
anyone under 17 to attend without a parent or guardian, but he hopes
that will not scare too many people off.
"This is not soft-core porn," he said. "I have a 15-year-old daughter,
and I plan to have her here with me, because I want her to know what the
dangers are."
Interested in the People
Like much about these two, the movie has defied expectations. The
filmmaker, Bill Day, did not make it because he is a Christian or is
particularly anti-porn. As with other films he has made -- about
environmental activists in the Amazon rain forest and a labor union
activist in Central America -- he was more interested in the people than
in their message.
"The style of the films I make is that I'm not so much interested in
what's on the placard, I'm more interested in the guy holding the
placard," Day said. "What gets him out of bed in the morning when the
going gets rough? It's more of a human story. I think that's why the
churches like it, because it shows the struggle."
But churches were not where he expected the movie to be shown.
"I thought it would have an audience of four or five at a film
festival," he said.
One of those "four or five" at the Nashville Film Festival, where it was
runner-up for Best Documentary, was a counselor from People's Church,
who convinced White that the church should hold a "Porn Sunday."
"I know how real the problem is in this community, and I've seen porn
destroy the lives, careers of more people than I want to think about,"
said White, who screened the film before deciding to show it to his
congregation. "I've seen marriages break up here in the church and when
you trace the problem back, it goes to pornography. We're doing it
basically to say to people who would like help that it's out there."
That's just the message Gross said he and Foster have been trying to
send.
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http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=809937
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John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
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