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| Poster for screening of The Interrupters at St. Luke's Logan Square, Chicago. |
It reminded me that we did quite a few screenings at the church I attended in Chicago, St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square. It occurs to me that the list of St. Luke's film screenings is not yet assembled in a single place, so here it is:
From Art to Action: The St. Luke’s Social Justice Film Series Continues [The Interrupters]
Screening: The House I Live In
(also: "A Gigantic Prison Enterprise" … As Seen By a Chaplain in Prison and Family Ministry)
Community Dinner and Screening of A Place at the Table
Bonhoeffer Movie Screening
Screening of The Response on Sunday, December 11th after worship
Call Me Kuchu Screening and Discussion
(We also screened Gasland, Love Free or Die, Encounter Point, and 9500 Liberty.)Screening: The House I Live In
(also: "A Gigantic Prison Enterprise" … As Seen By a Chaplain in Prison and Family Ministry)
Community Dinner and Screening of A Place at the Table
Bonhoeffer Movie Screening
Screening of The Response on Sunday, December 11th after worship
Call Me Kuchu Screening and Discussion
The recent conversation reminded me that there were a few things we learned from our "Social Justice Film Series" at St. Luke's:
* Purpose - It's important to know what you are trying to do. We thought of ourselves as trying to encourage conversation on issues of concern to people in the congregation, and in the larger community.
* Connection to congregational activities - Often we were able to make a direct connection to one or more of the missions or activities of the congregation.
* Spread the word! - As the links above suggest, we did a number of things to tell people about each screening -- before and after each event.
* Guest panelists - We were fortunate to be able to find one or two (or sometimes more!) knowledgeable guests to help with discussion following each film. Chicago has a wealth of community organizers and social justice activists.
* Discussion time - We learned that we needed to plan in order for there to be adequate time for discussion. Often we used Sunday afternoons for the film screenings/discussions (because after an evening film screening many people don't have the energy for discussion), and we tried to select films that were not too long.
* Steering - We had quite a robust social justice committee, and the process of programming the "Social Justice Film Series" was itself quite rewarding to the participants.
* Food - Last but not least: we always had a more lively participation and discussion if we provided ample refreshments.
* Connection to congregational activities - Often we were able to make a direct connection to one or more of the missions or activities of the congregation.
* Spread the word! - As the links above suggest, we did a number of things to tell people about each screening -- before and after each event.
* Guest panelists - We were fortunate to be able to find one or two (or sometimes more!) knowledgeable guests to help with discussion following each film. Chicago has a wealth of community organizers and social justice activists.
* Discussion time - We learned that we needed to plan in order for there to be adequate time for discussion. Often we used Sunday afternoons for the film screenings/discussions (because after an evening film screening many people don't have the energy for discussion), and we tried to select films that were not too long.
* Steering - We had quite a robust social justice committee, and the process of programming the "Social Justice Film Series" was itself quite rewarding to the participants.
* Food - Last but not least: we always had a more lively participation and discussion if we provided ample refreshments.
Of course, this is not to say that we had all the answers. But we did start to understand some of the questions!
Now . . . I'm curious to learn about what other churches are doing with their movie nights!
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