Engaging Matthew 25 Through Film: Building Congregational Vitality
In this third of the Matthew 25 booklets, we present five films that can be of help for a church wanting to enhance its congregational vitality. A well-chosen film and a guided discussion can put a human face on important issues. Although there are not nearly as many films dealing with this topic as there were for the previous two booklets, “Dismantling Structural Racism” and “Eradicating Systemic Poverty,” we did manage to find five.
A film like “All Saints” can enable us to see how one church, led by a persevering pastor and prodded by a group of needy refugees, was able to see an unexpected opportunity for service, even though the church was supposed to be shut down. This and the other four films in this series demonstrate that, despite a myriad of problems, the church can not only survive, but become very much a vital force in bringing change to society.
In preparing for the series, the leader should, in addition to viewing and reflecting on the films, download and read the following items from the PC(USA) website:
- The Vital Congregations Page
- The article “Building Congregational Vitality”
- Immediate Toolkit Resources
- Vital Congregations Manual.
Give to those who sign up for the course a copy of the article “Building Congregational Vitality,” which you can easily download, copy, paste and print. This includes a list of seven marks of a vital congregation, which will prove helpful in examining the congregation in the film and your own.