Moving Picture Age (Jan-Dec 1922)

Every pastor who reads this remarkably vital contribution will reflect, "Is my church operating in its broadest scope?" ESTABLISHING POINTS of CONTACT Rev. W. H. Moore Pastor, Methodist Episcopal Church, Arkansas City, Kansas 'This Is About an Average for Our Children's Meetings," Says Rev. Moore, Who Is Seen in the Upper Left-Hand Corner of the Group SOME time ago this church awakened to the fact that it was not reaching the young life of the community in such manner as to assure its future. "What shall we do?" was the inquiry. Many suggestions were made, and various plans were tried with very meager results. There were those who thought the motion picture would help ; others thought it would not. For about one year the matter was discussed. It was finally decided that those who believed the pictures would help should be permitted to place a projector in the church and try it out. We bought first-class equipment, and commenced showing pictures in June, 1920. Since that time, except during the hot weather, we have used from one to three programs a week. We have had our problems, for we were perfect strangers to the business. The field was a new one. Can we get the character of picture we want? If so, where can we get them? What guaranty can we have that we will get what we order? These are a few of the many questions that had to be answered in some fashion. We do not get always just what we want, and probably we never will till pictures are made with our purpose in view. However, we have had only one or two really objectional pictures; we have had many that were good in every particular ; we have had occasionally a picture with a feature or two that we did not like. But probably one could not say any more than this for a series of sermons or lectures. A story, like a painting, consists of lights and shadows ; there must be a series of comparisons and contrasts, and often, in order to emphasize virtue, it must be set in contrast with vice. This is true of a story told verbally; it is doubly true of a story told with a moving picture. The story of the Prodigal Son has in it the feature of riotous living — even harlots are mentioned. The story is incomplete if we omit these elements. But telling that story verbally and with a moving picture are two different matters. It is possible in either case to overdo the vicious element, but in the case of the picture we are in positive danger of doing so. If we give the child such a vivid impression of the vicious element that he forgets the virtuous element, then, no matter how good the story, the picture is damaging. This is, in my judgment, a very important point, and we will never have pictures that will do exactly what the church wants done till pictures are made with a view to securing this point. Commercial pictures are made primarily to entertain; the moral-uplift feature is secondary, or even incidental. Pictures made for the church ought to reverse this order; the picture should be entertaining, but first of all it should be morally uplifting. Another problem that faced us was order. ■ Not that the people were really bad, but when we had a large crowd of young folks and children together there was much confusion and needless conversation. This, however, is always the case when such a crowd is assembled. The character of the program had nothing to do with it. There were some who believed it did. They said the pictures in the church had demoralized the young folks and destroyed their respect and reverence for the church. This is manifestly not true. The problem existed from the very first, before the use of pictures had had time to produce such an effect. The truth is, the us; of pictures in the church did not produce the condition — it merely revealed it. Prior to the use of pictures Wt. seldom had had enough young folks and children at any one time in the church to create such a problem! And, moreover, the condition has steadily improved. No doubt many of the young folks who attend our services have too little reverence for the church; but many of them now have some regard for the church, who prior to the use of pictures had neither regard nor reverence. In fact the absence of the young folks from the church for so long a period, prior to the use of pictures, will more nearly account for their want of respect and reverence for the church than will our motion pictures. The use of pictures has brought hundreds of people to our church, many of whom never before came near it. We have mort children than we know what to do with ; and every department ot the church is more largely attended than it was before we used pictures. I am not assuming that the use of pictures did all this. We have had one very successful revival effort since we began using pictures; and no doubt that and other faithful efforts have contributed to our present degrees of success. The following state(Coutiuued on page 14) 11