GRACE CHRISTMAS FILM FESTIVAL
(DEC 2009)

Building Up
In the June Grace Church Camp this year, Rev Jim Blumenstock taught the church on Spiritual Discernment. It was from the church camp that we learnt about how as Christians, we should practise spiritual discernment in our everyday life, even in our engagement with films and media. This was the teaching point that provided the committee with the idea of looking at films as a means of sharing the gospel, in the hope that we can share the true meaning of Christmas through films.

In September, as a means of following up on the theme of the Church camp as well as introducing the idea of the film festival, the committee invited Bro Lee Chang Loong to speak in the Bible Class Open Sunday on Discernment in Film and Media. This session provided the Bible Class students practical steps to take when engaging in Film and Media. This session marked the start of a 2 month process where the committee started to select the films to be used for an Evangelistic outreach work. Members were invited to recommend films to be shown in the film festival. The criteria given were that the film must have a Christmas theme of Love, Joy, Peace and Hope.

28 films were short listed based on members' recommendations. On 1st November 2009, Session Members together with some members of the church came together to further select and shortlist the films to be screened during the Film Festival. Appropriateness and the value that the film portrayed were the key considerations being taken by the selection panel. After 3 hours of review and discussions, 6 films were selected to be screened during the film festival. Film focal was selected to help in determining the gospel links for each film.

Execution
In preparation for the film festival, different teams worked on different tasks to prepare for the film festival. Film Focal works on linking the gospel to the film-Mary worked on publicity materials, Rachel helped with the refreshments, Janet & Ley Hong worked on sewing the curtains and cushions, while Jacqueline, Ling Ling and John worked on doing up the AV room so that our guests would be able to have a cinematic experience in the AV room. Without having a general meeting with all teams, it is interesting to note how God used each individual to help in the preparation for the evangelistic event.

One week before the film festival, Film Focal gave a presentation to our members on how to link the films to the gospel message. It provided our members with the materials & knowledge to use when following up with their friends after the screening. This is done in the understanding that evangelism is not a one-off event; rather it is a continuous work that the members of the church have to engage with their friends. The film festival will provide the avenue for our members to further elaborate and share the gospel.

The actual execution of the Film Festival was consciously done such that there was little involvement from the members of the church during the actual day of the event. This was done so that our members could focus on inviting and sharing the gospel with their friends.

Reflection
Film and media (including the internet) is part of our everyday life in our modern society. Despite the distractions and the negative values that film and media introduce to our society, there is ample opportunity for us to use these media to share our Christian beliefs, values and worldviews with our family and friends.

The film festival has allowed members of the church to invite their friends and provided the opportunity for them to introduce the true meaning of Christmas to them. It also provided an opportunity for them to further elaborate and share the gospel to their friends through some of the talking points of the films which were provided.

For those who are involved in selecting the films, it has been a practical way of applying what we had learnt from the church camp - discerning and evaluating film and media.

Film Festival Committee Members:

Organizers
Pastor Tan Eng Boo
Catherine Ng
Gerald Pang
Edwin Lian
Lee Kee Min

Film Focal
Tay Boon Jin (Most)
Edwin Lian (Nativity Story)
Lee Kee Min (Ultimate Gift)
Joanna Hor (Horton Hear a Who)
Lee Chang Loong (Merry Christmas)
Lydia Lee (The Way Home)

F & B
Rachel Teo

Interior Deco
Jacqueline Ong
John Tang
Leong Ling Ling
Janet Neo
Low Ley Hong

Audio Visual
John Tang
Lee Chang Loong

Graphic Design
Mary Tham

Report by Bro. Gerald Pang