Movie-Making Church Sets Out for 3rd Release

By Nathan Black, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Following the success of a low-budget film praised by church leaders nationwide, a couple of Baptist brothers are on track to produce a third faith-based, big-screen release.

The Kendrick brothers of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., are producing the final script for "Fireproof," a film based on firefighter in a troubled marriage. He realizes he cannot fix his marriage until he gets right with the Lord.

Scriptwriting began after the September 2006 release of "Facing the Giants" – a film that centers on the life of a football coach who has never had a winning season in six years – which lasted 17 weeks in theaters nationwide and sold over one million DVD units. Shown in 441 theaters across the nation, "Facing the Giants" has been recognized as one of the most inspirational movies of 2006, according to Sports Illustrated. Churches have picked up on the movie to use for instruction and discipleship within their ministries.

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Each film since the Kendrick brothers' debut production – "Flywheel" – has been taken up a notch in quality and received more widely. "Fireproof" will run on a larger budget and with a full church cast that has their relationship right with the Lord.

"What's most important to us is that the people involved are doing it for the right reasons," said Alex Kendrick, media pastor at the church, according to OneNewsNow. "In other words, one question that we asked the cast and the crew is, 'Is there anything in your life that would prevent God from blessing your work on this movie?'"

Sherwood Church entered the moviemaking ministry to engage a culture that Americans are largely being influenced by. While Alex had expressed a desire to produce Christian movies when he was hired at Sherwood Baptist in 1999, it was a 2002 Barna Group survey that prompted the church to launch a movie ministry. The survey revealed that movies are one of the leading influencers in American society while churches have lost much of their influence.

"Fireproof" will be released in the fall of 2008. "Flywheel" is slated for re-release this November.