Teaching on Film and Faith
In our youth department we have been experimenting since the beginning of summer letting our high school students pick what they want to study on Sunday mornings. Recently I got an opportunity to teach a class on film and faith in which we watch clips of a movie and then draw out spiritual meanings in the film. The first week we talked about 1. being able to use films as conversational tool with non-believers and 2. being able see spiritual fingerprints in culturally relevant films that can allow us to experience God in new ways when we start looking for themes of redemption and metaphors in these films. This Sunday will be the third week of the class as we look at good and evil in the movie “The Dark Knight”. I have found that doing this series has been something the students have enjoyed and has really helped me to look a little closer at some of my favorite films. Here is the syllabus for the class.
5 week Outline
Pirates of the Carribean 2 (the power of metaphor)
Dead Poets Society (coming of age)
the Dark Knight (good vs evil)
End of the Spear (Christian films and their message)
Hotel Rwanda (true stories)
- the Message Factor – a guide to understanding Christian films
- SAICFF (san antonio independant christian film festival) Reviewed
- Thinking past Sunday
- Providing options for high school students
- two movies you should take your youth group to this Fall
