Grateful Am I To You

Aired 2000-01. Produced by Diva CommunicationsPresented by The Jewish Theological Seminary

Jews have been praying for thousands of years and though the liturgy has evolved over time, the essence of the morning prayer service has remained the same for scores of generations. This continuity serves as a powerful link for today’s Jews who are taking up the prayer books and phylacteries of their forbears. Grateful Am I To Youwas an invitation to join a contemporary egalitarian, Conservative Jewish morning prayer service.

To purchase a copy of this film call 212 397-7259

...and a time to heal.

Aired 2000-01. Just before 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 15, 1999, Larry Ashbrook entered Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. By the time he ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he had taken seven lives, left seven others wounded, and unraveled the innocence of an entire church body. In the chaotic frenzy of the shooting's aftermath, the community, the nation, the world stood still to take it all in. Then, as other stories beckoned, the nation turned its attention to new happenings. But the people who experienced this nightmare could not. They still needed time to recover, time to grieve, and a time to heal. This 60-minute documentary tells the story of people affected by the shootings at the Wedgwood church. It explores the role of faith in the healing process and looks objectively at different ways people deal with their grief. Some have made great progress in the past year; others will spend a lifetime trying to cope. To purchase a DVD of this program call 888-241-9282.

Cambodia: To Live Is To Hope

Aired 2000-01. Many church groups in our country attempt to relieve the suffering of people from various troubled nations. When they flee to the United States, the churches help them as emigrants and also as people seeking to bring peace and justice to their homelands. This program presented some vivid pictures of the challenges of these groups. Refugees and individuals helped them tell their stories and relate their needs and hopes.

Church Without Borders

Aired 2000-01. “Church Without Borders" offers a close look at some of the people who are living along the 2,000 mile border between Mexico and the United States, where Anglo, Spanish, and Indigenous cultures have co-existed for centuries, and examines the Catholic Church's cross border pastoral efforts in light of those realities. From the Church's perspective, here are spiritual brothers and sisters in need, not different nationalities. The program also depicts this spiritual solidarity by going to Chile, where recent U.S. college graduates are deferring the start of their professional careers in order to devote their time in service to the marginalized people of rural and urban areas. "Church Without Borders" also shows that those in need in the U.S. can be the recipients of aid when the program profiles work done by Chilean students in Boston's inner city.

Food and Faith: A Spiritual Bond

Aired 2000-01. Food is often the center of many religious celebrations; fasting gives way to feast; disciplined self control gives way to a joyous celebration of the gifts of God. Feasts bond both communities and families and in this program we met people who have found the connection between our appetite for food and our spiritual appetite. They lead us to experience the joys of the harvest, and our festivals as one of the great human connections to the Divine.

Freedom to Pray

Aired 2000-01. This program explored what religion means to teenagers. Views presented include why prayer or other religious activity is important to some teenagers and why it is important for some of them to have it in their schools. This special also examined the thoughts of youth who, while religious, do not require prayer and religious activity to be associated with school life, and still others who are entirely against such an association. This topic has proven timely from both political and spiritual perspectives.

Mission to Hollywood

Aired 2000-01. The Hollywood community was responding to a general call for wholesome values to be portrayed in films and on television. Act One: Writing for Hollywood, a religiously motivated group, runs a summer workshop to educate writers who wish to present values but who need to become good writers for movies and television. In this special we heard from the faculty who were aware that TV and film are art forms and respecting them is a key to being taken seriously in the industry. Workshop students and industry professionals profiled the potential effect of this program on the future content of what we see on the screen.

Gifts From God

Aired 1999-00. A look at the contributions and influence of women in Christian and Jewish ministry, this program, taped in St. Louis, visited a variety of dynamic women in ministry, including Roman Catholic nuns who have assumed pastoral duties formerly performed by priests. Their stories, triumphs, and frustrations were told, and seminarians examined some of the problems that remain. Included in the program: Rev. Dr. Peggy Way, Eden Theological Seminary (UCC), Rev. Brenda Hayes, Olive Chapel (AME); Rabbi Susan Talve, Central Reformed Congregation; Sister Mary Lou Stubbs DC, Catholic Charities; Sister Janet Crane SSND, chaplain Barnes-Jewish Hospital; Laura Renault, UCC seminarian; Sarah Peters, Southern Baptist seminarian.

Hear Every Voice

Aired 1999-00. Years ago, a group of churches, synagogues, and civic groups in Nashville got together to form TNT: Tying Nashville Together. TNT is an experiment in grass roots democracy, Banding together to conduct thousands of home visits and create a city-wide platform of specific suggestions for political candidates to endorse has met with notable success -- including neighborhood clean-up, quality of the school system, improvements in public transportation.

Thoughts at the Millennium

Aired 1999-00. A panel looks at the Christian millennium and what this marking/celebration might mean for Jews, Muslims, and others. A Jubilee Year gives us a chance to look back and offer reconciliation. We see this as a Common Era in terms of the calendar; for Christians we look backwards and forwards through the eyes of faith. Panelists include: Ms. Peggy Shriver, former staff executive for Research, Planning and Development at the National Council of Churches; The Very Rev. James Parks Morton, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Episcopal); Rabbi James Rudin, director of the Interreligious Affairs Dept. of the American Jewish Committee; The Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ, editor-in-chief of "America" (Roman Catholic); Dr. Diana Hayes, prof. of Systematic Theology at Georgetown University (Roman Catholic); Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, spiritual leader of Al-Farah Mosque in NYC. A panel looks at the Christian millennium and what this marking/celebration might mean for Jews, Muslims, and others. A Jubilee Year gives us a chance to look back and offer reconciliation. We see this as a Common Era in terms of the calendar; for Christians we look backwards and forwards through the eyes of faith. Panelists include: Ms. Peggy Shriver, former staff executive for Research, Planning and Development at the National Council of Churches; The Very Rev. James Parks Morton, Dean Emeritus of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Episcopal); Rabbi James Rudin, director of the Interreligious Affairs Dept. of the American Jewish Committee; The Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ, editor-in-chief of "America" (Roman Catholic); Dr. Diana Hayes, prof. of Systematic Theology at Georgetown University (Roman Catholic); Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, spiritual leader of Al-Farah Mosque in NYC. Contact Phone: 800-494-6007 Purchasing Notes: The cost is $19.98 plus $3.95 shipping and handling per half-hour video.