Humble Beginnings of the Adventist Movement subject of Major Movie
From ANN, July 18, 2016 After years of planning, fundraising and production, Chester Stanley, former president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia, saw his dream come true with the completion of the Tell the World cinematic production, which tells the history of the global denomination’s pioneers.
Tell the World was produced by Hope Channel, the official broadcast network of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Australia. It is the largest media production in the denomination’s history. Its story of the birth and development of the early Advent movement was brought to life by 95 actors, 157 crew members and 1,000 extras.
Tell the World will allow viewers to see the Advent pioneers wrestle to understand scripture, debate theology and overcome bitter disappointment; but through it all, the pioneers were led and inspired by God as they journeyed to find the truth.
The project was designed for members to connect with the Church’s movement and to rediscover what it means to be an Adventist. Tell the World will also provide an opportunity for people who are unfamiliar with the Church to gain a deeper understanding of the denomination that has more than 19.1 million members worldwide.
The world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is coordinating the distribution of the project, which will be available in three formats: short historical clips that will be released in August 2016; a television series of six episodes that will air on Hope Channel and stream online in October 2016; and a feature length film that will be available on streaming services, including Netflix, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play at a later date.
This looks exciting as a tool for evangelism. I guess they won’t be revealing anything about our Sunday keeping in Tonga which was instigated by our first missionaries in the 1890s and continues to this day
This strikes me as yet another waste of money in the long list of projects I have seen over the decades where someone pursued the illusion that “people will watch it because we’re Adventist” but it got largely ignored inside the church and completely ignored outside. So I expect no better response for this project because it expects people will pay long attention when we’ve done nothing giving them reason to cast even a passing glance in our direction.
Dear Mr Noel
For one who always speaks of how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of people, often using diverse ways and means, your quick dismissal of this film is quite surprising. I would like to know which other films you refer to, which according to you, were a waste of money.
Trevor,
That neither you or I can remember the titles today is good evidence of what failures the efforts were and that the blessing of the Holy Spirit was not on them.
I, for one, am excited to see this happen. My only hope (no pun intended) is the production is first-rate, and not B-grade film directing, shooting, and post.
Whatever happened to THE SEVENTH DAY? This was a series that needed to be marketed to the History Channel or public television. Does anyone have a clue as to why this didn’t happen. I understand that was the goal. I felt it was well=done and informative. Much better than most of the stuff you see on these channels.
It is excitingto see the church looking for ways to tell the world. It is frustrated people like Mr Noel who make Adventists look bad even when they have nothing to say. Is this movie in Spanish?
The best film about Adventsis for the world to see was ‘Cry in the Dark’, the Lindy Chamberlain story. I believe the persecution that family received is a “type” a microcosm of what is coming in the future.
I wonder how many are ever convicted and converted by a film concocted by mere human beings? What I see is just more entertainment with little that will convert.