This article originally appeared in the January 2005 Boost-A-Month Club Newsletter

Kentucky Video Project Promotes Ecumenism

While The Passion of the Christ was sweeping through movie theatres across the country in the spring of 2004, a committee in Todd County, Ky., was busy planning their own movie release: delivering a video entitled Jesus to every household in this small Western Kentucky Bible-belt county. Their “production,” which began in January 2003, aimed for a release date in September 2004.

Father Frank Ruff, pastor of Glenmary’s Todd County missions (St. Susan in Elkton and Sts. Mary and James in Guthrie) and an activist in ecumenical relations between Catholics and Southern Baptists, read about the Jesus video in newspapers he receives from various Protestant denominations. He recognized it’s potential for combining both an evangelization style well suited to the “video age” of the 21st century with ecumenism—if he could get the other churches in the county on board.

“The evangelization styles of Catholics and evangelicals are very different,” Father Frank says, “and most often our efforts give an implication of invitation to a particular church, which is why ecumenical projects can be so difficult.” But Jesus, he says, concludes with an invitation that is strong enough for evangelicals but sensitive enough for Catholics.

“The video was designed, primarily, for people who are unchurched,” Father Frank says. “It can serve as religious education for kids who don’t go to Sunday school or to church. Kids who don’t have a lot of videos will play it over and over, as kids do, and learn the story.”

The Jesus Video Project America, a ministry of the Campus Crusade for Christ, distributes this 83-minute interpretation of the Gospel of Luke nationally. The Jesus Video Project works with Christian leaders in communities throughout the United States to make the video available to every home in a specified area. Called “one of the most comprehensive, easiest and fruitful evangelistic efforts in history,” the Jesus Video Project has distributed over 20 million videos in the United States since the project began in 1992.

The first step for Father Frank in Todd County was to form a planning committee. He called an organizational meeting in January 2003 which resulted in a committee made up of members from the local Baptist, Methodist and Catholic churches. This group began exploring ways to raise the funds needed to distribute the video.

Participation and support was solicited by the committee. Letters were written to each of the 79 churches in Todd County asking for donations as well as requesting that the project be included in each congregations budgeting plans for the upcoming year. Of the 79 churches, 35 participated.

The committee’s goal was to raise $26,000 to cover the distribution costs. A grant of $5,000 from Glenmary (given anonymously) provided the seed money for the project and enabled the project to get off the ground.

Ultimately the committee raised enough money to mail 5,154 Jesus videos the week of September 27, 2004, one for every household in the county. A flyer included in the package announced the availability of a Spanish version. Paul Witte, the pastoral associate at St. Susan Church who also serves as a multicultural worker, received about 40 requests for the Spanish-language videos. “This has given us a chance to contact some of the Spanish-speakers in the community that we had not met before,” Father Frank says.

Members of the pastoral council of St. Susan Church discussed and meditated on the video during their October 2004 meeting. Many members compared it to The Passion of the Christ. Father Franks says they determined that Jesus was more attractive and easier to watch.

The steering committee for the Todd County Jesus video project disbanded in late November, with a few videos on hand, and $48.10 in a bank account. The last of the money raised was spent to purchase an ad in the Todd County Standard inviting people who might not have received a video to call and request one.
Father Frank says there was also discussion of using the remaining funds as seed money for another county to participate in the project.

“The committee would definitely encourage people in other counties to do this,” Father Frank says. “It was a great bonding experience for me and our mission in addition to helping bond us with the Baptist churches in the county.”