Three Who Care

Film Info: “Three Who Care” (1979) – Part of the”Profiles of Rural Religion” series produced by P.J. O’Connell for the Rural Documentary Project and Penn State Broadcasting – 58 minutes

Distributor:   Pennsylvania State University Media Sales DVD – $25

Summary: Religious involvement can be casual; in these three cases, it is not. Sue Jensen is a seminary intern, encountering the Salona Lutheran Church. Sue is suburban-raised, Princeton-educated, and a woman serving as pastor of a small, rural congregation. She is, to say the least, in contrast to her congregation’s expectations. Connie Richardson is a rural activist in the Gospel Tabernacle Assembly of God. She sings; she plays the organ; she teaches Sunday school; she is a missionary to her neighbors. And Connie believes: in the biblical “gifts”, in prayer, in healing, in her power to perform miracles “in the name of the Lord.” Celeste Rhodes Larsen is a nonbeliever in a strongly religious community, a former Jew in a predominantly Christian population, and a creative dance professor at a small teachers college. Her skepticism counterpoints prevailing attitudes. Rural religion is varied, intense, and decidedly alive.

Out of Order

Film Info: “ Out of Order”, by Dian Christian and Bruce Jackson, color, 89 minutes, 1983

Distributor:  Documentary Educational Resources (DER) – www.der.org

Summary:  In “Out of Order”, six former Catholic nuns tell why they entered and why they left religious life.  They talk about single life and marriage, the changed place of religion in their lives, sex roles, institutional supports and burdens, and work.  The film offers unique insight into female socialization and identity in modern America by probing ideals and realities of womanhood, sex, work, and service from an unknown an unusual perspective.  (From the distributor’s blurb.)