SLIFF 2014 Review – WHEN GOD LEFT THE BUILDING

WHEN GOD LEFT THE BUILDING screens Sunday, November 23rd at 2:20pm at The Plaza Frontenac Cinema as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. Ticket Information can be found HERE

I was raised in the Baptist Church. At the age of eleven I lost all my faith when my Father died and I “wandered in the wilderness”, so to speak, for years. I took up the practice of Nicheren Buddhism and became a member of the SGI (Soka Gakkai International) in 1984 and quite frankly it saved my life. I am happier now than I have ever been and find a great deal of comfort in practicing Buddhism.

I say this as a prelude to telling you about an incredible documentary, WHEN GOD LEFT THE BUILDING. We meet Thom Schultz, writer and photographer who specializes in Church related issues. We go along with him as he visits several churches and allows a great many people to speak; Pastors, lay members and people who just do not go to church anymore, and we find out some incredible and sobering information.

The American Church, as we have known it for generations, is dying out. Schultz tells us that 4000 churches close their doors, every year! That’s 4000! In my regular job as a security guard I recently had a conversation with a “church lady” who insisted that Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds. Apparently that is just not the case.

The documentary begins with a televised news report from Springfield, Missouri, (KY3 TV no less). A report about a Church in Aurora, Missouri that closed its doors recently due to lack of attendance and finances to go forward. Is Missouri not one of the major “Bible Belt” states? Is Springfield not the world headquarters for several major denominations of Christian Churches?

In all honesty and sincerity I had no idea this is what is going on in America. In my younger, full blown radical atheist days I would have applauded this news. Now I find it shocking, sad and yes, horrifying.

Religion is supposed to offer aid and comfort and hope to people. That is what Buddhism is all about and I thought that was the aim and purpose of all religions. Call me a cock eyed optimist but I honestly thought that was the purpose of any faith. Apparently there are a lot of people out there without hope or faith or comfort of any kind.

The documentary visits several churches but spends most of its running time at Park Church in Newark, New York and Pastor J. Christy Wareham and some of his disaffected members. We hear from several of his congregation that they don’t “get” his sermons, that he is too hard to understand, that very often he will not even read a passage from the Bible. With his long hair and 60s survivor look (he even plays guitar during services) it’s easy to see why some members of his church might not approve of his methods. But it is still shocking and sad to see the congregation vote and move to fire the Pastor from his job. And which apparently did nothing to stop the slow disintegration of this church that was built well over 100 years ago.

In a clever bit of comparison Schultz talks about and visits the Eastman Kodak company in Rochester, New York, what’s left of it any way? He compares Kodak’s failure to innovate and change with the times with the Church’s failure to do the same. We hear at length from Steve Sasson who worked for Kodak for years and in another shocking piece of information we learn that he and couple of co-workers developed the first digital camera, in 1974! I had never heard of this information either but Sasson still has the camera, brings it out and demonstrates it for Shultz. It is large, heavy and awkward but it still works. Sasson recalls showing this prototype digital camera to a high ranking Kodak executive. The response from upper management? “I hope you fail!”

We are then treated to archive footage of Kodak buildings in Rochester being demolished. This lack of foresight is comparable to American Churches that are having a hard time getting people into the pews. When God Left the Building is not without hope however.   We end with several people talking about their success with opening coffee houses and trying different ways to give hope and comfort to people who might not ever set foot in a traditional church.

We hear quite a bit from Nathan Matz, a Reading, Pennsylvania police officer and a devout Christian who tells of the pain he and many other people experienced when 6 of his fellow officers committed suicide with their own weapons over the last 6 years.

Determined to do something for his community Officer Matz organized a church fellowship, where beer is served! Needless to say he did not get a lot of support from his church but it got people into a space to talk about faith that might never go near a traditional church.

Whatever your beliefs, however you seek comfort in anything that is faith based you owe it to yourself to see When God Left the Building. I would not like to see the American Church disappear; we would all be much poorer as a result.

Here’s the trailer for WHEN GOD LEFT THE BUILDING: