Hollywood: Mine field or mission field?

By Karen Covell

Three congregations are reaching out to those working in the entertainment community.

Churches across America, both large and small, send missionaries around the globe to use their gifts and talents to reach others with the love of Jesus. These churches commission their missionaries and support them in prayer and with finances. They donate supplies and resources and welcome their missionaries back on furlough with open arms, and even share precious time on the pulpit for updates, pictures and prayer. There’s nowhere that they wouldn’t send one of their own — except perhaps to one place: Hollywood.

As the founder of a nonprofit Christian ministry, The Hollywood Prayer Network, and as an active member of the Producer’s Guild of America, I have one foot in Hollywood and one foot in the church — and neither one is easy. I balance my time between apologizing to the church for the immoral programming and behavior of entertainment industry professionals, and apologizing to the industry for the inappropriate comments and behavior from the church. What is the disconnect between these two worlds, and does anyone in the church see it?

The answer lies in our perspective. The church can either view Hollywood as a mine field like Sodom and Gomorrah, where Christians who dare to go there could get chewed up and spit out or might compromise their faith and sell their soul to the devil. Or it’s a mission field like Niniveh, where Christians can go as ambassadors for Christ, ministers of the Gospel to that unique people group and be an instrument to change lives and culture.

A miraculous community
The radical Christians who come to Hollywood have experienced a miraculous community with entertainment industry professionals who are committed believers. These Christian professionals fellowship together and reach out to coworkers and associates. In fact, since January 2012, there are more than 6,000 known Christians in Hollywood, involved in 16 vital ministries, and actively committed to churches that believe Hollywood is indeed the world’s most influential mission field.

There are many churches in Los Angeles that not only welcome members of the entertainment industry, but have specific entertainment industry fellowship groups that meet on their campuses. Three of the more prominent examples are Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, a 112-year-old church of more than 5,000 members, which hosts The Bridge Fellowship class; First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, a 105-year-old church in the heart of Hollywood, which has birthed six entertainment ministries out of its vision for Hollywood; and Bel Air Presbyterian Church, with some 3,000 attendees, more than half of which work in the entertainment industry, which hosts The Beacon, a biweekly gathering of church members who are entertainment professionals.

These churches have recognized the importance of reaching out to the cultural decision-makers and influencers in their own city. They empower their media professionals as missionaries to a mission field that needs prayer, support and resources. Through their entertainment fellowship groups, Sunday School classes and ministries, they gather the creative members of their church to offer prayer support, accountability and friendship.

Six ministries birthed
Dan Baumgartner, senior pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, a church whose past leadership birthed six active Hollywood entertainment industry ministries in the past 25 years, says, “When I came to Los Angeles, I don’t think I really realized the extent of the entertainment industry in Hollywood. Clearly, I knew it was big.  But coming from Seattle, it felt like the equivalent of Starbucks, Boeing, Amazon and Microsoft (all Seattle companies) being in one industry. The impact, just in terms of the number of people employed, is huge.”

Pastor Kim Dorr-Tilley, a talent agent who owns a boutique agency, also holds the unique position of pastor to the entertainment industry at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. “A number of years ago it became clear that more than half of our congregation works in the entertainment field and the industry poses unique challenges to this group of influential people.

“Our leadership at that time began to consider how best to minister to this group, which encompasses all ages, socio-economic levels and ethnicities. They wanted to find someone who ‘spoke the language’ of this people group, who understood the challenges and risks in a personal way, and who could bring a theological perspective to particular questions and circumstances that permeate this industry and its people. Our church leadership concluded that it needed to ‘pony up’ with an ordained position to show its long-term commitment to impacting culture and caring for the people involved in its creation,” Dorr-Tilley says.

Loved regardless
Steve Williams, an industry professional and leader of The Bridge Fellowship at Lake Avenue Church says, “It’s important that the church provides a refuge and a place to receive those from the Hollywood community who are broken and in need of a place where they’ll be loved regardless of their success or failure in Hollywood.”

Why aren’t more churches reaching out to the people who shape our children and our culture? Why aren’t large American churches commissioning creative people and sending them out as marketplace missionaries to Hollywood? It’s simply spiritual battle. The enemy doesn’t want Christians to have influence, or to reach the people who are influencing every people group across the globe.

Therefore, the church has believed the lie that The City of Angels is too scary, too far gone and has giants that are far too big!

The leadership of Hollywood Presbyterian Church never believed this lie. Henrietta Mears had an outreach to Paramount Studios in the 1950s and many people became Christians, including Jane Russell. In 1984 the church launched Actors Co-op, and it continues to produce award-winning plays in two theatres on their campus. Its members are not only union professionals but committed believers.

Baumgartner says, “Since my start in 2010, I have attended nearly every show that Actors Co-op has produced. I love them. And to be honest, I love the very idea of them! The idea that we would have theaters on campus; that the plays have been carefully thought through for content; that people from all over the community would be drawn to the campus and challenged with quality artistic performances, and occasionally with follow-up conversation and thinking — I just love it. I think it honors Christ, and is an open door to people who normally would be very uncomfortable on a church campus.”

Inter-Mission had a 20-year run out of Hollywood Presbyterian, gathering together the community of believers in film, television, music, news and media with speakers, panels, seminars and retreats. Act One was birthed almost 15 years ago and still trains writers and executives to work as Hollywood professionals. Hollywood Prayer Network began in 2001 with Hollywood Presbyterian Pastor Scott Erdman, and it’s still growing its membership of prayer warriors who pray daily for the people in the industry.

Hollywood Connect celebrates 10 years of connecting new believers into our community and offering an exhaustive website containing resources for work, spiritual growth and practical needs. And finally, The Greenhouse, which is 3 years old, is gathering hundreds of industry professionals of diverse faiths on a TV studio lot every month for inspiration, networking and community.

Erdman says, “My hope for our church is to be a springboard for ministry to the entertainment industry, which was taking shape in the 1980s and continues to this day. This was and is a very exciting time as many of our prayers are being answered.”

Now is the time for more churches to join the movement of God in Hollywood. It only takes three commitments: The church leadership needs to recognize that God loves the people in Hollywood; the church must commit to pray for the people who create our culture, instead of ignoring, boycotting or talking against them; and finally, the church needs to commission, pray for and financially support young people who want to come to Hollywood as media missionaries. As more churches join this movement of God, we will experience a cultural shift. And in time, God will bring a cultural revival.

Karen Covell is a producer and founding director of Hollywood Prayer Network in Hollywood, CA. She may be reached at Karen@hpnemail.org or www.karencovell.com

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For more information

Among ministries in the entertainment field:
•    www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org
•    www.hollywoodconnect.com
•    www.actorsco-op.org
•    www.belairpres.org
•    www.lakeave.org/go/TheBridge
•    www.actoneprogram.com
•    www.greenhouseproductions.com
•    www.fpch.org
•    www.A-E-M.org
•    www.lafsc.com
•    www.mastermediaintl.org
•    www.mediafellowship.org

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