The Congregation, a new cinema vérité documentary by Alan and Susan Raymond, profiles a progressive United Methodist church in the midst of profound change as it struggles with the arrival of a new minister and must reinvent itself under new leadership. Co-produced by WETA Washington, D.C., the film airs Wednesday, Dec. 29 (check local listings) on PBS.
Producers Alan and Susan Raymond spent more than two years filming the tumultuous life of The First United Methodist Church of Germantown. Located in a changing Philadelphia neighborhood, it is a racially mixed urban church with a commitment to a ministry of social justice.
Conflict arises upon the arrival of the Reverend Fred Day, a more traditional minister newly appointed to replace a progressive pastor who retired after 37 years of service.
Another ordeal emerges when their associate pastor, the Reverend Beth Stroud, announces to the congregation that she is a self-avowed practicing homosexual. Although openly admitting her sexual orientation puts her at risk of losing her ministerial credentials, she receives the full support of the congregation in her challenge of church law. (Stroud is facing an impending clergy trial to determine her status as a United Methodist minister.)