If you think of technology and religion as polar opposites, you’re in for a surprise. Pastor Paul Lutz, minister of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in West Windsor, earned a masters of divinity from Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg in 1983 and a masters in religious education from Boston College in 1990, but he also holds a certificate in digital cultural ministry.
“The church is recognizing we live in a digital culture. God can work through digital technology. We have a Yahoo group, a 300-member E-mail list, to which I send a weekly devotion with the Sunday scripture story, questions, and suggested prayers,” says Lutz. He also issues a weekly prayer list via E-mail, enumerating people who may be sick or in difficult situations for whom he invites his parishioners to pray, and uses movie clips for religious education and digital images during worship.
Another example of Lutz’s use of digital technology is the forum he has been conducting at the church, open to his congregation and the public, on the controversial Mel Gibson movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” The forum uses a DVD series of video-based curriculum produced by Purpose Driven, a religious model and publisher of religious educational materials originated by Rick Warren, founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.
Lutz, who came to Prince of Peace from Chicago where he was director for adult education for Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), concludes the three-part series, which started in April, on Sunday, May 9, from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., with “The Story of the Resurrection.”
He says the series is valuable as individual, stand-alone sessions and participants need not have attended all three, nor seen the movie, to benefit from the discussion or material presented. If interest is sufficient, he will repeat the series, and he is also available to present the series in people’s homes if they have an interested group.
Of “The Passion of the Christ,” Lutz says, “this movie is probably the biggest evangelism effort that the church has; whether you like the movie or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s a wonderful opportunity for people to reexamine what they do believe, and go a little deeper in their understanding. We’re trying to encourage conversation.”
Lutz, who lives in East Windsor with his wife and two daughters, saw the Mel Gibson film at the AMC Theater in Hamilton during Lent, with members of the Mercer County Lutheran Mission, a cluster of six churches. He thought the movie was “too Hollywood” and rated R for good reasons. “It went beyond what I thought was believable.”
His fear that the film might “be used to win people for Christ” inspired him to hold this forum. “It’s a serious adult movie that some people will find some good in and some won’t. I wanted to give new information for people to talk about, not just (what was presented in) the movie.”
While he acknowledges the positive opportunity the movie’s release presents — to foster reflection and discussion, he also sees a dark side. And that is the film’s bias. “Every creative endeavor has some bias.” He worries, for example, that people might see the film’s presentation of the Passion and consider it the only one. “The Bible portrays at least four stories of Jesus’ Passion,” says Lutz.
About 30 people attended the first session, held on Sunday, April 18, and Lutz was impressed to see that as many participants had seen the film as had not. The first session focused on Jesus’ death, and introduced some of the characters who played a role in the Passion, for example, the thief on the cross next to Jesus.
Lutz used the forum to get people thinking not just about the characters but also about themselves. “The thief was a bad person, he was being killed for doing some terrible thing,” says Lutz. “But Jesus tells him, ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise.’ That’s more than just a factual account; it also has something to say about us and how we understand how God works. If it was up to us (as humans) to earn God’s grace through good deeds, then we wouldn’t qualify, because the thief didn’t qualify. God’s grace comes from God’s initiative, not based on what we do. If our life is only about the deeds we do, then this story suggests it works a little bit differently. God’s grace is a favor and our lives are a response to that favor.”
Lutz sees another upside to the film — allowing different faiths to see the Catholic interpretation of Christ’s death. “For Lutherans, it’s interesting to learn more about the Catholic myths and legends — (and ask) how do we feel about that? For Christians, the most important thing is not the Passion, but the Resurrection that is the more powerful.” The story of the Resurrection is the subject of the part three of Lutz’s series, Sunday, May 9, Mother’s Day.
—Jamie Saxon
Forum on Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” Part 3: The Story of the Resurrection, Sunday, May 9, 9:45 to 10:45 a.m., Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 177 Princeton-Hightstown Road, West Windsor. Free and open to the public. 609-799-1753.
