Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons

"THIS obedience" Documentray to Screen in Duluth, St. Louis, and St. Paul

May, 2002

THIS obedience is the story of a woman (Anita C. Hill), a denomination (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), and an issue that is at the heart of LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) oppression in the United States. The Rev. Anita C. Hill was ordained in April 2001 in an act of “ecclesiastical disobedience.” (Find detailed description below.)

This is the second feature film by the creators of “Treading Water: a documentary”, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Documentary by an Emerging Filmmaker at The 2002 Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival, Jamie A. Lee and Dawn Mikkelson.

Duluth Screening

Saturday, June 1
5:00pm – 1st screening
6:30pm – reception catered by The New Scenic Cafe
7:30pm – 2nd screening
Peace Church
1015 E. 11th St.
Duluth
This will be the first time the film is shown with it’s full musical score! Proceeds from this event will go toward the distribution of the film and the creation of educational materials.
$20 suggested donation.
Tickets available at Jitters and Beaners Central . . . Or at the door.
Special Thanks to:
The New Scenic Cafe
Ripsaw News
This Way Out Northland (KUMD)
Jitters
Beaners Central

St. Louis, MO Screening

Saturday, June 8
Soulforce Institute for Nonviolent Change
Centenary United Methodist Church
55 Plaza Square
St. Louis, Missouri
Invited by the Rev. Mel White, author of “Stranger at the Gate” & Co-founder of Soulforce, Inc.
To take place during the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting.
For more information about this event, visit www.soulforce.org

St. Paul, MN Screening

Tuesday, June 25
7:00 PM
Free!
MN History Center
3M Auditorium
345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN
Sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society
For more information about this event, visit www.mnhs.org

The film THIS obedience is an emotional journey through one Minnesota church’s fight with the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) to have an openly lesbian minister. From the elation of acceptance to the heartbreak of rejection, THIS obedience explores the personal effect of the public debate over spiritual equality for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) individuals. This documentary tells the story of the Rev. Anita C. Hill and the historic events of her ordination (an act of “ecclesiastical disobedience”) and subsequent rejection by the ELCA. Of specific interest is the effect of celebrity on the Rev. Anita Hill as she emerges from relative anonymity to become a national icon in the fight for spiritual equality. The dreams and goals of her congregation, LGBT activists, and the Lutheran hierarchy rest on the shoulders of this soft-spoken woman. As she puts it in one interview, “this is an introvert’s nightmare.”

THIS obedience explores one of the most contentious issues of this time: the inclusion of LGBT individuals in organized Christianity through a series of historic events within the Christian faith through the eyes of the lesbian in the center of it all. From intimate interviews with the Rev. Anita C. Hill, her partner Janelle Bussert, and close friend Emily Eastwood (a woman who left seminary after being “outed” as a lesbian), to frank conversations with bishops who risked their careers to be a part of Hill’s ordination, THIS obedience shows the power of one congregation in the heartland of the United States.

For more information about THIS obedience visit www.thisobedience.com or www.aquariesmedia.com