Philadelphia Films: Videos from the Tri-Co Libraries

DVD. The documentary story of two ministers, Fred Day and Beth Stroud, and the congregation at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown from May, 2002-September, 2004. The traditional style of the newly-appointed Fred Day causes a divide among the congregation. Simultaneously the congregation supports Beth Stroud in her challenge to the United Methodist Church's law banning gays in the clergy. The program covers the progression from Stroud's sermon announcing that she is a self-avowed practicing homosexual to her trial in which she loses her clergy credentials.

DVD. The true story of the brutal murder of Korean exchange student In Ho Oh by a group of eleven black teenagers in Philadelphia during the spring of 1958. The film examines the background and trial of the teenagers, and the response from In Ho Oh's Christian parents, in the form of a letter, asking for forgiveness and mercy for the murderers. The film ends with the funeral ceremony at Old Pine St. Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.

DVD. In 2001 President Bush created the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Beyond issues of separation of church and state, do these initiatives really work better than secular, government-run programs? This program follows the efforts of the leaders of two initiatives with differing approaches: the non-proselytizing style of the Reverend Gene Rivers of Baker House in Dorchester near Boston and Pastor Mike Zello, director of Teen Challenge, a drug rehabilitation program premised on Christianity. Also profiled is the Amachi Program for children of incarcerated parents in Philadelphia.

DVD. A collaborative community oral history multimedia project, comprised of a series of short community media pieces that utilize interviews with members of mosques, masjids, schools, cultural centers, and other Muslim groups and oral-history research to discuss contemporary practices and experiences, explores the rich and diverse history of Muslim communities in the Philadelphia area from the late 19th and 20th centuries including conversion stories, histories of key institutions, immigration, and experiences of women in Islam.

DVD. In March 2005, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting celebrated the 50th anniversary of its reunification, 128 years after the Hicksite/Orthodox split. This documentary offers some perspectives on the occasion of that anniversary. Francis Brown, Esther Darlington, Marian Darnell Fuson, Sidney Cadwallader and Samuel Snipes share their memories of the reunification in 1955 and the times leading up to it.