Randall Murphree

AFA Journal editor

April 2010 – Members of Christ Church Jacksonville Anglican (Florida) were stunned by their discovery as they explored Playtime Drive-In Theater, property the church had just purchased (in 2008) for a new building. Among old films still in the building were such titles as Kinky Business and Private Teacher.

“You’re not going to believe what’s stored here!” one of the men told Father Mark Eldredge, their pastor. Long-time residents of Jacksonville knew Playtime’s history. Built in 1948, it had screened mainstream films until the 1970s and early ’80s when it showed X-rated movies.

In the mid-1980s, it returned to showing mainstream films. Understandably, the Christ Church members were a little startled to find a stash of more than 200 old porn films still on the property 25 years later.

“We wanted to burn the porn films when we had the dedication service to give thanks and to claim the land for Christ,” Eldredge said. As it turned out, city ordinances restricted burning large amounts of film because of toxic fumes, but the church secured a permit to burn a few films as a symbolic act at the dedication.

“We took all we couldn’t burn and cut them in half,” said Christ Church member Jim Evans. They didn’t just snip each film in the middle of the roll; they used saws to cut through each roll of film so that it was left in thousands of pieces.

Evans, who spent 25 years in the theater business continued: “Water is the best way to ruin film, so we drenched them, too. In other words, we made sure those films could never be used again.”

Drive-in outreach
The church next began to consider how to use the property for outreach until it could build a new worship facility on the property.

“One night, it just sort of clicked,” Evans said. “We still had the screen and equipment. Why not use it? So we started hosting family movie nights one Saturday evening every other month.” Christ Church has used the theater to show such movies as The Passion of the Christ, Fireproof, Free Willy and other family-friendly and Christian movies.

“My passion,” Eldredge said, “is to see as many people as possible come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, get connected into a church family, discover their God-given purpose in life and then live it to the best of their ability with God’s help.”

“The whole point is evangelism,” said Evans, who oversees the church’s movie ministry. But how can a church use a drive-in theater, with guests isolated in their individual cars?

“We have church members who greet and welcome guests as they arrive,” Evans said. The greeters hand guests a flyer with information about worship times and other ministries of Christ Church.

In addition, they use two methods of broadcasting the audio – one via an FM radio channel and one via large speakers. “We encourage people to bring lawn chairs and blankets,” Evans explained, a setting that encourages a family atmosphere.

“And we usually have something else going on, too,” Eldredge said. “Mark and I walk from car to car to speak to people.” The concession stand is another avenue for creating personal contact.

“This year, we’re going to try to do a quarterly movie, but make it a bigger event,” Eldredge said. “We’ll have concerts with Christian bands, inflatables for kids, a cookout and door prizes. We’re also going to add to the church flyer some questions relating the film to a Biblical perspective so families can take those home and discuss the movie.”

Christ Church anticipates continuing a movie ministry even after it builds on the new property because the unique outreach is bearing fruit. Evans tells the story of one lady who came onto the property and immediately began talking to people. It was obvious she needed to connect to people, and before long she was coming to church.

“There are several unchurched people we’ve been able to pray with and minister to,” Eldredge added. “We are creating relationships so that when someone faces tragedy or great spiritual need, they will think, ‘I need God; where should I go look for Him? You know what? Those movie theater people – they seem to really care. I’ll go check them out.’”