Master Media Int'l 30th Anniversary Debrief
On March 3rd I attended the 30th Anniversary/Retirement Dinner for Larry Poland at the Universal Hilton. This was my first time attending one of their events although I have followed Larry's ministry very attentively these past 30 years. You see, Larry came to my church and spoke one Sunday evening back in 1985 or thereabouts. I later bought a copy of his book "The Last Temptation of Hollywood" and took its lessons to heart.
In his book he recounts the collective Christian response to Universal's movie The Last Temptation of Christ. The film was loaded with blasphemous details that directly contradicted the clear history of the Bible. Christian leaders at the time organized street protests outside the studio gates and letter writing campaigns to express their displeasure. The movie wasn't very good anyway so it fizzled at the box office although, it might have done worse had the protest not drawn so much attention to it. The key take-away from the experience for Larry was the chasm of misunderstanding that existed between Hollywood and the church-going community. You see, from the perspective of Hollywood, Christians are moralistic objectors and nothing more. Hollywood never hears from Christians unless they're objecting to something. He sought to change that and I believe he succeeded in a lot of ways.
Not only did the ministry reach out to studio executives through personal contacts but the Prayer Calendar created an opportunity for Christians to do something positive for Hollywood without costing a stamp. Knowing that you're being prayed for can often be just the encouragement a person needs. Especially a famous person who has to keep a safe distance from fans for his or her own protection. The prayer calendar was used by God in a number of ways and each story is very exciting, IMO.
Larry also created a list of Survival Principals called "Lion's Den Survival Principals" to help Christians like me who were working in and among the studios and Entertainment Industry. When I was working at Walt Disney Imagineering in the late 90's, I kept a print out of these principals on my cubicle wall as a reminder and encouragement. I copied them and handed them out to other Christians along the way.
I should hasten to add that I am from Northern California and not a native Southern Californian. This is important because the culture in the California central valley has more in common with rural Indiana than it does with Burbank. My move to Burbank surrounded by planes, trains and traffic was a very big step of faith and courage for this shy girl from Modesto. And Larry Poland was the one who planted the original seed of my prayer back in the mid-eighties. He never knew it until now.
So here we are 30 years later. He was the only person I knew at the Anniversary event and he was the first person I ran into when I walked through the door. He recognized me! I was so surprised by that although in retrospect, I shouldn't have been. But it was because I had sent him the link to my video a few years ago (we had never met in person before). Then he sent me a copy of his book detailing the coincidences in his own walk of Faith. My link is here: http://april14inhistory.blogspot.com So I feel we are kindred spirits (As Anne of Green Gables was fond of saying)!
Here is a clip of the final song at the event. I shot this clip because you can see Larry in the lower left as he appreciates the sentiments of the song. What a soft heart he has. What a dear child of God I see. Hollywood is a place of rawhide & stoney hearts so the juxtaposition of this scene is not lost on me.
As I drove home alone from the event (with a few contact business cards in my pocket) I felt grieved. This was Larry's retirement dinner that included the installation of his successor so this night signaled a big change. Why was I so grieved? Why did I feel like bursting into tears? It took me several days to understand it. I felt like I had lost a pastor. Yes, I've joined and ministered in several churches in the area over the past 20 years and I've sat under the teaching of many qualified pastors with whom I have done the usual children's, women's & single's ministries. But none of them - not one - shared my love for the mission field that is Hollywood. Larry was different. So different. I feel a keen loss but like so many losses, I know God will fill the gap. For 20 years I sure needed Larry Poland's ministry in my life and I wouldn't be here today without it. Larry is moving to Carol Stream, IL and if he looks at these things the way I do - we'll always be connected by a thread.
I actually made it into the background of one picture from the event. How appropriate! Ken Wales (pictured) is the only other person at the event that I had previously met. He came as a guest speaker to the LAFSC one day in 1995 and I gave him a little "insider" scoop on a project he was exploring about George Fox (my alma matter). He gave me a signed Christy poster at the time. :-)
In his book he recounts the collective Christian response to Universal's movie The Last Temptation of Christ. The film was loaded with blasphemous details that directly contradicted the clear history of the Bible. Christian leaders at the time organized street protests outside the studio gates and letter writing campaigns to express their displeasure. The movie wasn't very good anyway so it fizzled at the box office although, it might have done worse had the protest not drawn so much attention to it. The key take-away from the experience for Larry was the chasm of misunderstanding that existed between Hollywood and the church-going community. You see, from the perspective of Hollywood, Christians are moralistic objectors and nothing more. Hollywood never hears from Christians unless they're objecting to something. He sought to change that and I believe he succeeded in a lot of ways.
Not only did the ministry reach out to studio executives through personal contacts but the Prayer Calendar created an opportunity for Christians to do something positive for Hollywood without costing a stamp. Knowing that you're being prayed for can often be just the encouragement a person needs. Especially a famous person who has to keep a safe distance from fans for his or her own protection. The prayer calendar was used by God in a number of ways and each story is very exciting, IMO.
Larry also created a list of Survival Principals called "Lion's Den Survival Principals" to help Christians like me who were working in and among the studios and Entertainment Industry. When I was working at Walt Disney Imagineering in the late 90's, I kept a print out of these principals on my cubicle wall as a reminder and encouragement. I copied them and handed them out to other Christians along the way.
I should hasten to add that I am from Northern California and not a native Southern Californian. This is important because the culture in the California central valley has more in common with rural Indiana than it does with Burbank. My move to Burbank surrounded by planes, trains and traffic was a very big step of faith and courage for this shy girl from Modesto. And Larry Poland was the one who planted the original seed of my prayer back in the mid-eighties. He never knew it until now.
So here we are 30 years later. He was the only person I knew at the Anniversary event and he was the first person I ran into when I walked through the door. He recognized me! I was so surprised by that although in retrospect, I shouldn't have been. But it was because I had sent him the link to my video a few years ago (we had never met in person before). Then he sent me a copy of his book detailing the coincidences in his own walk of Faith. My link is here: http://april14inhistory.blogspot.com So I feel we are kindred spirits (As Anne of Green Gables was fond of saying)!
As I drove home alone from the event (with a few contact business cards in my pocket) I felt grieved. This was Larry's retirement dinner that included the installation of his successor so this night signaled a big change. Why was I so grieved? Why did I feel like bursting into tears? It took me several days to understand it. I felt like I had lost a pastor. Yes, I've joined and ministered in several churches in the area over the past 20 years and I've sat under the teaching of many qualified pastors with whom I have done the usual children's, women's & single's ministries. But none of them - not one - shared my love for the mission field that is Hollywood. Larry was different. So different. I feel a keen loss but like so many losses, I know God will fill the gap. For 20 years I sure needed Larry Poland's ministry in my life and I wouldn't be here today without it. Larry is moving to Carol Stream, IL and if he looks at these things the way I do - we'll always be connected by a thread.
I actually made it into the background of one picture from the event. How appropriate! Ken Wales (pictured) is the only other person at the event that I had previously met. He came as a guest speaker to the LAFSC one day in 1995 and I gave him a little "insider" scoop on a project he was exploring about George Fox (my alma matter). He gave me a signed Christy poster at the time. :-)
posted by The Lady of Shalott @ 1:04 PM
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