The Future of Drama

The approval issue started a few months ago. As some of you know, I
shot video of the Memorial Retreat. During the family night, there
were some performances that some deemed "unsuitable". The logical
next step would be to want approval for all videos.

The issue finally came to a head after my trip to Kyrgyzstan. One of
the big issues was that Mercy Foundation wanted to approve the videos.
One of their big worries, was that someone would take the video that
was posted online and re-edit it so that it put Kyrgyzstan in poor
light. My guess, is that the church's decision to want to approve
everything (even photos/videos taken by anyone) was influenced by
Mercy Foundation's response.

I am reluctant to give the church final approval over our videos
because of the following reasons.

1) The church takes forever to approve even the smallest request.
This would essentially kill the ministry.
2) Even if they were timely about approving stuff, they would
eventually want to start cutting scenes and then shaping our material
to be less controversial or challenging. This would eventually stifle
the art.
3) I've been doing drama for the past 6 years. During that time, I
have never done anything that criticized the church, put the church in
a poor light, or even mentioned the church. Additionally, everything
we've done would be rated PG or PG-13 at best. This sudden lack of
trust hurts me.
4) They never even bothered to talk to me about this before making a
decision. There was no opportunity for discussion or compromise.

But there is some hope.

I talked to Ray (one of the English deacons) on Saturday night.
He doesn't want to see me or Drama go anywhere. They met this past
Sunday to discuss the issue, so there may be a chance that Drama may
still happen at CCCNJ. In the meantime, I'm still going to look for a
new home for Drama. So, most likely, you won't be seeing me around.

I want everyone to know that I'm not angry with the church, just
extremely sad. It's a hard decision to leave because I truly see
everyone of you as part of my family. So I forgive the church and I
encourage you guys to forgive the church too. And once I find a new
home for Drama, I'll let you all know where that is and you guys will
be welcome to join. But no matter what happens, you'll always be a
part of the Drama family.