In the spirit of the Halloween season, this semester’s Faith & Film will be “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and will take place on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. Next Wednesday, the doors to the Screening Room of the Miller Media Communications building will open and students will have the opportunity to watch and discuss the film.
Faith & Film is a FLEX event opportunity for students to watch a secular film and be led in faith-based discussion to analyze the Christian themes within the media. For Asbury’s campus, it provides a space to take a step back and combine faith with media from outside Asbury’s cultural bubble.
“It’s a chance for us to see what our culture is saying, and then look at that through the lens of our faith,” professor Sean Gaffney explained. “What faith lessons can we learn from our culture? What challenges do we see the culture dealing with and how we might respond?”
Gaffney created the event a few years ago after noticing the lack of conversation around these topics on campus, specifically pertaining to secular media in Christian discussion.
Previous films that have been shown include “Millions,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “All the President’s Men” and more. The films are chosen by Gaffney and other professors, both in the media communication program and other corners of campus, like business or equine studies. There are no specific levels of criteria that the films need to meet in order to be considered.
During Faith & Film nights, students filter into the Screening Room and settle into the movie theater seats to watch the film. At 7 p.m., Gaffney stands to greet everyone and give them a rundown of the night. Though his script depends on the movie, Gaffney will typically introduce the movie and point out themes to look for, the film will play and then Gaffney and/or another professor will lead students through conversation.
For those who have seen “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” the Christian themes may not seem apparent at first, but Charles Shultz, the creator of Peanuts, was a passionate and involved Christian.
“Faith integration was an important part to him,” Gaffney said about Shultz. “You could read his strips not seeing any faith element. But you realize the world is bigger in them; you see he has an intentionality. There are big questions being answered. ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin’ does not have Christianity in it, but he’s being very intentional in really talking about God and he presents a theology of disappointment.”
Gaffney’s own spiritual outlook on work parallels Shultz’s, as he integrates faith into his work every day.
“I can’t separate faith from creativity,” Gaffney remarked. “We all have this talent that comes from God. Back when I was in graduate school I had this professor. I went to Columbia University, which was a secular school, and Howard Stein, my mentor at the time, found out I was a Christian and called me into his office. He said, ‘Sean, what you need to understand is that art and faith do the same thing. They ask the same questions. It’s your job as an artist who has faith, you owe it to the art community to combine your faith and your art.’ So from that point on, I’ve made it my job to integrate the two, and now I can’t separate them.”
His intention to integrate faith and art has manifested in many ways and now impacts the Asbury community. Gaffney and other professors look forward to the Oct. 30 Faith & Film night and hope many students attend and learn from it.
