c. 2004 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond started a documentary on an urban church facing a new pastor, membership loss and financial troubles, they thought they had a compelling story to tell.

But when the church’s associate pastor came out as a lesbian half way through filming and was later defrocked by a church court, the story got a lot more juicy. It’s the type of documentary filmmakers dream about but rarely find.

“The Congregation,” the Raymonds’ two-hour profile of the trials and tribulations at Philadelphia’s First United Methodist Church of Germantown,will air Dec. 29 on most PBS stations.

“The story took over, and it unfolded in a way that we couldn’t have predicted,” Susan Raymond said in an interview. “That’s what becomes the strength of this type of (year-in-the-life) filmmaking, because you follow the story as it takes its twists and turns.”

Although the story pays considerable attention to associate pastor Beth Stroud _ who was convicted and defrocked on Dec. 2 _ it also tells another, more familiar, story of a new pastor who tries in vain to win the trust and admiration of a new flock.

The Raymonds were initially drawn in 2002 to a progressive church known as FUMCOG by its new minister, the Rev. Fred Day, who arrived the year before to replace the church’s beloved pastor of 37 years.

“FUMCOG is a church full of what some call refugees of bad experiences in other places,” Day said in the film as he tries to find his way.

It was an awkward match from the start as Day’s traditional style clashed with the congregation’s progressive flavor. The church lost members and faced financial uncertainty. Day sat by uncomfortably as outside consultants held “listening sessions” for parishioners to air complaints.

All the while, cameras were there to record the raw emotion of angry and wounded parishioners _ the type of dirty laundry most churches are reluctant to air in public. “The church should be given some credit for not asking us to stop when they realized this was going to be a difficult process,” Alan Raymond said.

Susan Raymond added, “This is an unusual group of risk-takers; they took the risk of letting us in, and let us stay until the end.”

At the same time, Stroud told the church of her sexual orientation and outed herself in an April 2003 sermon. The congregation rallied around her as the local bishop filed charges that led to the trial.

Stroud said the filmmakers sometimes became an awkward presence as she went public with her homosexuality, but said the cameras never affected her decision to come out. Ultimately, the congregation did, she said.

“The people of the congregation are such an essential part of my being who I am, my feeling able to take the kind of risks of faith that I’ve been taking,” she said.

Stroud managed to keep her job _ although she can’t perform ministerial functions like baptisms or Communion _ but Day ultimately did not. After both sides found a fragile common ground, Day surrendered to fatigue and said he would not seek a reappointment in 2005.

The Raymonds said the wrenching stories of the two pastors _ one a trial by jury, the other a trial by fire _ moved them deeply. Both concluded that “it takes enormous inner strength to be a minister.”

They also said FUMCOG, as a part of the struggling Protestant mainline,is not alone as it faces financial trouble, pastoral change, racial integration or a search for new purpose.

“This church, through its struggle, is a microcosm of what a lot of churches are trying to wrestle with,” Susan Raymond said. “They’re just being more honest about it.”

MODH END ECKSTROM