Hollywood Jesus

"A spiritual spin on this week’s box office hits "-ABC World News Tonight
"A web site devoted to spirituality in movies" -The Wall Street Journal
"Examines movies' spiritual content" -The Christian Science Monitor
"The popularity of Hollywood Jesus has been a pleasant surprise" -Christianity Today

A PICTORIAL HISTORY

As a kid my wonderful parents raised me in a Christian home and we attended the Little Brown Church (inter-denominational Disciples of Christ) in Studio City California. There were many Hollywood types in attendance. For example, my high school Sunday school teacher was Ruth Henning wife of the writer/producer of the Beverly Hillbillies, Petty Coat Junction, Green Acres, etc. Roy and Dale Rodgers, Mike Rooney, and a host of other Hollywood stars were married in that church. Due to these early experiences, I have never known a time when I didn't connect dramatic arts and faith.

Following High School, being the rebel that I am, I was part of the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. During this time I established a half way house for hippies and was active in street ministry on the streets of Hollywood, while working in radio, television and publishing.

Dispite the fact that I have never connected very real well with institutional Christianity, I did attend and graduate from North Park Theological Seminary with Masters of Divinity degree.

Surprisingly, during the late 80s and early 90s, I pastored two great churches. I say "surprisingly" because I much prefer operating out side of the box, additionally, board meetings the routine business of local church drives me nuts. I am more of a revolutionary.
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Above is the East Side Fellowship church I pastored while still in seminary. It was in the middle of Chicago's gangland.

The congregation was racially mixed and the poverty of the area brought me face to face with gangs, domestic violence, homelessness, and drug addiction. To address these issues I helped form a nonprofit organization called the Barnabas Project which helped establish low-income housing. The Jubilee House was the first house we rehabbed.
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Following the success of the Jubilee House we opened the WellSpring house in South Chicago. Now called Wellspring Center for Hope it celebrates nearly two decades of transitioning women with children from abuse and homelessness to employment, housing and community. Also, I helped establish a temporary youth ranch in South Dakota designed to get Chicago gang kids into a rural environment of love and support where they could rebuild their lives.

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With the Jesus People, Chicago Department of Human Services, US Dept of Housing and Urban Development, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Jewish United Fund of Metro. Chicago, and Cornerstone Community Outreach we helped established another transitional housing facility called the  Leland House. This was a mammoth project involving many groups, churches, and agencies both local and federal.

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These pictures celebrate the success our team had with some very wonderful and motivated families.  Special thanks to World Vision, United Way/Crusade of Mercy and a jillion volunteers.
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Through a relationship with World Vision, called Project Home Again we were able to find homes for scores of  homeless families.
How our ministry worked.

The above diagram outlines the team approach to helping needy families and especially women with children. The transitional 2 year housing approach provides time to get a GED, needed life shills, employment, a savings account, sharpen parenting skills, and form community with caring friends; ending abuse and poverty.

In 1994 I accepted a call to come to return to California and help a dying congregation of about 35 people. The Lord was good, and in the first year Church on the Move (as it was called) moved ahead with increased attendance and membership. It was a great deal of fun.

Then in 1997, things took an exciting turn: Hollywood Jesus was born and thus began the inevitable move away from the all too involving demands of pastoral ministry.
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Here's what happened: While attending a Billy Graham campaign in San Jose California in 1997, I heard Graham cast a vision: “I challenge Christians to use the Internet for good.” I took the challenge, and a few days later, I began planning a Web site to review pop culture from a Christian perspective and use those reviews as a springboard to the gospel.

I took a crash course in creating Web sites, and Hollywood Jesus launched in late 1997.

Through Hollywood Jesus I can engage people of all faiths —as well as the nonreligious— in an exploration of spiritual themes within popular movies, television, comix, music and literature.

Hollywood Jesus differs from most other review sites by Christians in that it presents the parallels between individual films and the gospel --without passing judgment on a film’s objectionable elements. God uses our culture to reach the culture (Acts 17). If I can help a person to know Jesus better, than I am happy.

The popularity of Hollywood Jesus has been a pleasant surprise. My mailbox gets fuller by the week, and I try to respond to all letters.

Incidentally, I am still involved with local church --two, in fact. They are, of course, inter-denominational, non-creedal and independent with multi-media presentations every week (more here). These are communities that that fully engage the culture. Where else would Mr. Hollywood Jesus go? God is good.

I am available for speaking and teaching engagements.

David Bruce
Hollywood, CA
(323) 284-5412