• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board of Directors
          • Board Minutes
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • What We Do
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • 3 Great Loves
        • Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faith Forming Publications & The Pilgrim Press
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Health Ministries of the UCC
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • Washington DC Office
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote 2020
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • Faith INFO
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search & Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Engagement
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Strengthen the Church
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
        • Disaster Relief
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
  • Adventures in Screening Documentaries

Adventures in Screening Documentaries

by Staff Reports | published on Apr 8, 2021

For a number of years, Niles Discovery Church in Fremont, California, has been involved in hosting documentary screenings that reflect core values such as caring for God’s creation and seeking a just world for all. We call our program the Second Saturday Documentary Series. It started the same year that “An Inconvenient Truth” became available on DVD. With many lessons learned along the way, the program has been popular. For other churches seeking to pursue a similar ministry, the story of its development and the challenges faced is shared here.

At first, the program was spearheaded by a small group of people living in the area who worked in cooperation with the San Jose Peace and Justice Center. Documentaries were screened at a local library when the conference room could be reserved. However, it became harder and harder to reserve the conference room and there was a desire to set up a regular schedule. Because our church was concerned with the same sorts of topics that the documentaries covered, we became a cosponsor of the series. Eventually, the original leadership decided they needed to take a break, and the series was taken over by Niles Discovery Church and the San Jose Peace and Justice Center.

We now have a core group of five we call “the producers.” These people are responsible for selecting the documentaries we want to screen and obtaining permission for the screenings. Back in the days before the pandemic, the screenings would happen in the church and would be advertised beyond the mailing list that had been developed, so these were considered public screenings. Typically, this meant we needed to pay for public screening rights (though some producers waived screening rights fees). There have been several documentaries we have not shown because the cost for public screening rights was too high.

During the first three months of the pandemic, we went on hiatus. We then decided to try screenings online. First, we selected movies that could be streamed by individuals on our mailing list. People were sent a link to stream the movie on their own (obtained through companies like Good Docs), and then we gathered on Zoom on the second Saturday of the month to talk about the film. We found attendance was poor. We tested out streaming films directly through Zoom and then followed the screening with discussion. Attendance improved, even though the video quality could be a bit jumpy at times. The screening rights we’ve been able to obtain during the pandemic have been limited to the organization, so we are not promoting the series beyond those who are on our mailing list.

We hope that in the not-too-distant future we will be able to return to the church building for documentary screenings and discussions and once again obtain public screening rights so we can more actively promote the series. On our Facebook Page, you can get a sense of the documentaries we have shown.

The Rev. Jeff Spencer is the Senior Pastor at Niles Discovery Church and a member of the UCC Council for Climate Justice.

Categories: The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Related News

The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Earth Day Movie Screenings

Movie screenings can be a great way to raise awareness and energy around environmental issues....

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Adventures in Screening Documentaries

For a number of years, Niles Discovery Church in Fremont, California, has been involved in hosting...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

30th Anniversary: The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit

The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit has been described as one of...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2021. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative