Human Exploitation Called to the Church Movie Screen
Movie clips at the pulpit may begin to paint a grimmer picture of reality for churchgoers.
Beyond the inspirational, redeeming, and comedic themes often shown by pastors to complement their sermons, WingClips – a website that provides content from Major Motion Pictures for sermon illustrations – is making efforts to bring awareness to social injustices in the church.
Recently added films to WingClips include Cargo: Innocence Lost and God Grew Tired of Us which address human trafficking and civil war in Africa, respectively.
"Although the material in these films can be graphic, especially for the church, we feel it's the right place to connect serious issues with people who truly care and have the passion to make a difference," said WingClips President Mitch Irion in a statement.
Cargo sheds light to the 27 million people who are held in slavery worldwide and the 2 million people who are trafficked around the world annually, according to the documentary. The United Nations reported that approximately 80 percent of trafficking victims are female and 70 percent of those female victims are trafficked for the commercial sex industry.
"While there are a plethora of websites that perpetuate this problem, we want our site to raise awareness and do our part to help end sex trafficking," stated Irion.
Other films featured on WingClips for use in the church include Tweaked, which addresses the rise of methamphetamines among today's youth, and Mama Heidi, in which the central character adopts an orphanage to care for hundreds of children in Mozambique.
WingClips was developed out of demand for sermon illustrations amid a growing use of jumbo screens and movie clips in the churches. Its recent launch comes as studies reveal the widespread influence of films surpassing even that of churches, according to a Barna study.
And with modern day slavery and other issues of exploitation remaining a grave concern in the nation, WingClips believes the issues need to be exposed and that the church has a responsibility to address social injustices within the community and across the world.