In My Father’s Church

Highly Recommended   – Educational Media Reviews Online
“Filmmaker Charissa King’s journey to wed in a church that forbids same-sex unions is the focus of this documentary. Filmed over a period of several years, a prominent figure in King’s film is her father, Jack K. King, a soft-spoken, warm, and supportive person who is also the pastor of Southampton’s United Methodist Church (UMC), a church known for its rules against homosexual marriages. When the filmmaker intimates that she would like to marry her partner Kelly in Jack’s church, his reaction is not the response she hopes for. Jack remains silent. He is torn between his love for his only daughter, backlash from church officials, and negative reactions from his conservative congregation. The 1999 church trial and suspension of James Creech, a former United Methodist pastor who performs a same-sex union, becomes the point-of-reference to justify why same-sex partners shouldn’t marry in the Methodist church. King’s video diary reveals mixed and honest attitudes about same-sex unions, and explores other issues such as politics and religion, and father/daughter relationships.
This program is ideal for college and university libraries to support gay & lesbian, gender, psychology, religious, and sociology studies programs.“
– Excerpt taken from Reviewed by Monique Threatt, Indiana University, Herman B Wells Library, Bloomington, IN, Educational Media Reviews Online Ordering.

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Duration: 49 minutes
Completed: 2004

Credits
Producer/Videographer/Editor
Charissa King-O’Brien

“Must-see shows most painfully how one denomination’s anti-gay rules divide families, create a second class citizenry of gay and lesbian church members, and binds clergy to rules that exclude some from receiving the pastoral ministry of the church.”
-Karen Oliveto, Ph.D.
Asst. Dean and Director of Contextual Ed., Pacific School of Religion

“A humorous and emotional journey of a daughter’s love, a father’s church, and a family’s celebration of a loving committed relationship between two women. A must see for anyone struggling with the difference between religious and civil marriage rights in America today.”
-Valerie Fein-Zachary, MD
The Freedom to Marry Coalition of MA

“Deeply moving. A timely ongoing dialog that is deeply personal, radical and brave.”
-Elizabeth York, Ph.D.
Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Utah State University

Festivals
• Austin International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
• The F-Word (Feminist) Film Festival at UNC-Asheville, North Carolina
• Fresno International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
• Immaginaria International Women’s Film Festival
• Michigan Womyns’ Music Festival
• Modesto Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
• Reel Attractions Arkansas LGBTQA Film Festival
• Reel Queer Film Festival at Syracuse University
• San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, World Premiere
• Spokane Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
• Virginia Film Festival
Universities & other exhibitions
• Boston Social Forum
• Chicago Filmmakers
• COLAGE-NYC at the Brooklyn Historical Society
• Filmmakers Collaborative Open Studios, Waltham, MA
• First Church Omaha, Nebraska
• Hofstra University
• ROUGH CUTS at Boston Film Video Foundation
• UMASS Boston
• Women’s Film Festival at Barton College