The announcement Sunday of the topic of Sherwood Baptist Church’s next big screen project was made with quite a bit of orchestration, but the topic is one that is of critical importance to the nation as a whole and Albany in particular.

The topic is being a father.

The movie, which is still in the writing phase and scheduled to start shooting in March, will be called “Courageous” and will focus on the stories of four fathers — all law enforcement officers — who endure a tragedy.

“It is our desire that men will walk out of the theater (asking) what kind of father I am,” Alex Kendrick, who is writing the screenplay with his brother, Stephen Kendrick, said at Sherwood’s announcement Sunday night. “But, guys, this movie will be controversial. Are we going to back down from what we need to do? No way.”
In telling the story, the Kendricks plan to incorporate gangs and corruption — but not what they consider to be inappropriate language for church audiences. Still, the subject matter, which is much different than the church’s three previous films, apparently is making some a bit squeamish. Alex Kendrick says there are those in the Albany community and elsewhere who prefer that the film not be made.
It may be that some in the community are myopic in viewing the placement of corruption and gangs in a movie filmed in Albany as tarnishing the city’s image. The feel-good story of “Facing the Giants” is more to their liking.

The fact is there is real-life corruption — look at the financial scandal involving the Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority — and there are certainly gangs in Albany, though there have been some welcomed news from the court system lately in which members of those organizations are being sent away for long prison sentences.
In those respects, Albany is no different from any other city in the nation. And it’s unlikely that a film that won’t have gang members use swear words is going to be developed in a way that will make the community in which the church that is creating the movie look like a den of criminals.

That should not detract from the thrust of the story — fatherhood and its responsibilities. That is a theme that many in Albany and throughout the nation would do well to ponder.

The latest available U.S. Census numbers for Dougherty County — 2000 — show that one in every five households in the county — 4,981 out of 24,431 — was headed up by a woman with no husband present.
And it’s a nationwide concern. The Census Bureau has updated numbers for 2008 on a national scale. That survey shows that 74.1 million children in America, 16.9 million, or 22.8 percent, are living in single-parent households with their mothers. Single fathers have 2.6 million children living in their households, about 3.5 percent of all children.

Thankfully, the two-thirds of U.S. children — 49.4 million — still live in households with married parents and three out of five — 44.4 million — live with married biological parents.

Fathers impact the lives of their children, either in their presence or absence. Too often they’re portrayed — in television situation comedies, in particular — as bumbling buffoons to get a cheap laugh.
Any movie that thoughtfully delves into a father’s role in a meaningful, spiritual way would be a welcome breath of fresh air. And one that prompts the men who watch it to reassess their roles has a great value in these times to our community and our nation.