2023 Chillicothe Christian Films Announcement
As previously announced, we will be closing down Chillicothe Christian Films at the end of the year. It’s been over a six year run, so it’s not an easy decision, but at the same time, the objective from the beginning was a goal of being self-sustaining.
With the significantly increased rental costs this year, that goal has been pushed further out of reach. While in previous years an additional church, or a boost in attendance might have been the final bump we needed to get in the black, for newer films in 2023 we aren’t covering either the film license or the theater rental.
Please note that while this particular ministry is ending, Christian Movie Central will continue to promote any Christian films in the area, either at theaters or churches.
We would love to provide any assistance, advice, and guidance necessary to see churches or groups continue to host Christian films at any venue in the area, or your own church.
Don’t recall ever selling 3 DVD’s so quickly after a film – usually not even one – so in case anyone else had interest, here’s a link to buy from Amazon. (any affiliate payouts go to the ministry.)
NOTE: Both DVD and Blu-Ray are available.
Last month’s film, LIFEMARK, was the story about what happened when Melissa Coles gave up her baby boy for adoption, then reconnected nearly 20 years later. That was an amazing story, but only ONE story from Melissa’s life.
I’d hoped to have Melissa join us for the film live, but with crowds of 40-50 I struggled asking her to make the trip from south central Indiana in case we had an even smaller crowd that night
I promised her to share the link to her book, and… since I’m guessing many of you likely don’t have your hand out still… here it is again!
2023 Schedule & Purchase Links (Amazon Affiliate links)
(With affiliate links, 100% of ANY revenue from ALL purchases (not just a movie) supports the ministry.)
1 Feb 20 A Marriage Made in Heaven
Purchase from filmmaker
2 Mar 20 God’s Compass (Karen Abercrombie, TC Stallings)
[Purchase]
3 April 17 SOUL SURFER [Purchase]
4 May 15 SEASONS OF GRAY [Purchase]
5 June 19 Play the Flute [Purchase]
6 July 17 Family Camp [Purchase]
7 Aug 21 Jesus Revolution [Purchase]
8 Sept 18 Running the Bases [Purchase]
9 Oct 16 LIFEMARK [Purchase]
10 Nov 20 Beyond the Farthest Star (Room 1) [Purchase]
Jesus Revolution (Room 2) [Purchase]
Chillicothe Christian Films History:
In Chillicothe, Illinois, a town of 6,000, an interesting partnership started back in 2016.
As “Men of AIM” (our initial ministry to men), we had worked with businesses to rent the Chillicothe Town Theater and share a movie night, with mixed results.
In the early summer of 2016, I wrote several churches in town and proposed a different approach. Why not Pool our funds and each month rent the theater, get the movie license, and have a “Donations Bucket” available but not spotlighted.
Could it eventually be a breakeven, self-sustaining ministry? If so, we never have to ask churches for money towards this effort again. If not, we decide do we keep going and how to fund it. At the end of year two we had a balance of $18.76, and a couple churches immediately said keep going and made another donation.
Some churches have given year after year, others have given once. That’s all ok – there are no expectations or requirements to give any minimum or repeated times.
When the ministry “ends” – whenever or for whatever reason – the remaining pool will be distributed back to partner churches / ministries in the proportion to how they have given from the inception.
We currently have 11 Church Partners – and there’s always room for more!
Chillicothe Christian Films Partners
- Men of AIM / Christian Movie Central
- Chillicothe Assembly of God
- First Baptist Church – Sparland
- Northwoods Chillicothe
- Chillicothe Bible Church
- Chillicothe First United Methodist Church Men’s Club
- Mossville Methodist
- La Prairie United Methodist Church
- Chillicothe Christian Church
- First United Presbyterian – Henry
- Blue Ridge United Methodist Church
- River Terrace Cowboy Church
11 churches and our ministry, working together.
Those 11 churches represent SEVEN different communities… and SEVEN different denominations!
INTERESTED in a similar effort in your town?
WE WANT TO HELP YOU!
While we had the advantage of my working with a few of the churches in previous ministry activities, several of these churches I had never even heard of until they sent a check and wanted to support this effort.
It would be easy for you to say it wouldn’t work because your town is bigger, or smaller. Or all the churches would never agree. or….
Many excuses – but why not try? If you don’t have 10 churches, can you find…. 2 or 3? Maybe you have a great local theater people can rally around, or maybe the churches decide to alternate hosting, or perhaps one of the churches has a better A/V set up.
This is one of the most fun things I’ve been involved in – and I LOVE going to conferences and noting this partnership.
If you’re interested in trying, I’d love to take 30-45 minutes to chat. I’m also hoping to put together a short booklet of key concepts and recommendations.
Email me (Rich@ChristianMovieCentral.com) and we’ll set up a time to call or get on Zoom!
Past Selections, Chillicothe Christian Films:
(will add the rest and include Purchase links)
Past Chillicothe Christian Films:
1 The Lost Medallion – August 2016
2 Flywheel – September 2016
3 October Baby – October 2016
4 The Ultimate Gift – November 2016
5 FIREPROOF – February 2017
6 The Grace Card – March 2017
7 Risen – April 2017
8 Mom’s Night Out – May 2017
9 Courageous – June 2017
10 October Baby – July 2017
11 The Case for Christ – August 2017
12 Remember the Goal – September 2017
13 Alison’s Choice – October 2017
14 WOODLAWN – November 2017
15 Beyond the Farthest Star – December 2017
16 Time Changer – February 2018
17 The Case for Christ – March 2018
18 The Resurrection of Gavin Stone – April 2018
(special guest: Director Dallas Jenkins)
19 Ring the Bell – May 2018
(special guest: Pastor Tom Zobrist, son Ben in the film)
(none) – June 2018
20 I Can Only Imagine – July 2018
21 The Second Chance – August 2018
22 Seven Days in Utopia – September 2018
23 Because of Gracia – October 2018
24 Summer of ’67 – November 2018
25 WAR ROOM – February 2019
26 Power of the Air – March 2019
27 Home Run – April 2019
28 Beautifully Broken – May 2019
(Exec Producer/Subject Randy Hartley)
29 Champion – June 2019
30 BREAKTHROUGH – July 2019
31 INDIVISIBLE – August 2019
32 MULLY – September 2019
33 UNPLANNED – October 2019
34 The Pilgrim’s Progress – November 2019
35. OVERCOMER – February 2020
36. King’s Faith – March 2020 (start of pandemic)
37. King’s Faith (again) – September 2020
38. Where Hope Grows – October 2020
39. Old Fashioned – November 2020
40. The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry – May 2021
41. What If – July 2021
42. A Matter of Faith – August 2021
43. Faith, Hope & Love – September 2021
44. Gimme Shelter – October 2021
45. Switched – November 2021
46. What If – February 2022
47. Amazing Love – March 2022
48. CHURCH PEOPLE – April 2022
49. I Still Believe – May 2022
50. Show Me The Father – June 2022
51. Sight & Sound Theaters: Jonah – July 2022
52. Small Group – August 2022
53. Sight & Sound Theaters: Noah – September 2022
54. Caged No More – October 2022
55. Christmas with a Capital ‘C’ – November 2022
56. A Marriage Made in Heaven – February 2023
57. God’s Compass – March 2023
58. SOUL SURFER – April 2023 [Purchase]
59. SEASONS OF GRAY – May 2023 [Purchase]
60. Play the Flute – June 2023[Purchase]
61. Family Camp – July 2023 [Purchase]
62. Jesus Revolution – August 2023 [Purchase]
63. Running the Bases – September 2023 [Purchase]
64. LIFEMARK – October 2023[Purchase]
65. (TWO FILMS) Beyond the Farthest Star (Room 1) [Purchase]
Jesus Revolution (Room 2) [Purchase]