Award-winning documentary filmmaker to speak at Goshen College

Martin Doblmeier, an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose new film explores the changing face of Christianity in the United States, will deliver the Yoder Public Affairs presentation at Goshen College on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Doblmeier, the founder of Journey Films, will speak about his four-part, four-hour film series “Christianity at a Crossroads,” intended for broadcast on public television beginning this fall and for wide distribution at colleges, seminaries and congregations.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Umble Center.

The evening will begin with a 20-30-minute highlight reel of the documentary series. Doblmeier will then join several religious leaders, including Rebecca Stoltzfus, the president of Goshen College, and David Boshart, the president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, in a conversation.

The panel discussion will be followed by a Q & A session. Refreshments will be served after the presentation, providing an opportunity to visit with Doblmeier.

For “Christianity at a Crossroads,” Doblmeier filmed stories on locations across the country. The series features a range of speakers, including pastors of large and small congregations, journalists who cover religion, historians, and theologians who speak for progressives, conservatives and the center aisle.

Doblmeier founded Journey Films in 1983 as a production company specializing in religion, faith and spirituality. Journey Films has produced more than 35 documentary films that have aired on PBS, ABC, NBC, the BBC and broadcast outlets around the world.

Journey Films has won three regional Emmys; 10 Gabriel Awards for the nation’s best film on a topic of religion; three awards at the U.S. International Film and Television Festival; and many other awards.

During his stay at Goshen College, Doblmeier will also meet with faculty and students and speak in classes. Doblmeier’s visit is sponsored by the Frank and Betty Jo Yoder Public Affairs Lecture Series and More Than Just Stories.

More Than Just Stories, a new media organization at Goshen College, is developing five innovative storytelling projects: a speech contest, Peace Talks, which debuts in September; two podcasts, Just Stories and The Gratitude Letters, which will begin distribution in the fall; a documentary film, “The Inheritance”; and a storytelling conference, Climate Commons. The projects are supported by Lilly Endowment Inc.’s National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.

The Frank and Betty Jo Yoder Public Affairs Lecture is an endowed program that was created for Goshen College in 1978 by Frank and Betty Jo Yoder of Goshen. The series invites speakers of national note to address timely topics.