Baptist leader joins pope, Dalai Lama in documentary on faith
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Associated Press
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Pastor Frank Page says he has learned to be wary of the media during his tenure as head of the Southern Baptist Convention.
But, he said, he is glad he opened the doors of his church to documentary filmmakers looking to show the personal faith of some of the world's spiritual leaders.
"Because of who I am, I talked about Jesus Christ every other word, every other phrase, because I knew if they cut out Christ, they're going to have to cut out everything I say," Page said. "If they really want to know, as evangelical believers, who we are, then we cannot speak of who we are without speaking about Christ."
Filmmaker Jules Naudet said he wanted to include Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, because the Southern Baptist Convention is the second-largest religious organization in the U.S., behind the Catholic Church.
"In God's Name" also will feature Pope Benedict XVI, the Dalai Lama, the archbishop of Canterbury and leaders of other faiths "to show individual examples of personal faith through these great spiritual beacons," Naudet said.
"It was to show all these great leaders, but to show them in a way that the audience can relate to them," he said. "Sometimes when you look at the Dalai Lama or the pope or the president of the Southern Baptism Convention, these are titles that inspire a lot of awe and a lot of seriousness and maybe a little bit of distance."
Naudet said Page's church was open and welcoming to his film crew.
"It's always a little bit taxing, I'm sure, on the people when we arrive. We're a team of eight people. And here he was opening literally the doors of his house to us," Naudet said.
The program is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Dec. 23 on CBS.
Baptist leader joins pope, Dalai Lama in documentary on faith
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