I love a sad ending or imperfect ending but that everything isn’t solved but putting trust in faith gives them a new hope or a new lease in life. Our faith helps us navigate that, with hope that maybe not everyone has. “We still live in a broken, fallen world.
We see these people learning that faith doesn’t always mean planting your flag in the ground but letting go and seeing where it goes.”īethea, the pastor’s daughter and now a theological mover in her own right, says she appreciates films like the two films she has out now, Sunrise in Heaven and Miracle on Christmas, because they don’t paint faith as a free pass to having a person’s problems solved.
At some point, we’re challenged by what our faith looks like - not by how we respond but why we respond. “None of us really have control of what the future looks like. He comes across as villainy, but he wants what is best for her and is letting go what her life looks like.” In the flashback you’re dealing with his daughter letting go of his daughter. Whether it’s in our story line, to let our dad go or elsewhere, the question is raised, ‘Is it more of a demonstration of our faith to hold onto him and expect a miracle, or more of a demonstration to let him go and know that we will see him again?’ Everyone will deal with that at some point.
“I really resonated with ultimately the way the movie is about the power of letting go. Bethea is often cast as the believing wife who has to patiently steer her wayward husband back to faith, the “good Christian girl.” In Sunshine in Heaven, across from Corbin Bernsen, she was able to play the other side of the situation, as a daughter reflecting on how her father had once protected her, and how she now had to consider his death. The same thing can happen within the Christian film market, especially for women. ‘You need to be teaching Bible study, leading children’s class.’ But people think because your parents have this, you must have the same thing.” I’m outgoing and opinionated and drawn to leadership positions my sister is the opposite, she doesn’t want to be in the spotlight and asked to lead.
“Everyone knew who I was, but very few people knew who I was! There are expectations placed on that. She even cites the differences between Bethea and Hayley in church, where she chose a more public role but was no more or less faithful.
But Bethea’s foundation was firm in faith with room to breathe, acknowledging that sometimes the church doesn’t actually know the pastor’s kids but thinks they do based on their own expectations for the kids. Now, she recommends Barnabas Piper’s book The Pastor’s Kid: Finding Your Own Faith to articulate some of her own story, recognizing with Piper that “the pastor’s kid is the most and least known person in the church.” While this is true for the pastor’s kids, it’s sometimes true for actors as well. The Catts saw their daughter’s gift, even as they created space for Bethea to become an actress and her sister Hayley to explore her own path. “‘Maybe you should run a drama department at a Christian school.’” “‘Entertainment is no place for a Christian young lady,’ they said,” tells Bethea, reflecting twenty years later.
As a preacher’s kid, Bethea was discouraged by some people within the church, but always gifted with space to know herself by her parents. Michael Catt moved Sherwood Baptist Church toward what would be the first of many films encouraged by the church. Fifteen years ago, Erin Bethea earned her first role in the film Facing the Giants, as her father Dr.