The Patriot Pastor: 2007 SAICFF Treatment Competition Entry

Again, this is a belated update, but I've been asked about it a few times, so I'm posting it here. For the 2007 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival Treatment Competition, I entered the treatment of a film that I have been researching and planning for a long time. The story is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll post it here... The treatment placed in the competition, making it top-10 out of 75 entries, so I am pretty happy. I know a few of the other writers who entered treatments, and it's a real honor to be judged where I was. This project isn't just one I wrote for the fun of it--I've been thinking about the concept and doing the research since 2004 and I hope to see it made in the not-so-distant future.

THE PATRIOT PASTOR

John Calvin Young

© 2007 John Calvin Young

Genre: Historical Thriller

Setting: Colonial America

Target Audience: Families, Churches,History and Military Buffs

Predicted Rating: PG (for battle violence)

Estimated Budget: $25,-100,000 (Low end) $1-2 million (High end)

Premise: A young minister in Revolutionary Virginia has to overcome self-doubt, discouragement, and his own father's opposition in his decision to follow the Lord's call from the ministry to the military. Commercial Viability: Historical epics have risen to prominence in the movie industry in recent years. Past Revolutionary dramas like The Patriot have done very well, but were inappropriate for general
audiences.

Theological Significance: Now, even as then, many in the church believe that those who really want to serve their Lord can do it best through formal ministry. This film examines one man's search for the Will of God in his vocation and his discovery that he served the Lord best by obeying Him, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”

Concept Originality: Until about 1950, Muhlenberg had been regarded as one of the foremost generals of the Revolution. His very Christian story fell out of favor and has not been addressed except for a “debunking” show produced by PBS which discounted historical sources and completely misunderstood the motivation of the man.

The Patriot Pastor is the epic story of John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, a village pastor from Virginia who when war broke out in 1776 raised a regiment out of his church and led his men off to fight under George Washington, becoming one Washington's most trusted friends and generals. As the story opens, young Muhlenberg arrives at Woodstock, a Lutheran minister, newly ordained by the Anglican state church of Virginia. As he settles in, he draws the attention and friendship of the great men of the community, even winning the belle of the town as his wife. As the unrest in the colonies builds and rumors of dissent and independence begin to spread, the likeable young minister of Woodstock is put forward for election first to the Committee of Correspondence for his district and then to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

John Peter Muhlenberg goes to Williamsburg, joining his friend George Washington and being swept into the rising tide of independence. In early 1775, just a few short weeks before the decisive shots fired at Lexington and Concord, Patrick Henry gives words to the feelings of the patriots when he speaks out before the House of Burgesses and cries out, “Give me liberty or give me death!” His friend's eloquence brings Muhlenberg to a point of crisis. What is his duty? Should he lead his congregation from the pulpit or from horseback? Would he be denying the Lord's service to reject the mantle of the minister?

This faithful man of God, son of the founder of American Lutheranism, faces not only the disapproval of many in his community and the wrath of the British authorities, but even his beloved father believed that as Americans from German stock, they owed a double loyalty to George III, their king in Germany as well as in the Colonies of England. The young minister goes to his knees in pursuit of the Lord's direction. He steps back from politics for a season in order to listen to that still, soft Voice.

With the colonies in a fever pitch of excitement and the House of Burgesses dissolved by the Royal Governor, his community at Woodstock sent the young minister once again to represent them in the civil realm at the First Virginia Convention. There the final plans are made for independence. They offer him a Colonelcy and ask him to raise a regiment. The choice must be made.

One clear Sunday morning, his congregation gathers to worship. Muhlenberg stands before them and takes as his text the first verses of Ecclesiastes 3. He recounts their sufferings and the wrongs of the king and explained the sacred nature of the conflict that forced him to draw his sword. The king had broken the covenant. Christian men must stand for justice. “In the language of the Holy Writ, there was a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times had passed away. There was a time to fight and that time had now come!” Upon those words, he cast aside his sober robes and stood before them an officer of the new Virginia troops. Calling for volunteers, he raised that day out of his own church the core of the 8th Virginia, over 300 men.

As the first of Virginia's regiments to come to full strength, he and his troops were sent to Southern Georgia on the ill-fated Florida campaign. Caught in lowlands and swamps of Savannah in the heat of the summer, his men began to drop of illness and despair. Doubts begin to rise and he questions his own judgement. He wondered if the Lord had actually called him to this or if his people were suffering for his presumption. He writes to his father for guidance and wisdom, perhaps his father had been right. Falling ill himself, he returns home, to his father's, where his family is sheltering, to recuperate. Father and son open their hearts to one another and are reconciled.

Soon he is called back to active duty, this time to Valley Forge. As winter sets in and the troops begin to suffer, George Washington confides his doubts and fears to his old friend. Muhlenberg's trials have made him strong. With a renewed sense of purpose, he directs Washington back to the source of all their strength. As they kneel together in the cold of Valley Forge, they are reassured that to follow the Lord's calling even into ignominy or death was the only choice for the Christian man. They rose and went forth into battle, placing their trust in the Lord of Hosts.

Comments welcome--I am hoping to write this script this spring. As always, all rights reserved on the treatment.

IHS,
John Calvin Young