Educational Media Reviews Online

Are religion and spirituality playing a bigger part in people’s lives? Media reports and one’s own observations may tell part of the story, but this film looks at a scholarly study done in a small town in Great Britain to investigate its people’s religious lives and spiritual practices. The researchers, from the University of Lancaster, took an academic approach to this study done between 2000 and 2002: mapping, surveying, case studies, observations, interviews, and questionnaires. They tallied the number of people attending church and investigated other spiritual practices, such as magic, yoga, and tai chi. While they found that church attendance has been dropping over the decades, other spiritual activities seem to be growing, which led to the conclusion that instead of secularization, perhaps a spiritual revolution is occurring.

The visuals consist of live action shots of the town and people participating in religious or spiritual activities, as well as interviews with some of the researchers from the university and several of the leaders of religious and spiritual groups. Clear graphics identify the talking heads, show keywords that are being discussed, present a map and graphs, and identify section titles.

Serious and academic, the sections of the film are similar to those of a scholarly journal article: Context and Aim, Methods and Findings, and Explanation and Implications.

Viewers will appreciate that the researchers know that further steps must be taken to continue their research, and to look at more ethnically diverse areas in order to study these behaviors in Islam, Judaism, and other non-Christian religions.

The film would be best appreciated by those in an academic setting interested in religion, especially Christianity, and in all other spiritual practices. Despite this scholarly feel, the film holds interest through judicious editing between talking heads and scenes of action, with articulate interviewees, and with a narrator who provides cohesion.

For students and professors studying the sociology of religion, for those in religious studies programs, and for those investigating religion and spirituality in Great Britain, this film offers an interesting perspective.