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I made the decision about three days ago.

I am the Deacon Chairman at our church. We are currently in the process of rotating two Deacons off of the board (myself and one other) and electing their replacements.

Part of the process is to interview those candidates nominated by the congregation. We have an interview sheet that lays out what is expected of the Deacons. One of the expectations is that the Deacons will not attend movies at the theatre.

I don't know why that is there, but it is so I feel that I must abide by it. My term on the Deacon board is up on 1/1/03 so we will be going to a matinee on New Year's Day.

If LoTR is more important to me than abiding by a reasonable request of my church, than there is something wrong. So I decided that I can wait 14 days longer to see TTT.

(DISCLAIMER: A JOKE!)

What if I take my camcorder into the theatre and send you a copy of the movie on MiniDV?

Signed,

Ruthy - The Searcher of Loopholes for Fellow Hole-dwellers.

One of the expectations is that the Deacons will not attend movies at the theatre.

I admire your integrity for abiding by that. But, had they not shown it to you before? And if not, why not?

That said, I think it's a silly rule. But I'm not the leadership of your church.

My wife's neice and her husband are in the ministry in their denomination. A number of years ago, they wouldn't go to the theater to see a movie, but had no problem renting one from Blockbuster. Their explanation was probably more hypocritical than the actual belief of their denomination. They said they couldn't be seen going into a mulitplex theater because people wouldn't really know what they were going to see. My thought was that the little plastic bag from Blockbuster could cover up a lot more.

I grew up in the Holiness movement, went to a Holiness college and attend a Holiness church now. For the most part, I think the outward rules are a misguided attempt to be "spiritual" while allowing one to ignore the matters of the heart, which are of utmost importance.

Still, rules don't bother me, as long as they are consistent.

Having said all that, we may not make it to see TTT much before then either, but we'll sure try.