Mark Hall, lead singer of top Christian band Casting Crowns, talked with Christian Retailing about the band's October 2011 release from Beach Street Records, Come to the Well. Listen in as Managing Editor Christine Johnson talks with Hall about songs such as the theme for the new movie Courageous as well as Hall's favorite on the release, "Already There."
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Denver Bierman, leader of Denver & The Mile High Orchestra, talks with Christian Retailing about the horn band's August 2011 release from GFK Records, Groovy. Listen in as Managing Editor Christine Johnson talks with Bierman about songs such as "Man Gave Names to All the Animals" and "Sunday School Swing."

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The 1920s’ baseball drama Milltown Pride (7-27985-01410-4, $24.99) marks a return to feature-making for Unusual Films, the Bob Jones University (BJU) production group with a long history of movie work perhaps best known for releases Sheffey (1977) and The Printing (1991).

Setting the story of the prodigal son in the sports world, the movie follows Will Wright as he leaves his privileged background to pursue a baseball career by joining a local textile-mill team. 

His journey includes an encounter with real-life evangelist Billy Sunday, himself a former baseball star, who is portrayed in the film by scriptwriter David Burke. 

Filming took place in four states, including at a baseball field with stands dating back to the time period. “They were still in good-enough condition for us to use, though we had to shore them up a bit,” said Darren Lawson, producer. Cast and crew were largely drawn from the faculty and student body, though several hundred extras from the local community were drafted in for some scenes.

Lawson—who is also dean of the school of fine arts and communication at BJU—said that though Unusual Films had concentrated on children’s productions in recent years, “there has been such a resurgence in Christian filmmaking. We wanted to get back in the game.”

The film was intended to be encouraging “for anyone who knows someone who has lost his or her way, who has lost their focus on God,” said Lawson. 

“There is hope, just by turning back to God.”

Running 2 hours and 15 minutes, Milltown Pride is distributed by Vision Video. To order, call 800-523-0226.

Out-in-the-woods comedy offers ‘simple truth’ answer to some of the ‘hot topics’ that challenge marriages

The makers of Marriage Retreat (Pure Flix Entertainment, 8-93261-00189-9, $19.99) have ventured into largely unexplored territory for Christian filmmakers—not so much with the subject, as their approach.

They play for laughs as three couples head off for a weekend marriage-enrichment course, hoping that the comedy will sweeten the lessons about love and relationships.

But movie humor is “a tricky thing to deliver” to a faith audience, noted David A.R. White, one of the male leads who also helps run the production company that made the movie, Pure Flix Entertainment. 

“Some people get offended really easily by comedy, so a lot of people in our marketplace really have stayed away from  it, for the most part,” he said.

“We wanted to approach it head-on. We think it’s important to laugh at ourselves. Humor can lower people’s defenses; their walls come down and it allows the message to penetrate.”

White plays an architect whose marriage is strained—his wife wants a baby while he is reluctant to become a parent because of scars from an abusive father. The pair is joined on the weekend retreat by one couple dealing with control issues and another struggling with the husband’s gambling addiction.

“We take these hot topics and explore the relationships in a comedic way but ultimately pointing to the cross,” White said. “Ultimately, God is the answer to all of our problems. That can sound really cliched, but it is also such a simple truth that without the Lord in the center of our marriage, we can’t succeed.”

The 85-minute feature sees White play opposite his real-life wife, Andrea Logan White. What the pair and their friends think is going to be a cozy conference center turns out to be a rustic retreat run by a quirky couple, Jeff Fahey (Lost, Machete) and Victoria Jackson (Saturday Night Live, Baby Boom).

For more information or to order Marriage Retreat, go to www.pureflix.com.

Concentrate on seizing those important ‘Moments of Connectivity’

In customer experience management, we often talk about Moments of Truth. The term was coined by Jan Carlzon, who managed the Scandinavian SAS Airlines. He used it for those moments in which important brand impressions—for good or bad—are made.

In retail, Moments of Truth occur in key interactions:

• on the phone
• when a customer enters the store
• when he/she is engaged by an employee
• at checkout
• leaving the store
• in follow-up cards, emails, newsletters.

Along with a store’s products and environment, these moments add up to the customer’s experience.

At the staff level in specialty stores, we can drill it down another level to what I call “Moments of Connectivity.” Those happen by taking advantage of key interactions to connect with the customer. A meaningful connection is one that develops trust, demonstrates a commitment to the customer and leads to a more enjoyable experience.

Many of these key interactions overlap with the Moments of Truth, but there are also some additional engagement points.

1. First engagement.  Sadly, many stores short-circuit right here by ignoring customers or opening with “How may I help you?” 

The goal at this point is to:

• Demonstrate your priority to customer service/experience.
• Let your customer know you’re glad he/she came into your store.
• Create a welcoming environment.

2. The transition from welcoming the customer to developing the relationship.  Many customers want to be left alone, but more often than not, it is because of the quality of the first engagement.

We want to learn about our customer and the reason for his/her visit. Notice the word “reason,” not “need.” Too often we disconnect from the customer if they don’t state a need.

Remember this: It’s all about the customer and their connection to our store, our products and the reason for the visit. Our questions and comments should be leading us to establish that connection.

Great sales associates don’t small-talk; they establish a relationship. They engage with purpose. They show sincere interest.

3. Showing or recommending the product. The most successful sales associates establish a very strong connection here. They continue to learn more about their customer in relation to the products. They aren’t shy with their professional opinion, but at the same time they never forget that the goal is to help the customer purchase the right products for them.

If an associate hasn’t connected with the customer before this, the chance of truly connecting while showing the products is low.

I’ve seen a number of people who establish a number of wonderful connections with the customer and then disconnect when showing/recommending products.

They either didn’t learn enough about the customer before showing/recommending products, or they have unresolved issues about being in retail sales.

Forget customer service, it’s all about the connection and experience.

A former director of retail for Bose Corp. and an independent store owner, Doug Fleener is president of retail and customer experience consulting firm Dynamic Experiences Group. Learn more at www.degretail.com.

ASK THE AUTHOR: Athol Dickson

Next release: The Opposite of Art (September).

Publisher: Howard Books.

How do art and faith mix in The 
Opposite of Art?

“Faith,” in the sense of belief or trust, is explored in the idea of a great artist, perhaps the foremost genius of his generation, whose sense of self-worth and identity is inseparable from his talent. There is nothing he can’t paint, and through painting, redefine in ways that are relative to himself. In that way he stands at the center of his universe. Then along comes the one exception, something he can see and experience but can’t reduce to paint and canvas. ... He has a choice to make: Will he continue trying to force this thing to submit to him, or will he submit himself to it? 

There’s also “faith” as a synonym for a spiritual system of ideas. The Opposite of Art explores that through the idea of art as a tool in the hands of faith. Art as beauty, and beauty as God’s revelation of Himself within creation. ... On one level, the story is about what it means to worship the art of creation instead of the Creator Artist.

Your main character, Sheridan Ridler, ends up with a Mexican circus—how did you think of that one?

I wanted to drive Ridler to his knees, so I thought about what that would look like for a great artist. What would be the most humiliating thing for a Pablo Picasso? And I came up with a caricature artist … Then I needed Ridler to be isolated for plot-related reasons, so I thought of a Mexican circus. I grew up in Texas, so I knew about them. ... It was a good way to get Ridler back to America after his pilgrimage while maintaining his isolation. Also, I loved the symbolic potential of a circus.

What kind of pilgrimage does he go on?

Ridler loves a woman, Suzanna, who basically throws him over for Jesus. It makes him very angry because he has a massive ego, but also because, to him, Jesus is just a myth. Losing her to a mere idea instead of to flesh and blood somehow makes it worse. But he really loves this woman in his self-obsessed way, so he has to believe she’s extremely special, otherwise she would be unworthy of his love. That means he is suddenly compelled to understand how someone worthy of his love might view myth as reality, so he sets out to try to understand the basis for religious faith.

Then there’s his own encounter with the ineffable, that thing he has seen and experienced but can’t reduce to paint and canvas. He refuses to accept that it might have been divine, but he suspects there might be some natural basis in the myth, something “real” that he could paint if he only understood it. So he sets out to understand it in order to justify his love for Suzanna, and to reassert himself as the center of his universe.

What do you hope the reader comes away with after reading this work?

I hope this is the kind of novel readers will want to savor. Much of the story revolves around the idea of beauty and the creative instinct. ... And I hope this story will inspire some readers to think about things like the destructive nature of pride, and the fact that all true love is sacrificial. I hope it will remind some readers of the simple fact that we create because God first created us. We are God’s art.