Pax Christi USA received the following letter from Joshua DuBois today celebrating the release of Selma on DVD and accompanying resources. We hope you’ll consider purchasing the DVD, hosting a private screening of the film, sharing the sermon guide with your pastor, and more.
Dear friends,
It is such an honor to share this SELMA Sermon Guide with you.
Today, May 5th, the SELMA DVD is available for sale around the country. To mark this important moment – and this historic film – we collaborated with Paramount Pictures to produce the enclosed SELMA Sermon Guide.
As many of you know, SELMA is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s SELMA tells the real story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.
To celebrate the release of the SELMA DVD, pastors from around the country – including Civil Rights legend Dr. C.T. Vivian and Rev. Susan Smith, Dr. Joel C. Hunter, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Dr. Cynthia Hale, Dr. Serene Jones, and Rev. David Hanke – came together to produce sermon outlines and notes to assist clergy in preaching and teaching on the SELMA. We are deeply honored that these amazing leaders, including Dr. Vivian – who was featured prominently in the film SELMA – joined us to produce this guide.
Download the guide and support the film SELMA by purchasing the SELMA DVD today.
Two important additional announcements:
- For congregations that desire to purchase the SELMA DVD in bulk – in quantities over 50 – we are able to mail every purchaser a commemorative letter from Ava DuVernay, the director of SELMA, and David Oyelowo, who played Dr. King. If you are interested in a bulk purchase of the Selma DVD and commemorative letters for your congregation, please contact amy@valuespartnerships.com.
- Purchase 1 DVD for yourself and donate one to a school! Visit selmaforstudents.com to learn more.
This is the first installment of the SELMA Sermon Guide. Future editions will include messages tailored for Jewish and Muslim communities as well as other minority faith traditions. We encourage you to share your thoughts on the Selma Sermon Guide, and continue to remain engaged in this movement.
Thank you for all the ways you stand up for justice and healing in communities across the country. I hope the SELMA Sermon Guide is a helpful and enjoyable resource for you and your community. We’re so grateful to be connected through Dr. King’s legacy and this remarkable film.