A Time For Burning Directed by Bill Jersey & Barbara Connell, 1966

A glowing beauty! " -- The New York Times

“A glowing beauty” (The New York Times), A TIME FOR BURNING is a classic touchstone, which poignantly captures the mood of the times as the Civil Rights Movement challenged the nation to change its ways.

Originally rejected by the three major networks for being too controversial, the entire production was commissioned and underwritten by a religious organization, Lutheran Film Associates. The fact that they pressed for the film’s release despite the harsh light it casts, makes its existence all the more remarkable. This classic cinema verité film from award-winning filmmaker Bill Jersey captures an all-white Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska as their earnest pastor tries to get the congregation to reach out to their fellow black Lutherans only to find a well of resistance among his flock. The candid result is one of the most honest, accurate, and effective expose of the civil rights impasse ever filmed.

About the Lutheran Film Associates

Lutheran Film Associates, an undertaking of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, was established in 1952.

Begun by the United Lutheran Church in America and the National Lutheran Council, LFA released its first motion picture, Martin Luther, in 1953. It’s surprising success led to wide-spread distribution of the film and the creation of subsequent films including A Time for Burning, Question 7 and The Joy of Bach.

LFA continues to exist as a production/distribution facility for U.S. Lutherans. Find more information on LFA titles at www.lutheranfilm.org and at the Archives of Cooperative Lutheranism (www.elca.org/archives).