The Legend of Pastor Bill (2002)

In the ghettos of New York lies the largest Sunday school in America. Led by Pastor Bill Wilson and attended by up 20,000 kids a week, its services are far from what we may imagine Sunday school to be like. This compelling documentary follows the controversial, maverick preacher who drives frenetic services which include hip-hop music, fast games and expensive prizes. Pastor Bill is uncompromising and streetwise. His Sunday school is now a $5 million corporation with 150 staff and he openly admits he will do anything to bring children to God. 'I will do anything which is morally or ethically correct', says Bill, including dollar bills to keep kids quiet and games show banter to draw them in. Pastor Bill has been preaching in Brooklyn for over three decades, and enlists young recruits from all over the world to assist him. However, this film is no hagiography, and it examines some of the controversy surrounding his methods and indeed his message. Undeterred, Pastor Bill has escaped shootings, muggings and criticism to continue his multi-million dollar effort to raise the status of the young in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in America. Re-edited to include footage of Bill's near death experience when shot by armed muggers, this film shows the price of living and working with the children of one of New York's most notorious ghettos. In many ways the shooting was the dramatic conclusion of a life's work on the front line.