Spirituality at Tonight's Academy Awards

Presentation of the Movieguide results for 2010

WHICH MOVIES will be the big winners tonight at Hollywood's biggest awards ceremony, The Oscars? Whichever films do win, they will certainly reflect a different kind of Hollywood than the one I grew up with, and some credit is due to a group that's been working behind for the scenes, The Christian Film and Television Commission, for decades. They also publish their own comparison of the movies they advocate for ("box-office" results) versus other films which shows a dramatic increase in values-based films since the 1980s.

"Movies are the stained-glass windows of the 21st century, the place to tell the Gospel story to people who may not read a Bible," says Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood in Albany, Ga. Christian filmmakers are a growing presence in the industry. "Cinematography can tell a message that moves people, and brings them into conversation with believers," says Jeremy Johnston, executive pastor at 5,000-member First Family Church in Overland Park, Kan. His church has brought thousands of people to see Christian-themed films at local theaters and on its own 12-screen campus.

In his organization's 80-page statistical analysis and report to the entertainment industry, Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of MovieGuide and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, publishes evidence of the transformation he's been praying for, and working for:

• According to the report, the number of R-rated films Hollywood produces has declined dramatically from 81 percent of the major movies released in 1985 to about 40 percent in 2010.
• Among the year's top 25 best-grossing movies, 12 were R-rated in 1996, compared to only 4 in 2010.
• And while R-rated films are in decline, the percent of films with positive moral content is on the rise, from 26 percent of major movies in 1991, to 62 percent in 2000, to 84 percent in 2010.
• The percent of films with positive Christian content is also on the rise, from 10 percent in 1991, to 41 percent in 2000, to 60 percent in 2010.

Leading contenders for this years Oscars include Black Swan, The Kings Speech, True Grit, and even Toy Story 3. It should be a spirit-filled night for the new Hollywood, and as Hollywood continues its transformation, churches like T.D.Jake's Potter's House are stepping up to making their own films too, building on this idea that "Movies are the stained-glass windows of the 21st century."