Press Release and Calendar Notice

June 16, 2025

Eastern Sierra United Methodist Church Invites Community to Free Screening of 1946 Film

Pride is a time to celebrate the diversity of God’s creation and a chance to affirm our LGBTQ+ family, friends, and neighbors. What better time to embody the Eastern Sierra United Methodist Church (UMC) slogan — Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors – than Pride Month in June? Just as Pride festivities provide a space for LGBTQ+ people to feel safe, supported, and celebrated, our church seeks to create a safe, welcoming, and affirming faith space that supports and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.

Eastern Sierra UMC invites community members, regardless of faith, to celebrate Pride Month with a special free screening of 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture (www.1946themovie.com) on Saturday, June 21 at 6:30 pm in the fellowship hall at 205 N. Fowler Street in Bishop. This feature documentary will ask “What if the word ‘homosexual’ was never meant to be in the Bible?” The film traces the origins of the anti-gay movement among Christians to a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946. Featuring commentary from prominent scholars as well as opposing pastors, and including the personal stories of the film’s creators, 1946 is at once challenging, enlightening, and inspiring.

Director, Rocky Roggio, is an independent filmmaker and production designer (credits include House of Cards, Red Dawn). She is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community and moved out of her home after coming out to her conservative, religious parents. The description of her upbringing is familiar to many, “In a sense, my story is not exceptional. I was raised in a loving home, the daughter of a Christian pastor who believes being gay is a sin. Realizing I was a lesbian at a young age, I carried tension, fear, and spiritual anxiety because of how my family believed. Then came an act of betrayal that robbed me of being able to come out to my family on my own terms. What followed was estrangement, heartbreak, and profound sadness. Through it all was a deep yearning for reconciliation and acceptance.”

Kate Hunter, Pastor of Eastern Sierra UMC, knows that many LGBTQ+ people have been traumatized by past church experiences. “I hope this film will encourage understanding and meaningful conversations. It offers practical resources for growth, advocacy, and inclusion.” As Director Roggio explains, “This isn’t just a film anymore. It’s an act of mercy, it’s an act of compassion, it is an act of justice, and of empathy, not only for those involved in the creation of the film, for those we interviewed, for the audience who will watch it, but for myself as well. It’s an act of Grace.”

Eastern Sierra UMC invites you to experience that grace at its June 21 film screening. “Here questions are encouraged, burdens are shared, and there is always enough food to go around. You are welcome here just as you are,” says Kate Hunter. For more information, please contact The Eastern Sierra UMC at 760-872-7701, [email protected], or visit www.esierraumc.org.

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