Inspirational story carries a deep truth

Movie directors usually don't weep on the set -- not when things are going well, anyway. But during the filming of "Letters to God," everyone understood why writer and co-director Patrick Doughtie was crying. It wasn't just a story to him.

The movie, which opened in the Twin Cities on Friday, is an account of his 10-year-old son's battle with brain cancer. He insisted on accuracy.

"It always bothers me when movies about cancer show the medical aspects and it's not real," Doughtie said from his home in Nashville. "I wanted everything to be as true as possible in those medical scenes."

They ended up being so true that they caused emotional flashbacks. "I can't tell you how many tears were shed on that set," he said.

Doughtie was not a filmmaker; until he started the movie, he owned a construction company. He wrote the script as a tribute to his late son, Tyler, who always focused on buoying the spirits of the people around him, no matter how bad things got for him.

The first attempt at making the movie didn't go well. "I signed a deal with a production company that rewrote the script to remove all the inspirational parts and turned it into a country musical," Doughtie said. "I said, 'Geez, can't we make one movie in Nashville that isn't a country musical?'"

After severing those ties, he struck a deal with David Nixon, producer of the faith-based films "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof." Nixon offered to share the directing duties with Doughtie to ensure that his vision for the movie was retained.

"It was one of those God things," he said. "After I had written the script, I was cleaning Tyler's room and I picked up a notepad. When I turned it over, the first page said, 'Dear God.' I started paging through it and found three more letters. I just started bawling."

ELCA to finish process This weekend, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is expected to take the last administrative steps in opening its pulpits to gay and lesbian preachers.

Technically, the denomination's August vote on rostering gay clergy really was on rewriting the rules so they could be rostered. That process -- which involved writing, rewriting, presenting the new rules to the bishops for feedback and then rewriting again -- reaches its final step when the rules are presented for approval at the General Counsel meeting, which started Friday and continues through Sunday.

ELCA spokesman John Brooks doesn't anticipate any problems in approval of the rules. "The one thing still to be determined is when the new rules would go into effect," he said. "It might be immediately, or they might set some date in the future."

Bucks for boarding Jonny Nelson's skateboard park ministry is holding a fundraiser Sunday at Excelsior's Old Log Theater.

The fundraiser includes a presentation of the theater's current show, the comedy "Dixie Swim Club," along with a raffle and silent auction. Tickets are $30, with an optional lunch for $15. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. The curtain rises at 2 p.m. For more information go to www.jsaw.org.