Behind the Camera, a Ministry Takes Shape
When Rev. Beth Caulfield talks about filmmaking as ministry, she thinks about the people making the movie as much as the people who will watch it. A production brings together people with different skills and responsibilities, and it takes them into communities that become part of the work. In Behind the Scenes of Conceivable: The Ministry in the Movie, Caulfield traces how a story drawn from her own life became her debut feature film and reflects on what sustained her through the work of making it. Conceivable explores faith, family, and unplanned pregnancy. Caulfield served as screenwriter, co-director, producer, and actress.
An Appointment to the Cinematic Arts
Caulfield is an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church. In February 2024, the Northeast Annual Conference appointed her to an extension ministry in the cinematic arts. Her responsibilities include making faith-based films, encouraging churches and their members to use film and filmmaking in ministry, and mentoring people who want to develop their talents in the arts.
The appointment draws on her experience pastoring local churches, teaching the Bible internationally, and serving in prison ministry. It also gives her a way to encourage Christians interested in making films. For congregations, her work raises a practical question: how can a church recognize and support the gifts of people whose work takes them into places the congregation may rarely see?
Conceivable gave Caulfield an opportunity to put that appointment into practice. She served as screenwriter, co-director, producer, and actress, and other Global Methodists joined the cast and crew. The film draws on her personal experience to explore faith, family, and unplanned pregnancy. In the book, she reflects on the work of bringing people together around that story and the opportunities to serve that arose during production.
“Not only is the movie product a ministry, but the movie-making process lends itself to ministry for those involved and to the communities in which we film and produce the movie,” Caulfield says. Her account gives readers a way to consider what that means in a setting where people have to coordinate their work, rely on one another, and build relationships in the communities where they film.
What a Screenplay Lets Readers See
In spring 2023, Caulfield submitted Conceivable to the screenplay competition at The Well Conference for Christian Creatives in Michigan, turning it in on the day of the deadline. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard my name over the loud speaker—I won!” she writes. The screenplay earned the Oasis Award and caught the attention of an independent Christian film studio scouting for projects at the conference. After reading the script, the studio owner proposed that they make the film together, an arrangement that would allow Caulfield to retain creative control and ownership.
“Reading a screenplay is like viewing an artist’s original sketches,” Caulfield writes. A finished film moves at the pace the filmmakers set, but a screenplay lets readers pause over a scene and look closely at what was on the page before the actors and camera brought it to life. The book’s production photographs and Caulfield’s account of the work help readers follow that process from script development through post-production.
At the center of the book is the complete director’s cut of the screenplay, accompanied by a chapter on how to read a script. For readers unfamiliar with the form, Caulfield’s guidance makes it easier to follow the dialogue, action, and scene directions together. A line of dialogue may be the first thing a reader notices, but the action around it can help them picture how a performer might deliver it or what the camera might show while it’s being spoken.
The screenplay includes aspects of the story that differ from the finished film. Viewers who already know Conceivable can return to familiar scenes and see what changed, while aspiring filmmakers can consider how choices made during production shape the story an audience ultimately experiences.
The Conversations the Film Makes Possible
Through Conceivable, Caulfield has worked with churches, pregnancy centers, abortion recovery groups, and other organizations that support women and families. She shares the film and speaks at their gatherings, where the story can give people a starting point for talking about what practical, compassionate support looks like when someone faces an unplanned pregnancy.
When talking with church audiences about that kind of support, Caulfield points to Mary and Joseph as a way into the conversation. Their story is familiar to many congregations, and she uses it to bring a present-day question closer to home: how do we respond when someone’s circumstances take an unexpected turn and they need help?
Caulfield hopes the book and film will give readers and viewers room to talk about those questions. She also hopes churches will consider how they encourage people with gifts in writing, acting, filmmaking, and other creative work. “My prayer is that both will create space for honest conversations and a deeper awareness of God’s grace,” she says.
For Caulfield, making the film was a monumental undertaking. Looking back, she sees God’s care in the details, in the needs that were met, and in the strength to keep going. That experience is part of what she wants readers to take from the book, especially those who feel drawn to creative work and wonder how they will carry it through. Her account lets them see what answering that call looked like for her, from the first work on the script to the relationships the film made possible.
Behind the Scenes of Conceivable: The Ministry in the Movie by Rev. Beth Caulfield releases November 10 from Abundance Books in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle editions wherever books are sold. The film Conceivable is showing in select U.S. theaters through November 15.
Behind The Scenes of Conceivable: The Ministry In the Movie
Behind The Scenes of Conceivable: The Ministry in the Movie
by Rev. Beth Caulfield
At the heart of this commemorative volume is the complete Director’s Cut of the screenplay, presented alongside a guided chapter that teaches readers how to read a screenplay and understand the storytelling and production choices behind it.
