Director’s Note

As director of the Prayer in America documentary, it’s my hope that we have achieved a common goal among our various partners in creating a project that represents a truly open and comprehensive marketplace of ideas, insights and opinions about the dynamic history of prayer in America.

In addition to the book that inspired much of our work, the project includes several components that have been created or supervised by either The Duncan Group or Iowa Public Television. Those components include a television documentary, community outreach campaign and project website. Outreach Extensions created the community outreach campaign. In the not-too-distant future there will also be a classroom series. It should be noted that while each component has been designed to work on its own, all elements of the project should also complement each other and provide resources specific to their medium. Each component also reflects a vision that is dependent on the company or individual responsible for creating it. In that respect, the public television documentary represents the editorial and creative process of The Duncan Group.

From our first discussion about this production, it has been made clear to all of our partners that our goal as the production company is to produce public television programming that achieves and maintains the standards of the PBS Network and its affiliates. To that end, as filmmakers we do our best to provide accurate and balanced information on every subject we undertake and we try to do it in an entertaining, enlightening way. As the production of the two hour special Prayer In America reaches its completion and begins nationwide broadcast on public television, we have done our best to achieve that goal. To the extent possible, we believe the production reflects America’s diversity of thought, opinion, ethnicity, gender and faith practice.

It is not our goal to promote prayer or to encourage a particular prayer or faith practice. Nor to we try to deny the powerful role prayer plays in the lives of the majority of Americans or the importance some value in their secular, agnostic or atheist perspectives. Rather, our goal has been to explore and consider the ways in which prayer has impacted American history as well as how our form of government and our spiritual roots have influenced prayer and faith practices as the nation has become more diverse.

On a personal note, this project, like many we undertake, has been a considerable challenge. Prayer, for many people, can be as divisive as it can be unifying. In that respect, we have encountered many people throughout our research and production process who have expressed very particular agendas around prayer and religious practices. Ours is a simple one - to create a film with journalistic integrity that reaches or surpasses the expectations of public television viewers as well as engaging viewers in a dialogue many view as important. It has been a privilege to be invited to film prayer practices from many faiths around the country and we’ve done our best to treat each with respect. The notion of liberty established long ago in America is often in peril and as filmmakers we have been engaged in telling the stories of those who fight to protect it. During our filming of Prayer in America, the freedom to practice one’s faith has been especially evident in the practices we’ve managed to capture on film. With rare exception, we’ve been allowed into homes and houses of worship from numerous parts of the country as people have shared a very personal part of their lives.

Achieving our goals would not have been possible without the help of an extraordinary team of advisors and production staff - all of whom are identified and can be reached through our company website at DuncanEntertainment.com. For all who have contributed their time and insights throughout the development, research and production process of this documentary and community outreach campaign, we are particularly grateful. We are also very grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for their financial support of public television and the production of Prayer in America and its related outreach components.

Thank you.

Chip Duncan
Director/Producer