British Peer to Hollywood says, "God is at work in Tinsel Town"
"I am glad to say, there are a lot of good films coming through now. I believe there are a number of Christians now working in Hollywood who've dedicated themselves to producing good quality products. So I remain encouraged."
(Beverly Hills, CA)—Every year, Lord Taylor of Warwick, leaves his office at the British House of Lord's in London to get his annual "Holy Spirit fix" at the annual Media Fellowship International (MFI) Praise Brunch in Beverly Hills, California.
And this year was no exception for Britain's first Black peer, a committed Christian who is also Vice President of the British Board of Film Classification.
Lord Taylor was attending another recent glittering event at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday, September 15, at which Pat and Shirley Boone gave their testimonies before 350 Hollywood insiders. Actress Jennifer O'Neill also spoke and former "Wheel of Fortune" hostess, Susan Stafford, presented a special award to MFI founder, Bob Rieth.
There was special music from Deniece Williams, the soul-pop-Gospel singer with the stratospheric vocal range and also a Gospel group called Soldiers for the Second Coming, led by Billy Davis Jr. and his wife, Marilyn McCoo, who have received seven Grammy Awards and earned 15 gold and three platinum records. After it was all over, I was able to interview Lord Taylor for Safe World's IPTV based in Irvine, California.
I began by asking him why he "sneaks out of London each year" to attend the event, and he replied, "It's because of the people and the atmosphere. The Holy Spirit is definitely here. It gets better every year and I have some really good friends who are brothers and sisters in Christ."
Lord went on to say, "It's a must do event for me. It's not just a social gathering, but it's about the meaning of life. It's about our lives and the way forward; it's about God working especially in a place like Hollywood, because it takes boldness to be in this world of the entertainment business, as it also is in the political world.
"We Christians have a ministry that God wants to work through us and through people who've dedicated themselves to spreading the Word of God in Tinsel Town." I reminded Lord Taylor that during a recent interview I did with him at the House of Lords, he had been critical about Hollywood movies and so I wondered if he still felt that same way.
"Well there's a lot of rubbish produced by Hollywood; a lot of films which are not honoring to Christ," he said. "But also, I am glad to say, there are a lot of good films coming through now. I believe there are a number of Christians now working in Hollywood who've dedicated themselves to producing good quality products. So I remain encouraged."
He then spoke of his work in censoring movies for the UK market.
"There are five of us on the British Board of Film Classification and I'm the Vice President," said Lord Taylor. "We censor all of the films that come from Hollywood, and indeed Bollywood, because India is a big film market as well. We have to basically protect children from volatile people. So we make sure that they're not exposed to violence, sex, or pornography. So family films are what we want to promote."
I concluded by asking him if he planned to be back for next year's MFI Praise Brunch and he smiled and said, "Definitely; you try and stop me!"
On to Las Vegas for the Lord
After the Beverly Hills event, Lord Taylor traveled to Las Vegas with MFI founder, Bob Rieth, to share his testimony at an event on that Wednesday at Spago Restaurant, Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.
Bob Reith e-mailed me later with the details. "The meetings in Vegas went well," he wrote. "MFI is being raised to a new level in the city. We had the Governor's wife and several local dignitaries at the lunch and we had several new people interested in MFI.
He added, "We had about ten people that accepted the Lord..."
