When I was a girl, I loved watching television, but at times some element of a program frightened or disturbed me. I felt unprotected because my parents apparently didn't recognize the impact some series and movies had on me. Although they were very cautious about letting me see movies at the theater, they seemed to assume that anything on television was okay for me to see.

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As I grew up, the moral quality of television programming declined and the complaints I heard increased, but I wasn't aware of anyone doing anything to effect change. I wanted to, but had no idea how to begin. I vowed that when I had children, I would carefully monitor what my children were exposed to through television, movies, and videos.

When our first child was born, we began with a rather simplistic approach: our daughter watched only public television and videos we selected. When she began school and heard classmates talk about seeing movies at the theater, we occasionally went, but only after reading reviews about the movie's content and suitability for young children. When our oldest began to complain that she was outgrowing children's programming, I realized we needed to broaden our entertainment horizons, and I needed more help to do that without lowering our standards of what our children were exposed to through film and television.

During my search for tools to help us be smart, informed entertainment consumers, I read a challenge from a Christian arts advocate. As a Christian working within the entertainment industry, she suggested that Christians need to adopt a missionary attitude toward Hollywood: learn about Hollywood's culture rather than simply criticize it, pray for the industry, and look for ways to affirm the good that already exists and to build on it.

The news that there were indeed Christians in Hollywood was immensely encouraging to me, and the challenge hit home. Since then I've prayed for Hollywood as a mission field, I've begun to learn about the culture, and I've continually been amazed to find how much God is already doing within the entertainment industry.

Through Edifying Entertainment, my desire is to share the resources I've found that can help us all be wiser entertainment consumers. I also want to share news of the efforts being made to redeem popular culture, so you can be encouraged as I was. My prayer is that you too will see Hollywood as a mission field ripe for the harvest, and that you will pray and look for ways to support and to become involved in what God is doing there.

Linda Reynolds editor