Peace Lutheran Church is sponsoring a special movie presentation at the Pella Opera House. Pastor Chad Brown says they are showing the movie Emanuel, a documentary by Steph Curry and Viola Davis telling the story of the hate crime shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina four years ago.

“I think it is a real nice and safe entry point to talk about racism, the history of racism, especially in The South,” he says. “Three hundred and fifty years of slavery, Jim Crow, and racism, and Charleston, South Carolina is the epicenter of that.

“So this event that happened, this tragedy, really opened up conversation, and I think that’s the value of the film — it’s a way to look at what happened and the recovery and forgiveness process of the people that were involved in it, but also the larger narrative of how racism is still in our communities and our country.”

The showing of Emanuel will be held on January 26th at 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.