Scenes from a Parish

This feature-length documentary focuses in-depth on a working-class, Roman Catholic Parish located in the poorest town in Massachusetts, Lawrence, as the Parish struggles to adapt to a rapidly changing multicultural society.

Father Paul O’Brien, a vibrant, young Harvard-educated Catholic priest arrived in Lawrence, in 2001, to preside over St. Patrick Parish.  The mills at the center of life in Lawrence had all closed, and Irish-American families dwindled in number as a wave of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Vietnam and Cambodia relocated to this impoverished town. 

Father O’Brien’s greatest challenge: to foster an inclusive community within his Parish.  Director James Rutenbeck filmed Father O’Brien’s efforts over a four-year period as he struggled daily to create a loving and supportive environment.

Father O’Brien’s humor, humanity and strong leadership guided his Parish to come together to build a church-based community center dedicated to feeding three meals a day to and sheltering the hungry of Lawrence.  

Filmmaker Rutenbeck’s documentary also delves into the lives of a number of the parishioners as they struggle with issues ranging from ethnic tension to poverty, and from generational friction to homosexuality.   Rutenbeck succeeds in showing that a common faith can overcome personal, intergenerational and cultural obstacles to create a viable, thriving and cohesive community.