Kirk Cameron visited Liberty University on Friday to meet with students of the Cinematic Arts, Zaki Gordon Center and announce his partnership with Liberty for his latest film, Saving Christmas.
Last year, Cameron hosted a live broadcast from Liberty’s Vines Center as more than 150,000 people in 700 theaters nationwide watched Cameron’s Unstoppable.
“I loved it,” Cameron said of the event. “I loved being able to unwrap Unstoppable and help students further understand some of the more difficult things about God in a cool, creative way that they helped to make successful. And we’re going to be doing that again with Saving Christmas.”
During Friday morning’s convocation, Cameron introduced his upcoming project, showing clips from the movie and the trailer. The family-friendly film, set to premiere Nov. 14 in 400 theaters across the country for a limited two-week engagement, seeks to help viewers reunite the sacred and secular elements of Christmas.
Saving Christmas tells a story that gives the audience a biblical basis for Christmas celebrations, and the inspiration to stand strong as the culture looks to trivialize and even eliminate the faith elements of this holy season.
“Our richest Christmas traditions … are so full of truth, if only we had eyes to see them,” Cameron said. “We need to infuse old symbols with new meaning.”
Referencing Lecrae Moore‘s visit to convocation last year, when Moore warned students to avoid seeing the world through bifocals that separate Christianity from the rest of culture, Cameron encouraged students to think differently about holiday consumerism. Instead, he said, students should embrace all aspects of the Christmas season in order to show that Christ is worth celebrating.
“Remember, this is the celebration of the eternal God taking on a material body,” Cameron said. “So it is right our holiday is marked with material things. Things we can see with our eyes, touch with our hands, and look upon.”
After convocation, Cameron gathered with film students for an exclusive Q-and-A session about how to honor God through Hollywood filmmaking. During the session, Cameron offered advice to aspiring filmmakers from his years of experience as an actor and producer.
Cameron said he enjoys being able to interact with the students and that it is a natural fit for him to partner with Liberty on his projects.
“I really feel that Liberty University and I have the same goals, and that is to train Christians in this generation to be excellent, to be champions,” he said. “Not to be escapists, not to be complainers, but to be leaders. And Liberty isn’t just talking about it, they are doing it … So that’s why I am excited and proud to be partnering with Liberty University in a field that lines up with my experience: making movies.”
He added that the campus never ceases to impress him and that the atmosphere is especially inviting. Cameron explained that students are exposed to “world-class” learning opportunities, worship, spiritual renewal, and guest speakers—the sort of things he hopes his children will get when they go to college.
