The firemen spend their days rescuing treed cats, because there is never a fire in Pleasantville. But neither is there any fire in the belly, or any colour. It is black and white. With the arrival of Mary Sue, and her brother, Bud, also trapped in Pleasantville, things begin to change. Mary Sue begins to shake up the safe patterns of the townfolk, beginning with the seduction of the captain of the high school basketball team.
Colour begins to appear, but danger comes with it.
As the story unfolds, I began to think about the churches we serve and love. Among us, black and white lines of division have become tests of belonging. Whether it's about gays and lesbians, biblical interpretation, liturgical practices or musical styles, we have been acting as if God had asked us only to create a safe and tidy haven, dispassionately unaware of anything beyond our own community. Without knowing how it happened, we find ourselves living in a town where, at the end of Main Street, we come to the beginning of Main Street. And God, wondering if we're up to it, sends some of them into the lives of our churches.