Hymns of You | Synopsis
A minister takes a sabbatical to recover from his divorce.
Love and Walt Whitman set him on a collision
course between his faith and the church.
"I just want to make it right again," Scott Fairchild muses to his friends. Scott, a 35-year-old minister,
is obsessed with getting it right.
Scott has taken a year's sabbatical from the church to recover from the blow of his wife leaving him. He
grudgingly downs anti-depressants to "disconnect my brain from my divorce". He feels like a failure as a
husband and minister. He often has self-recriminating flashbacks of moments in his marriage when he was
too heavenly-minded and out of touch with the needs of Helen, his wife.
In a moment of anguish, Scott tears up his Bible. Instead of lightening strikes from the heavens, the act
seems to summons two mysterious "angels" into his life: the poet Walt Whitman and Susan, a beautiful
psychologist.
"You Have Not Known What You Are"
After a friend presents Scott with a book of Walt Whitman's poetry around a campfire, Scott thinks he is
having hallucinations from his antidepressants causing him to see Whitman wandering around the
campsite.
Soon Scott is having regular conversations with Whitman's "ghost" about love, faith, and spirit.
"You have not known what you are… you have slumbered upon yourself all your life," Whitman observes.
Whitman meets Scott with booming good cheer and challenges him to push the borders of his spirituality
in more earthy directions. "From this hour I ordain you loos'd of limits and imaginary lines," Whitman
proclaims.
Soon after beginning to read Whitman, Scott meets Susan at a local bookstore where he signs copies of his
last book. She is decides on the spot that she needs to interview him as part of her thesis on the role of
spirituality in psychological healing. She is effervescent and their conversation intrigues them both, so they
decide to meet again.
Howling at the Moon
Whitman's bold and poetic pronouncements help empower Scott to embark on a new romance with Susan,
who challenges his idea of what "good" and "right" really mean. But it's not that easy for Scott to loosen up.
Susan is much more comfortable with sensuality and is unabashedly smitten with Scott, who is alternately
reserved and tentatively romantic. He confesses his fears and guilt to Whitman and his friends.
"Nature does not go through all these convolutions, it just is." Whitman says.
Easier said than done for a minister who thought he would be with the same woman his whole life. What
does God think of all this? How can Scott reconcile his spirituality with the crossroads in his romantic life?
Sail Forth Productions
PO Box 141104
Orlando, FL 32814
407.701.4252
www.sailforth.com
Hymns of You | Synopsis
Sub-Plots
Daniel, Alex, and Harrison, Scott's childhood friends, re-connect with him during this time of transition.
Each is made more aware of his own emotional and spiritual challenges as they try to keep Scott's spirits up.
Alex is a chronic womanizer, Harrison struggles to keep his marriage alive,
And Daniel, Scott's closest friend, has a secret life.
With his friends he is not "Pastor Scott" - he is still the good friend they laughed with growing up. He
draws strength from them and they help him realize he is just a human being as they all are.
Ordination Threatened
Meanwhile behind the scenes, Daniel's ex-wife Donna, who works at the church, is snooping around with
her side-kick Mary. What is Daniel's dark secret? Scott has moved in with Daniel, and now she is suspicious
of them both, and wants to collect evidence that Scott is unfit to return to the church.
When Scott is accused of conduct unbecoming by the church, his ordination is threatened.
Will he be able to reconcile his new life with his ministry? Will the church decide he no longer is wanted?
Scheduled to face the District Bishop's committee, Scott will be faced with critical decisions about his life
and career.
Hymns of You tells the story of a minister who is on a collision course between his faith and the church.
Sometimes grace comes from the most earthy places.
Sail Forth Productions
PO Box 141104
Orlando, FL 32814
407.701.4252
www.sailforth.com