Bush Promotes Christian Artist Michael W. Smith as Special Council

The US President, George Bush intends to designate Michael W. Smith, of Tennessee, to be Vice Chair of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, according to a recent announcement from the Office of the Press Secretary in the White House.

|TOP|The internationally acclaimed Christian singer/songwriter Smith has been nominated by the White House to serve a two-year term as a member of the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation in a personal announcement released by the White House in December.

Smith joined a group of 18 others on the Council, which includes personalities such as actress Hilary Duff and actor Steven Baldwin.

Established by President George W. Bush in January of 2003, the Council on Service and Civic Participation is purposed to promote volunteer service and civic participation in American society by working to support the efforts of local non-profits and volunteer organisations as well as encourage greater public access to information about existing volunteer opportunities.

In other news, Smith starred in the motion picture debut in Provident Films’ The Second Chance. In the film Smith plays Ethan Jenkins, a wealthy associate pastor at a splendid suburban mega-church called The Rock, who, after challenging the church’s status quo, is sent to get his “wings clipped” at Second Chance Community Church - The Rock’s financially struggling “sister church” headed by Pastor Jake Sanders (introducing Jeff Obafemi Carr) and stationed in the middle of a beleaguered inner-city neighbourhood.

|AD|Sparks fly as Sanders, resentful of The Rock’s hesitancy to “cross the tracks” despite its financial generosity, and Jenkins struggle to find common ground and overcome their own misconceptions and prejudices.

Co-written and directed by early Steve Taylor, a former Christian musician from the early 90’s, The Second Chance is at its core a movie about “transformation and reconciliation,” according to Carr, who was particularly moved by a scene that involved local homeless people as extras.

For Smith, making the film was reportedly "life-changing."

"I'm not like Ethan, because I feel like I have a heart for the poor and I really care what goes on in Africa and there's all these things I'm involved in," Smith told the Tennessean, "but I got on the set and I found out, 'Golly, man, I can do better.' It's easy to write a check. It's a completely different story to get your hands dirty and get in the thick of it."

The Second Chance DVD will release 19 July, 2006.