When the Reverend Canon Dr Judy Hunt was Archdeacon of Suffolk, she was asked by her deanery lay chairs for help in the training of parish representatives.
'How to Choose the Perfect Priest' was the result and what began as a resource for the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is now being made available for churches everywhere in DVD format.
The cast and crew were funded by a grant from the AllChurches Trust, the charitable arm of Ecclesiastical Insurance.
The eight cast members are all professional actors with a Christian faith. They were supported by a host of extras drawn from several parishes in Suffolk.
Dr Hunt's 66 'learning points' were turned into a humorous and lively script by the Reverend Canon Nigel Hartley, vicar of Aldeburgh.
The result is a resource that is entertaining as well as instructive.
"It was impossible to cover everything," says Dr hunt. "Dioceses do things differently and the involvement of bishops and archdeacons varies during the appointment process and the role of patrons is also affected by the type of post being filled.
"The standard of the production is the very best it can be" says Andy Parsons of Suffolk-based production company, Bruizer.
"We came into this wanting to make it as good as it could be and set the bar high.
"We had a good, fun script. We had someone with passion and enthusiasm behind it, and it gave us an opportunity to make something that wasn't a corporate training film but something more cinematic.
"We wanted to make it more exciting, using all the best equipment, and getting the most on screen we could."
A companion website - www.perfectpriest.com - contains further resources for parishes to use.
