Particularly memorable was the lurking portrayal of evil and the skillful acting from the lead characters on down...

The violence is as brutal and bloody as in any R-rated movie to hit the screen. But the story sweeps you up in the first moments and doesn't let go until the credits roll ....

.... say two local pastors and a lay minister who attended a special screening last week of Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ."

"It probably is the most powerful movie I have ever seen in my life," says the Rev. Kelly Byrd, senior pastor of Blackhawk Baptist Church on East State Boulevard. "It is riveting. It is disturbing in its portrayal of what Scriptures tell us Jesus Christ went through. At the same time, it was encouraging."

Byrd was among about 4,500 clergy and church staff -- including several others from Fort Wayne -- invited to see a rough cut of the film Jan. 20 at Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago. The screening also was attended by several employees of church insurer Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Co. of Fort Wayne, which co-sponsored the event.

"The Passion of the Christ" follows Jesus Christ through the biblical Passion story, from his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane through his crucifixion, death and resurrection. The movie will open Feb. 25 nationwide and at the Holiday 6 and Jefferson Pointe 18 theaters in Fort Wayne.

Gibson has sparked controversy because of the film's religious subject matter and its graphic portrayal of the beating and abuse suffered by Jesus. He also chose to have characters speak in Aramaic and Latin, the languages of that time, and provide English translation with subtitles.

Hoping to quiet some of the controversy, Gibson screened the film in December for Pope John Paul II. News reports initially said the pope thought the movie offered an accurate portrayal of the Passion story. The Vatican earlier this month denied the pope made any comments about the film.

Some Jewish and Christian leaders also fear the movie could damage Christian-Jewish relations or ignite anti-Jewish sentiment. That possibility concerns Fort Wayne's Jewish community. But Rabbi Jonathan Katz of Achduth Vesholom Congregation and Jeff Gubitz, executive director of the Fort Wayne Jewish Federation, say they cannot comment on that issue until they see the film.

Local Christian clergy who saw the movie last week don't expect problems. "You don't walk out of the thing angry at Jewish people by any means," says the Rev. Joel DeSelm, pastor of Woodburn Missionary Church. "You walk out with a sense of deeper understanding of the immense sacrifice and suffering that was required to pay for my sin," adds DeSelm, who felt the film was historically accurate.

His sister-in-law, Gwen DeSelm, and Blackhawk Baptist's Byrd spoke of being similarly moved.

"I think it has given me a much deeper appreciation and gratitude for my own salvation, and for the price that was paid for me," says Gwen DeSelm, director of worship ministries at Fellowship Missionary Church on Tillman Road.

She, Joel DeSelm and Byrd also agree Gibson produced an extremely well-done film, regardless of its subject matter. Particularly memorable, they said, was the lurking portrayal of evil and the skillful acting from the lead characters on down.

"The characterizations of (Roman government official Pontius) Pilate and the Roman centurion, those weren't just extras going through the motions," Joel DeSelm says.

But all say the graphic violence hit them the hardest.

They agree with the film's R rating and Gibson's recommendation children ages 12 and younger should stay away from the movie.

The most intense violence came while Roman soldiers mocked and scourged Jesus, they say. The footage seems even more gripping, they add, because moviegoers see it through the eyes of characters they can easily identify with -- Jesus' mother, Mary, and the disciple John.

"It would be difficult to watch that happen to any human being, had you been there," says Joel DeSelm. "It would be devastating to watch it done to your son."

Fort Wayne News-

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