What if you had to pick between your deeply held faith and the life of your child? That’s the gutting choice that faced Marshall Phillips, an Oregon dad who was born into the Followers of Christ, a sect whose creed bars medical treatment. When his 11-year-old son was stricken with a dire health crisis, Phillips became caught between his faith, his family and the state of Oregon, which had begun cracking down on faith-healing parents who don’t seek medical help for their minor children. A decade later, Phillips was pulled into another one of his church’s life-or-death dramas when he was asked to care for a newborn whose twin had died because her parents had refused to seek medical attention.
To examine the power of faith-healing churches and the toll of their teachings, The Oregonian investigative reporter Noelle Crombie, senior staff photojournalist Beth Nakamura and videographer Samantha Swindler spent months with Phillips and his family, piecing together rare accounts from inside the deeply shuttered world of the Followers of Christ and of the state officials who fought to protect children who need medical treatment. The documentary, produced by The Oregonian’s managing producer of video, Teresa Mahoney, not only lays out in visceral detail the agonizing choices that families like the Phillips have to make, it also chronicles how they overcame the clash with their religious beliefs.
Go inside the secretive Followers of Christ sect and watch the extraordinary journey.
Read more in this riveting print narrative, and meet the man who dominated and shaped the sect.
