ALBANY, Ga. (BP) – It mirrors a family reunion from the best of the Kendrick Brothers’ work. “The Forge,” releasing in August, revives beloved characters from “War Room” and features actors from “Courageous” and “Overcomer.”
Returning in The Forge are War Room’s prayer warrior Miss Clara, played by Karen Abercrombie; young mother and lukewarm Christian Elizabeth, portrayed by Priscilla Shirer; and Elizabeth’s husband, an overambitious pharmaceutical salesman and lackadaisical father played by T.C. Stallings.
Add to them Cameron Arnett from Overcomer, where he played Thomas Hill, a recovered drug addict blessed to meet and coach his daughter while suffering blindness months before his death. And there’s Ken Bevel, the Courageous father and sheriff’s deputy Nathan Hayes, who stoically held onto his truck as thieves sought to carjack it, solely to save his infant son inside.
Superbowl champion, husband and father Benjamin Watson makes his Kendrick Brothers debut in The Forge, as does Aspen Kennedy, who stars in BET’s “Ruthless.”
Prayer and discipleship are the themes of The Forge, featuring a committed Christian husband and father who mentors a high school graduate unsure of what to do in life.
“The message of prayer that was featured in War Room is interwoven in The Forge,” Stephen Kendrick said of the film in “The Heart of The Forge,” released March 11. “I believe the church, right now in this generation, needs to get back to what Jesus did with His disciples.”
Prayer is enriched in The Forge with discipleship among a tight knit group of men, Alex Kendrick said in the March 11 video.
“Karen Abercrombie played the role of Miss Clara in War Room, and she resumes that role, playing Miss Clara in the Forge,” Alex Kendrick said. “The women in War Room that pray for each other and invest in the younger generation, matches up to the men of The Forge praying together, keeping each other accountable, investing in the younger generation.”
“The Heart of The Forge” teases with a glimpse of Shirer portraying not only Elizabeth, but a twin sister Cynthia. And there’s a glimpse of Arin Thompson, who played the asthmatic champion cross country runner Hannah Scott – and Hill’s daughter – in Overcomer.
“I always enjoy working with The Kendrick Brothers, mostly because I know whatever’s going to happen, it’s going to be an adventure,” Shirer said. “The body of Christ, the bride of Christ, is supposed to be about turning all of our attention, our ambitions, our focus, fixing our eyes on Jesus.”
It’s Shirer’s third outing with the Kendrick Brothers, adding to her roles in War Room and Overcomer.
It’s Stallings’ third time around as well, after Courageous and War Room.
B.J. Arnett, Cameron’s real-life wife and a department chair at Clark Atlanta University, plays wife to Cameron’s role of Joshua in the new production.
Affirm Films, a Sony company, plans to release The Forge in theaters in August.
Shirer’s brother and former NFL fullback Jonathan Evans, an associate pastor at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship pastored by their father Tony Evans, also joins the cast.
Watch the trailer here.
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)
