Documentary follows Oregon man caught between faith and his child's life

Sixth-generation member recounts choices between creed and medical care

ProPublica and The Oregonian published the documentary “By Faith Alone” on Nov. 13, 2026, presenting it in a ProPublica article headlined “His Church or His Child? A Sixth-Generation Member of a Faith-Healing Sect Had to Choose.” The film centers on Marshall Phillips, an Oregon dad who was born into the Followers of Christ, a sect whose creed bars medical treatment. ProPublica opens its account with the question “What if you had to pick between your deeply held faith and the life of your child?” and identifies it as the gutting choice that faced Phillips.

The article identifies Phillips as a sixth-generation member of the faith-healing sect. 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 according to ProPublica 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 what ProPublica calls 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 what ProPublica describes as 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 was produced by The Oregonian’s managing producer of video, Teresa Mahoney. ProPublica writes that the film “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.”

The presentation directs readers to a print narrative about the story and to a profile of the man who dominated and shaped the sect.

Mauricio Rodríguez Pons of ProPublica contributed graphics. Karly Imus of The Oregonian and Almudena Toral of ProPublica executive produced.

ProPublica co-published the work with The Oregonian under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0); ProPublica states that readers are free to republish the story so long as they follow its conditions. ProPublica identifies itself as a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.