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Lutheran Minister and Mayor, Oden Shoemaker, is dearly loved by the people in his rural Minnesota town of Red Lake Falls. The father of six lovely daughters, he is affectionately known as The Bridemaker. However, the Reverend privately obsesses in prayer for a son to complete his legacy. Fate plays a hand when a young girl abandons her baby boy, deserting him on the front steps of the church.

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There is a common theme among the townsfolk as many begin to hear the voice of the child who cannot yet speak. Chillingly, it is not an audible voice but one that resonates from within themselves and speaks to their individual and very private flaws. It is soon realized the boy suffers from retardation and will never fulfill the dreams of his father. The Reverend is ashamed and prays with his congregation. All agree the child should be sent away as he is only a manifestation of his mother’s sin. As the boy grows, his mental simplicity makes way for brilliant madness and he is determined to live a normal life, and finds a good friend in his sister Glory, also an infamous shame to their father.

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He returns to town and, despite impassioned protest, builds a home for “slow people like him” where all will be accepted for who they are, which causes the minister further embarrassment. The townspeople will not be overrun with the “retards” so burn the shelter down…lives are lost. But the ideals and dreams of a feeble minded boy shout a true voice that cannot be ignored. It is then that Oden Shoemaker discovers what an extraordinary hero his simple minded son proves to be and the astonishing secret of the true faith that grows within him.