Seven-year-old Jess lives with her dominating mother until she is rudely removed from her peculiar Pentecostal home and sent to school.

Jess, now 16, meets Melanie and falls in love. The pastor, the congregation and Jess's mother begin to suspect, culminating in a devastating denouement in front of a packed congregation. Pastor Finch demands that they renounce their passion for each other and turn their backs on Satan.