sustain:if:able kiwi

videoblogging and sermons 2

“Tonight made me want to read the Bible more.” That was a comment made to me after church on Sunday. What do all those who claim that emerging church is soft on the Bible do with that type of feedback, I wonder?

Some months ago I blogged about the possibility of using videoblogging in relation to sermons. Well here’s the first go, by the brave and innovative Iain McMahon, which went live at Digestion church service yesterday.

The theme for the service was “journey and promise.” It was part of 7 week series titled God’s big story. We have broken the Bible up around themes of

CREATION: Genesis

JOURNEY, PROMISE: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth

POWER + JUSTICE: 1+2 Samuel, 1+2 Kings, 1+2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, 12 micro:prophets (including Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi).

SONGS + SAYINGS: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiasties, Song of Songs, Lamentations

INTERTESTAMENTAL TIMES: what did happen in those centuries between the Old and New Testament

GOOD NEWS OF JESUS: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts

LETTERS OF LOVE: Romans, 1+2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1+2 Thessalonians, 1+2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1+2 Peter, 1+2+3 John, Jude, Revelation

I was down to do Journey and promise, and had wondered aloud to Iain if he wanted to have a go at “videologging” around that theme. So the sermon/content bit started with me spilling wine on a white tablecloth. It’s what the Jews do at Passover, to remind themselves that they were once enslaved. So that’s where the Biblical theme of journey starts. I then gave a brief thumbnail sketch of Israel’s journey from Egypt to nationhood, from Exodus to Ruth.

Iain then showed his “videolog”, which turned out to be a contemporary probing of the theme of journey and promise. As the music played on at the end of the “videolog” I laid bread, broken, on the winesoaked tablecloth and inviting those who needed bread for their journey today to eat.

Initial thoughts on videoblogging and sermons:
1. It went surprisingly well.
2. It allows a multi-sensory experience of music and image.
3. It allows a world outside church – in this case the environment of Christchurch and the stories of people – to become part of church.
4. It increases participation – both in the skills of videoblogging and in the voices of those who speak.
5. The use of editing allows spoken participation to be sharpened up.
6. It takes time, and demands a new set of skills – for example in this case lighting and sound quality. This will lead to an ever-increasing tension around time and professionalism.
7. In this case the videolog flowed really well. But it might not always and what then?
8. Iain did it for blog. That is vital. It suggests and accessiblity and suggests that our congregation includes the web. This suggests a whole lot of interactivity: a webspace where others can post their journeys, a space to share what spiritual practises sustain journey, a place to log complaints about communities who don’t welcome the stranger and practise hospitality …

Iain will have another go with Songs and sayings on August 26. It will be interesting to see if this is just an experiment, or if it actually allows some very different ways of engaging with Biblical text to emerge for us at Opawa. In the meantime, we have individuals off to read the Bible more, which is good and healthy fruit to see developing among young adults today.