Saturday, February 18, 2006
spirituality resources
Here are some resources that I’m currently using and recommending.
Visions in York were a key spark in my creative journey. Back in 1995 I heard about, and then saw, pictures of their worship which featured 16 slide projectors making these most amazing visual wallpapers. And I suddenly realised what it could mean to worship God not only through my voice and my ears, but through my eyes. Here were ways to love God wholistically; body, mind and soul. Loops 2 is a collection of 50 of their digital video loops, supplied on CD-ROM in QuickTime (.mov) format, for Macs and PCs. (Antipodean’s can buy it from the future church nz website, rather than pay for shipping from the UK).
With Lent around the corner, I’m preparing to use Si Smith’s “40“. It’s a CD-Rom with a visual reflection on each of Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness. It can be used for contemplating an image a day for individual preparation; it could be used as one of a number of worship stations; it could be used as a visual meditation in a more established church setting. (There’s an e-interview with the creator here, and again, antipodean’s can buy it from the future church nz website.
And two books that have resourced my recent Lent journey’s;
Peter Graystone’s Detox your spiritual life in 40 days is a great travelling companion. Aimed at 20’s-30’s, it’s a helpful mix of readings and action steps for each day of Lent.
Last year I used Richard Burridge’s Faith Odyssey; 40 readings that use science fiction to engage the Lenten themes. I’m not a sci-fi groupie, so I found Faith Odyssey an accessible entry to the world of Trekkies and Wokkies. It helped my preaching, my reflection on pop culture and my Lenten spiritual journey.
Thanks Steve, particularly found the review of visual worship stuff helpful. We’re still in the age of the OHP, but considering data projection. It’s good to be reminded that people connect with God in more than just oral ways!
Comment by Alex — February 19, 2006 @ 2:33 am
just a pointer – the visions site has a number of very good freeby download loops too – and Mark Berry has a good audio meditation download at the moment (http://markjberry.blogs.com/way_out_west/)
Comment by Nigel — February 21, 2006 @ 3:01 am
Just read the posting again before linking to it. What in the world is a “Wokkie”? Some sort of mutant offspring from an Ewok and Wookie?
Comment by Stephen — February 28, 2006 @ 1:14 pm