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Dangerous Calling (Church Politics can be Deadly)

February 9, 2009 in Church with 1 Comment

Just checked out the trailer (umm, preview, advert , short, whatever you wanna call it – see previous post ) of Dangerous Calling and it looks really well done. Now I am highlighting the movie first because it is a professional movie done by two Christian brothers; Josh and Jeremiah Daws and also because it is good – I mean just take a look at the reviews.

HT: John from Church Crunch and Human3rror for putting me in contact with Josh and hence the movie.

Check it out at http://www.dangerouscalling.com/ and the Blog

Back in the Day – The Greatest Gift

February 7, 2009 in Church with 1 Comment

Back in the day when I started my interest in film making I had the opportunity to see thru a few projects in the role of Director and Editor as well as helping to Produce. The First short film came from a script created by North Point Community Church. The short was setup in 3 parts in support of a series our Church did called HeadLine News in December 2006, here it is as a complete version.

What did you do back in the day that got you where you are now?

Renaming our Church Part 3

February 5, 2009 in Church with 2 Comments

Fantastic work by our Graphics and Printing Media guy, who is also the Originator and Director of this short which is currently in post. The ironic thing – and I really have to mention this cos it is just so funny – is that we chose to use the typical Movie Font (Trajan) because of this video, he he he

Renaming our Church Part 2

February 4, 2009 in Church with 2 Comments

We put together some names from the long list at Renaming our Church.

What a great night of shooting crazy guys with my Panasonic DVX100BE.

We setup 3 x 150W Dedo Lights but still had to use a bit of the overhead light; it was a compromise I know. The camera was setup in the middle of four guys giving their suggestions for a Church Name, ha ha ha. More on the experience later when I put together the bloopers and behind the scenes. I handed over the footage over to Dylan for editing – should be a great leaning experience considering that he is going to study Media and Film next year. Anyway here is the Poster for little skit that Morgan was able to put together.

Why I do this

February 4, 2009 in Church with 7 Comments

Really thought about throwing this out there because of Carlos Whittaker’s We’re Not all That. Not to Justify anything, but to highlight my first reason – above all else.

To bring Glory to Jesus Christ – my Lord and Saviour – to whom I am a servant in all things I do, even this – blogging, filming and editing
To create connections and relationships with those that have similar interests as me. I agree with A Few Benefits of Blogging from http://churchcrunch.com/
To learn – there are so many more skilled people out there than me
To offer my opinion and thoughts regarding my passion for video and editing
To show what my Church is doing that is really cool, especially with respect to Life Change and all aspects video related.
And of course I can express myself better in this format and forum

The Church and Social Networking

January 30, 2009 in Church with 2 Comments

There is definitely no reference in the Bible about Online Social Networking, but Social Networking is what we are build for. I mean we are relational being, we need to gather and encourage, we need to connect and especially we need to connect with our God – our Creator. Jesus come to fix that connection.

I put my own thoughts down in August last year concerning this: The Church and Social Networking . Yet recently this topic come up again and again – which is just a logic progression of the Church becoming more involved Online.

But in this present time and most assuredly in the future we will be able to connect with the whole world by means of the internet. An Online gathering of the Saints so to speak and most certainly a place where we can be a light to the Online Community.

In an article I read today on GeniusDV: Churches Flock to Internap for Online Messages there is an interesting quote:

According to The Barna Group in a study1 about Protestant churches’ use of technology, 62 percent of churches currently have an Internet presence, up from 34 percent in 2000 and one in four are available on social-networking sites. Additionally, 16 percent engage in podcasting and 13 percent are avidly blogging. The study points to the growing presence of religious groups and companies taking advantage of the latest Web 2.0 technologies to engage their congregation and spread their message to a larger audience.

This just re-affirms the fact that so many Churches are leveraging the connectivity offered by Online Social Networking.

You can even garner from Ragamuffinsoul’s thoughts on what will the Local American Church look like in 20 years as well as from the comments where the Local Church is heading – in any country. And the likes of LifeChurch.tv and CrossPoint.tv are leading the way in the Online Community.

But then what should Churches do in order to leverage this? Well, learn from the best out there, learn from the Market Place where companies do this for a living, just as ChurchCrunch suggests A Social Media Strategy for Ministry

[added 31st Jan: Don't be Stupid: You Need to be Online lol, quite harsh by ChurchCrunch, but he is right we, as a Church, need to be online.]

Renaming our Church

January 29, 2009 in Church with 6 Comments

Exciting times abound.

Looking for a New Name

I am not sure how often this one comes up but who has actually been in a position of choosing a name for a Church? We are currently named Stellenberg Community Church in, ummm, Stellenberg road but there is also a Stellenberg Church in the Northern Suburbs (so you can imagine the confusion sometimes).

Now that we are moving the services to a new Venue (see Dare you to move) we are gunning for a new name and a launch of a new Church – wooooow.

In order to create the buzz and excitement we are going to film a short spoof/skit on choosing really ridiculous names with the aim of asking people for some better suggestions. hehehe. The idea it to film a segment like That 70′s Show when they sit in a circle in the back room and say stupid things – here they will be coming up with crazy names like (and not all):

Taw Caw Missionary Community church
Point Peter Community Church
Crooksville First United Community Church
Smackover First United Community Church
Apistodookee United Community Fellowship
Grassy Park United Community Church
Is jay mal United Community Church
Boring United Community Church
holy faith tabernacle church of the solid rock
Do Right Community Church
The Entire Bible Community Church
Ridin With Christ Cowboy Community Church
The Church of Saviour on Spilled Blood
Sound Doctrine Missionary Temple of Praise
Praise All Day Church of the Redeemer Christ Our Everlasting King
Jesus Rocks Community Church
God is a Rockstar Community Church
Google our Community Church (do it).
Jesus! Amen! Booyakasha! Church
Cool people hang out here church
The Jacob Zuma Progressive Church of the Southern Hittites
The Sureal
Frederick Alluvion Mendes Ackerman Place
Heroes Community Church
The Wackhead Simpson Place of God
Fully Christian Church
{un}churched
{de}churched
Wiki wiki’s ewok Church

etc etc, not all are my suggestions, and it comes with the disclaimer that there is no bad intent here towards anyone and definitely not God. It is a joke, it is for fun, it is to get people thinking of better names.

Leveraging Video for Church

January 27, 2009 in Church with 1 Comment

Many Churches; including the one I go to, cannot put together the massive funds required to use Video to it’s extreme. Now I am not discounting those that use Video very well without forking out the cash – used wisely and strategically even the lowest Video Budget can be very engaging and useful. If you use Video, Visual Effects, I-Mag, etc, please feel free to offer your comments below.

I have been involved in Video for almost half a decade and have constantly struggled with the balance of budget and usefulness/overuse. There have been many lessons learnt and certainly lots of experience.

Here are some points/thoughts I have on this matter:

For a purpose. No point in using video for the sake of it. Like many things in the Church there must be purpose and strategy.
Start Small. Unless you have a dedicated and full time team or person to film and edit you are more likely going to burn out volunteers – if you start Big. Money aside you need to nurture and grow, that can’t happen if you have volunteers burning the midnight oil too often.
Have a plan. You can’t stay small, you need to plan to grow. This helps the volunteers or staff who work in this area to know that they are going somewhere and that they are important.
Involve. Make use of special projects that involve more than just the current team. This show cases the opportunity to be involved and also incorporates many other talents, like make up artists, set design etc
Teach. Editing, Visual Effects and Filming is an art and a skill. While there is a lot of ability involved in composing a shot there is also a lot to be learnt from the experts, textbooks, workshops, messing around.
Don’t over use. People can switch off if they keep seeing the same stuff over and over again or that video is used to much. It needs to be used when necessary and in a way that engages the audience.
Keep it Professional. Not only is this a God Honouring principle it is also people honouring. People will want to see more if you do the job very well.

There is also the notion that it is better to stick to what you know and do it well, and that may be the excuse for many Churches in not getting involved too much in Video. This is a very noble principle however I personally think that it will lead to stagnation. That is why you start small, with a purpose and with a plan to grow.

Leveraging Video for Church

It is all about Life Change

January 23, 2009 in Church with 10 Comments

A few examples of the lives that were touched at our Church, the journey they went through from emptiness and despair to knowing Christ and beginning a relationship that will start them on a new journey.

I have had the privilege of putting this montage together from a multitude of testimonies and stories we have filmed in our church. It had to be limited to 5 minutes and I can tell you that 5 minutes does not adequately tell the whole story! It was a great reminder, when reviewing the stories again, that this is what it is all about – ultimately; the life change that we want to see in people’s lives - life change that happens when a person comes to know Jesus Christ. I long to see more, I want to be inundated with requests to film people’s stories about Christ’s impact in their lives – and to film their baptisms. In essence this is the evidence that God is at work in our world today.

The collection is from a pool of stories dating back to 2005.

I uploaded 3 versions The first one is the smallest at 9mb, the second is less than 17mb, and the last is quite big; almost 70mb. I just could not make it any smaller without ruining the video.

A few examples of the lives that were impacted at our Church. People that entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and chose to be Baptized to declare their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well Wishes for Africa in 2009

January 21, 2009 in Church with 3 Comments

intersect_kid I may spend most of my life behind a desk in a cosy office, go home to a safe house in a good suburb, but I have been to the townships and seen the poverty - the despair. For a few years in my life; in the South African Infantry as a Lieutenant (was completely office bound and studying as a Captain) , I had a modicum of experience in few townships – although mostly in rural patrols. Also recently I had the privilege of being part of projects where we interacted with the community in a few townships here in Cape Town. These were projects that involved volunteers from our Church, North Point Community Church, MetroKidsAfrica and of course the Community. It was called Intersect and it was awesome. Here are some links:

Intersect

Intersect: Getting Involved in and with the Community

Intersect: Questions and Answers to a few of the Leaders

Intersect Metro Kids Africa

Intersect Review

I would like to see an end to the despair. I know it is a pipe dream, but there must be more hope than despair. And I know that there is hope, I have seen it I have it on my computer in the form of laughter, singing , dancing and joy.

And I hope this for all of Africa, I hope that the American President Barack H. Obama will hold true to his promises with regards to Africa. I am certainly interested what the US will do with the likes of Mugabe in Zimbabwe since it seems that my country; South Africa, cannot solve the situation even in the midst of a power sharing deal. hmmm.

I hope that 2009 heralds a new era of business opportunities. My interest will be the development of Cape Town’s Dreamworld and the role it will be playing in Film Making in the whole of Africa.

I hope for more colour blind people and that there is no threat of reverse racism, because that does not solve anything.

Check this Blog Post; Should we be Colour Blind, from my friend Just Plain Ron he wrote in response to Ragamuffinsoul’s post.

Most of all I hope that Hope will always be there and even stronger in 2009.

I am with Obama on his message of Hope and Change and I hope that he succeeds.

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