Digital Evangelism Issues

Catch up with digital ministry news. The recent issues of Web Evangelism Bulletin are online here. You can subscribe to the summary Feedburner version here.

Below is the latest version of Digital Evangelism Resources, our Paper.li syndicated publication. Paper.li automatically syndicates news from Twitter into a daily newspaper-style online publication. You can subscribe to Paper.li newspapers by email, or embed them in your own blog or website. Some other Paper.li newspapers I follow: Storytelling for Nonprofits | ChurchTechToday | Media Monitor | eDOT Geek Daily.

They are a great way of skimming current news and resources in one place.

I also recommend Internet Toolbox for Churches newsletter and podcast.

And hey, this weekend, treat yourself to the excellent BBC Radio 4 audiobook Ship of Dreams about Titanic. Listen here. Only available for a few days.

The Hunger Games movie has released across the world, with critical acclaim. It may not be a film that would appeal to your mother, or perhaps even you – if your demographic is not teens and twenties. But be assured, most of your church youthgroup and their peers will see this one. And it’s definitely not a lightweight high school comedy. This is deep and serious, indeed bleak.

Based on the popular book by Suzanne Collins, the film is set in a disfunctional future: background to story, film [spoiler warning] and plot. (Note that although this film has been certified, with a few cuts, as suitable for 12-year-olds in eg. UK, some at this age level will find it disturbing.)

With a gripping background of life and death, it can raise some serious spiritual questions. Get up to speed with the story, and then use as a discussion starter in youthgroups, online, or anywhere else.

Here’s some useful Christian analysis to get you started:

• The Hunger Games – detailed review from CT with very helpful set of conversation-starting questions at the end.

• The Hunger Games Discussion Guide – Damaris resource with valuable questions.

• Bread and Circus – Damaris Culturewatch feature article.

• Krish Kandiah – UK’s Evangelical Alliance culture guru points to some film parallels, with link to TearFund’s related global poverty resource page.

• Julie Clawson’s An Allegory of Christian Love based on the film – she has also written the book The Hunger Games and the Gospel: Bread, Circuses, and the Kingdom of God.

• What are we really hungry for? – Casey Franklin muses on reality, illusion, and real spiritual hunger.

• But Isn’t Hunger Games about Kids Killing Kids? asks Jonathan McKee, president of The Source for Youth Ministry.

• What Makes the Hunger Games So Popular? asks Tim Challies.

There is a huge lack of online evangelistic material to engage with lower-end or upper-end teens. This is one of our huge omissions as a church. Check The Youth Culture Report for thoughts and ideas.

Have you seen the film? Please add your thoughts in the Comments section.

In all the hype about the Oscars, and the deserved accolades for The Artist, you may have missed the Oscar for best animation. It went to The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, a quirky allegory about the healing nature of story. (And due to be released as a bookand phone app.) Watch the full 15-minute animation below, and after it, prizewinning The Porcelain Unicorn.

Both stories reflect a truth also demonstrated in The Artist – that it is possibly to tell effective stories with (virtually) no words. Immediately, this enables films to communicate across language barriers – making conversation-starting and evangelistic film usable in a wider range of contexts.

Indeed, in watching The Artist, I noticed that because our brains do not have to simultaneously process sound, color, 3D, crane shots/fast pans (ie. acting as dual-core or quad-core processors), there is more space to process the essentials of the story.

Alma is another compelling prizewinning silent animation. All three contain conversation-starting parallels that point to eternal truths.

Tell It Your Way contest

Legendary British film director Sir Ridley Scott launched a global film making contest for aspiring directors, titled “Tell It Your Way”. There were over 600 entries.

The film could be no longer than three minutes, contain only six lines of narrative and be a compelling story. The winner was Porcelain Unicorn from American director Keegan Wilcox. It’s a story of the lifetimes of two people who are totally opposite, yet, very much the same – all told in three minutes. You can see why it won – enjoy!

Watch below or at the Porcelain Unicorn site.

Animation is a powerful medium, either for starting discussion, or creating directly evangelistic material. Read more.

Perhaps God will call you to make animations or other forms of storytelling? There are a huge opportunity. One place to learn more is the School of Cartooning and Animation.

You could try making a stop-motion short, with modelling clay or Lego models, even as a youth group project. It is surprisingly easy, with a normal digital camera, tripod, and careful lighting.

Sharing on social networks

One-click posting of conversation-starting video shorts onto Facebook and other social network pages, is a great way to share faith. Videos at YesHEIs.com, GlobalShortFilmNetwork, and Focus are intended for this.

You can also download video shorts onto smartphones. And the Talking About Jesus iPhone app draws together some video shorts from key international speakers.

Culturewatch ministry Damaris has produced resources to bring out spiritual and life lessons embedded in two great new film releases…

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The moving story of a boy with Asperger’s whose father has died in the Twin Towers:

Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (now a major Hollywood film starring Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks) explores one boy’s search for meaning after the death of his father in the Twin Towers attacks. Peter S. Williams and Sophie Lister explore the deeper issues raised in both book and film, looking to point a way towards the answers that Oskar is searching for. Short enough to read in one sitting, deep enough to provoke further thought, this mini-eBook from Damaris is the perfect stimulus for anyone sharing in Oskar’s search for hope. Buy as a Kindle or iPad eBook (plus other related ebooks on movies and popular culture).

Incidentally, Damaris are also planning resources for the re-release of Chariots of Fire later this year. Producer David Putnam will be talking about the message of the film at the Christian Resources Exhibition 8 May.

And do sign up for their weekly email Culturewatch newsletter.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Damaris writes, “A delightful and stimulating movie that features a wonderful collection of much loved British actors.

It tells the story of a group of pensioners whose retirement takes an unconventional turn as they move to a hotel for ‘the elderly and beautiful’ in Jaipur, India, run by the ever optimistic young manager Sonny (Dev Patel). We are delighted to provide free official community resources which will enable all of us to make the most of this feel-good movie.”

Download free Marigold resources

Regular readers of this blog will have noticed an occasional tendency to enthuse about the Japanese animé films from Studio Ghibli. So here we go again! Arrietty is their latest.

Released in Japan in 2010, it came to Europe in early 2011 and UK/Australia in July. Now, finally, North America gets it too – released on 17 February, under the US title The Secret World of Arrietty. The delay must be in part because Disney, for better or worse, has rejected the existing English soundtrack and started again with different, American, actors. Actually, when watching Studio Ghibli I generally prefer to switch to the Japanese-language version and read the English subtitles.

Because it is a sheer delight. Pure treasure. The artwork and soundtrack are beautiful, detailed and subtle. At one point, you can even hear the sound of a ladybird’s wings starting to open. The story-telling is gently paced and harmonious. The opening song and other music from French Breton celtic singer and harpist Cécile Corbel a joy – see video below. (Lyric: English  | Japanese) Indeed, Ghibli theme music is usually haunting and first class, as this orchestral medley demonstrates.

True to the book

If you have read Mary Norton’s The Borrowers books or seen the BBC serial, you’ll recognize the first two books’ narrative as retold in the Ghibli version, although it is slimmed down and placed in a Japanese setting. It is very true to the spirit of the original, unlike the Jim Broadbent/John Goodman 2007 film which was pure gung-ho Tom and Jerry action. The BBC made a new 90-minute TV version with Stephen Fry, Victoria Wood, and Christopher Eccleston, shown Christmas 2011. BBC also aired two mini-series in 1992-3. All three are available on DVD.

If you want to come to the story fresh, skip the spoiler synopsis in the Wikipedia article, which has lots of helpful information about the film. For a sensitive and detailed review, see Helen McCarthy’s article. McCarthy is a foremost expert, writing and speaker on many areas of Japanese culture including animé. You can watch her lecture From Nausicaa to Ashitaka: The development of the heroic ideal in the 20th century works of Hayao Miyazaki at the University of Maryland.

Reviews in National Catholic Register and Christianity Today are enthusiastic.

DVD availability

If you missed it as a movie in Europe/Australasia, the English DVD (Region 2) is available in UK and many other countries. Release in North America is mid-2012 after its movie theater run. You can already buy the Japanese-language version (all-regions DVD with English subtitles) from good Asian suppliers such as ZoomMovie with cheap delivery charges. You may also prefer the British dub to the Disney US English dub (which inexplicably has removed Cecile Corbel’s song).

Gift ideas

Studio Ghibli DVDs make great presents! Individual titles are relatively cheap on Amazon. A boxed set (DVDs work in all regions) of all 14 movies is available from specialist animé dealers such as Anime United and often from independent sellers within Amazon.

If you don’t know the genre, start with the less fantastical Studio Ghbili titles such as Only Yesterday, The Cat Returns, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa, Whisper of the Heart, and Ponyo. The pre-Ghibli Castle of Cagliostro and (for younger children) Panda Go Panda are also fun. A further pre-Ghibli gem directed by Hayao Miyazaki is the 1978 26-episode made-for-TV Future Boy Conan. It’s not distributed in the West, but can be easily found on eBay or Asian anime suppliers. Similar films in the Ghibli style include The Girl Who Jumped Through Time, and Mai Mai Miracle. Most Ghibli films relate to any age group, through perhaps Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies are too esoteric/scary (and Grave is sad) for younger ones. For teens and adults, check animations by the late great Satoshi Kon, such as Millennium Actress. You can find trailers for all these films on YouTube.

Christian parallels

Popular culture frequently gives us spiritual parallels and starting points for conversation. What can we see in Arrietty?

The main theme is the need to escape from an untenable situation with a journey to an unknown freedom. This resonates clearly with the Exodus story (itself reflected so tragically right through Jewish history), which the Bible clearly positions as both a historical physical escape and a figurative parallel of spiritual journey into new life.

The restricted enclosed world in which the Borrower family has lived in reasonable safety (due to wise precautions) is finally compromised. Likewise we may live for years within a limited or non-existent understanding of ourselves in relation to God’s purpose and plan for us. Sometimes it needs a crisis to jump-start us into a spiritual journey, to search for who God really is and how Jesus fits into this picture.

You may see other parallels too? Please add them using the ‘Comment’ link below.

7 reasons to like Studio Ghibli films

1. They are tender and gentle, not in-your-face, all constant action, noise and smart-guy banter. They don’t try to doll up a thin story with a thrill a minute.
2. They appeal to people of any age. Before she was five, our youngest granddaughter could easily understand Nausicaä – Valley of the Wind, and proclaimed it her best movie. Yet they are not ‘children’s stories’. In Japan, these are mainstream adult viewing as befits their deeper levels of complexity.
3. They reflect the many attractive facets of Japanese culture, where politeness, harmony and understated gentleness are key. (Japanese cuisine is like this too – cooking is a delight of subtle harmonious flavors.)
4. Many Ghibli films tell their story through the eyes of a child or young person, who is learning to face challenges in the wider world. Frequently, this is a girl, in contrast to Western animations where, with the exception of princess stories, it’s normally a male lead (as The Guardian discusses in an excellent article).

   Using Christopher Booker’s Seven Basic Plots definitions, Ghibli stories frequently include the ‘Voyage and Return’ theme. ‘The Quest’ and ‘Overcoming the Monster’ themes are common too. (Review of Seven Basic Plots book)

5. Ghibli films demonstrate a far-reaching contrast to Western ‘me-centered’ individualistic culture. Consider, for instance, most of our favorite Disney princess-themed stories. It’s all about the heroine and a her journey to get her life-goal – usually a prince and freedom. She may receive and give help to others along the way. But the big prize is exclusively hers. (See hard-hitting cartoon and discussion on Disney princesses, which happily does not criticise the saintly Belle!)

   Eastern culture is different – the community is more important than the individual. Ghibli heroes and heroines are not about getting, but giving. They usually bring redemptive help to others around them, rather as Vianne channels healing to her repressed village in Chocolat. Indeed, their main prize is the satisfaction of having helped others, while gaining maturity and wisdom from the life lessons in this journey.

   I wonder which is the more biblical?

6. Villains are not usually portrayed as utterly evil, but honestly nuanced with at least some good motives or traits, and they frequently find a measure of redemptive resolution through the leading character. (Again, compare with Chocolat.)
7. The central character is also honestly depicted, often with flaws or other issues. They are not cutesy, stereotyped or cloyingly sweet.

You can read more about Ghibli films in Studio Ghibli: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata(also available in UK).

Coming soon

Now Ghibliphiles must wait in happy expectation for the next film: From up on Poppy Hill (Kokuriko-Zaka Kara).

This is an updated version of a post first published in August 2011

It’s a name getting increasing recognition across the Web. No, it is not a fan page for the late British playwright Harold Pinter.

Pinterest is the latest expression of social networking and sharing [introduction] and has been described as a visual bookmarking site. After its ‘closed beta’ launch in March 2010 it became one of the top 10 social networks by the end of the year. It is now claimed to be fifth largest source of referral traffic on the Web, even though it is still in ‘open beta’ phase. Although currently you must request an invite to join, confirmation comes through within hours. Pinterest has gained critical mass and in a way that no other previous bookmarking system (such as Del.ici.us, Tumblr, Stumbledupon) ever did. It seems to be much more than just a fad, and is ticking all the right boxes. For a slide presentation and short video explaining Pinterest, scroll down to end.

It defines itself as a ‘pinboard’ – somewhere to post and share images or resources you find interesting. Think of it as a cross between the original Del.icio.us online bookmarking concept, Twitter and Facebook, with Stumbledupon, Flickr, Paper.li and Blogger thrown in. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, where your postings are ephemeral and have an effective ‘half-life’ of visibility measured in 1-3 hours, Pinterest posts remain permanently visible on your personal pinboard.

You may have heard that it is only a way of sharing images, and indeed it is very image-led. But because you can link the image back to its original site, and also write your own comments, you are effectively creating a personal directory of categorized websites recommendations. (See tips about this lower down.)

How it works

You can…

• post any photo, graphic or video within existing categories provided by Pinterest, or (far better) create your own more-specific custom categories.
• install a one-click ‘bookmarklet’ onto Firefox’s toolbar for easy posting of what they call new ‘pins’.
• when using this bookmarklet, or Pinterest’s Add + link, you can choose any graphic from the webpage being ‘pinned’ (as you can with Facebook). However, it will not add a ready-made text description. You provide this yourself. So posting to Pinterest is much more intentional and curated than the frequent random posts we make on Facebook or Twitter. It is not a place to share ongoing personal news, like Facebook.
• click on ‘Pin it’ buttons that we are beginning to see alongside other one-click social-networking share links on websites and blogs. Using these, you do get a pre-chosen graphic and description (which you can edit), though you’ll still need to choose a ‘board’ ie. topic area.
• install ‘Pin it’ buttons on your own website or blog (example in footer of this blog post) using the code available on the Pinterest site. Currently, if you put their button coding into a site-wide include, it can only carry the generic site info with homepage graphic and URL, rather than page-specific details, as Facebook and Twitter one-click share links do. However, it would be an easy Javascript fix to make the code draw down an individual page URL and grab the title tag wording as a description, and this flexibility will surely come available soon, if only as third-party coding solutions. (I can’t currently find one online – do you know of one?)
• invite people to follow your Pinterest page by adding a ‘follow’ button to your website or blog.
• follow other Pinterest uses (‘pinners’) or if you choose, follow individual boards within their site. So if someone is active on Pinterest and is adding resources to, say, 10 subject areas, but only one of these interests you, you can follow that one alone.
• add your comments to anyone’s ‘pin’ (similar to commenting in Facebook).
• ‘repin’ someone else’s pin onto your own board, in the same way as you ‘share’ a Facebook posting across to your own FB Wall.
• Pinterest integrates with Facebook, Twitter and email, so you, or visitors to your pinboards, can share a pin with one click, or also use ready-made HTML to embed the pin into their own blogs. Your Pinterest activity can also be displayed on your Facebook page in a display box, or automatically tweeted.
• Pinterest lays out the ‘pins’ on your page in a 4-column layout (or one column in smartphones) with their graphics in full size (not small thumbnails), with your description below them. (This strong visual/graphic emphasis is a core value for Pinterest, as it was conceived primarily as a means to share images.) Your most recent pins are at the top of the page, so when a board get too big, it may be advisable to split boards into two or more related sections. (It is easy to ‘repin’ (move) a pin to a new board.) However, there is currently no way to ‘nest’ subsection areas within a single board topic. (When you have a number of boards, they are shrunk in size on your homepage, with thumbnail size graphics.) I suspect that as users build up larger numbers of pins and create many different boards, there will be demand for an interface that accommodates this.
• Final important issue: although you can include an URL to make a graphic clickable to reach the related webpage, it is not very obvious to users that this is the case. Although the domain of your link is displayed in gray beneath description, it is not totally clear that this is a full direct URL linking to that webpage rather than the overall site. Furthermore, if you click on that pin to find more, or comment, the visible link is not then displayed.

  So in your descriptive text below the graphic, include words such as ‘please click picture to read more’. (It is not possible to embed HTML links into the descriptive text, or into the comments section about a pin.)

  Don’t however write this if the illustrative graphic from a pinned webpage is a YouTube video, because clicking on a video always takes you to YouTube itself.

Sharing the good news appropriately

There are a growing number of online guides to using Pinterest, and some specifically relate to using it for marketing:

• Hubspot’s Marketing with Pinterest.
• WebProNews’ Marketing Your Business with Pinterest and How to Use Pinterest.
• CopyBlogger’s 56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest is an essential and clear guide.
• Social Media Examiner’s 26 Tips for Using Pinterest for Business – more useful tips for anyone, not just business users.

While appropriate relational evangelism is not exactly the same as secular marketing, their practical tips are hugely helpful and apply to any Pinterest user.

Pinterest etiquette demands that most of your pins are not self-promotion for your own website (this is true of Twitter too). Your page will only have credibility if it contains a wide variety of carefully-chosen third-party pages. You will also gain respect by demonstrating that you are following a number of other ‘pinners’ and functioning as part of a community.

Pinterest is an ideal platform to create a page of community resources for your town or area.

Churches can use Pinterest: see articles by Center for Church Communication
and Social Media in the Church though see Angela’s comments on church strategy. I’d strongly urge a church Pinterest page to include many mainly-secular boards relating to the local town/area/community, sports and hobbies, family, health etc. But not, please not, contentious social and political issues.

Here are 10 examples of non-profits and other business/charity examples using Pinterest.

As an individual, you can set up a Pinterest page and share your faith appropriately. Here’s how it might look:

• Choose a number of ‘boards’ from Pinterest’s ready-made secular-interest topics, or preferably create others of specific interest to you. (Your own chosen topic areas should be also linked with Pinterest’s own default topics. They do not currently have one for ‘faith’.)
• Consider a non-confrontational title for any specifically Christian-content boards, eg. ‘faith’.
• In your secular-topic boards, post the best secular web resources, including videos, that you can find. Your board should be genuinely valuable to readers, and demonstrate your enthusiasm for the topic.

• However, there may also be Bridge Strategy Christian pages available on secular topics. These could be videos clips, blog posts, or pages from, for example, Power to Change. The availability of topics for which there are good ‘bridge’ pages could influence your naming of ‘boards’, by covering ‘felt need’ and life issues, or hobbies/sport.
• Like Facebook, you can post YouTube video clips. This gives you the opportunity to choose conversation-starting video clips from YesHEIs.com, GlobalShortFilmNetwork and God: New Evidence, Damaris Culturewatch and elsewhere, including outsider-friendly life-stories. As explained above, there can be no clickthrough link for a video, except to its own YouTube page.
• As with Facebook, people can comment on your pins, so there is the opportunity for you to enter into sensitive non-preachy dialogue.
• Often raise questions rather than posting answers.

Tell your story

Are you a Pinterest ‘pinner’? Please share your story with us using the Comments section below. And are there good Pinterest guides or other resources that you recommend?

Pinterest is a major new opportunity to share faith appropriately. It’s also very easy to use. If you’ve struggled, for instance, to install apps on Facebook, or even work out byzantine levels of FB privacy, you’ll love the intuitive and simple operations.

Not another network!

Don’t think, “Not another social network to get involved in!” No one surely wants to run more than one network, two perhaps if you count Twitter. (This is probably the reason that Google+ may not succeed in the end.) Think instead, “A free website for me, networked and searchable with thousands of others, and easier to use than any other web creation system, even Blogger. And which requires of me minimal writing!”

Finally, infographic from Sandbox

Spielberg’s latest movie is getting rave reviews. And rightly so. The popular children’s book by Michael Morpurgo has been faithfully adapted: read story of the film and its making. (Trailer below.)

And there are many redemptive echoes embedded in it. Here are a few (spoiler warnings):

• Joey the horse is sold into, essentially, slavery on the Western Front, for the biblically-resonant 30 currency units (Zechariah 11:12-13), having already been bought – extravagantly – for that price by Devon farmer Ted. This brings huge pain to the farmer’s son Albert, who has trained the horse and has a deep master/horse relationship with him.
• Joey’s desire for home and his master survives ‘slavery’ on both sides of the war. His escape across no-mans land is stirring. By now, Albert has volunteered for the army and is being treated for temporary blindness from a gas attack in the trenches. Joey’s ability to respond to his master’s call (a simulated owl call) saves his life, and hastens Albert’s healing.
• Albert then attempts to buy him back at the end of the war for the same 30 pounds, but is outbid at 100 pounds by the French farmer whose now-deceased grand-daughter had previously found and cared for Joey and stablemate Topthorn when they escaped from the German lines. In a gesture of extravagant grace, after learning of Albert’s deeper claim, he gifts Joey to him.
• In different ways, the horse also brings bravery, reconciliation, healing and resolution to other characters in the story.

Damaris study guides

Culturewatch ministry Damaris has produced a study guide and analysis of the film. Join to subscribe to their email newsletter and receive regular commentary on movies and other resources, eg. Iron Lady. (Advance notice: they will soon be publishing free resources for the February release of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, starring Judy Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie and Ronald Pickup.)

Using movies as a ‘good-news discussion starter’

Movie themes are a great way to start conversations, whether on Facebook or face-to-face. They also work very well in a planned group situation, as Krish Kandiah (UK Evangelical Alliance) recounts in relation to a recent student discussion of Shawshank Redemption. This approach works equally effectively in a poor inner-city area of London, where Pastor Michael Kosmas has made a film discussion club integral to his church-planting strategy.

Check Tony Watkins’ excellent guide on running a film discussion evening.

And see our other posts on movies.

We’ve seen a crop of good movies already this year – Hugo, War Horse, The Artist, and The Iron Lady.

Culturewatch team Damaris has produced a range of free discussion materials about life issues (not political issues) raised by the film:

Check also their summary article Fading Dreams.

Moving pictures have captivated audiences since their invention. Whether to capture reality or create an alternate narrative, film has taken us on a fascinating journey during the last century.

Now, many of us carry in our pockets a phone capable of shooting acceptable color video just any time we want. Users of YouTube add 48 hours of video every minute! What would the Lumière brothers have made of this?

It is one thing to watch films, but another to really understand the medium and the way it communicates. And because film is an integral part of our culture, this is essential. Furthermore, we believe it is a vital starting point for evangelism.

Tony Watkins is a culture-watcher and his new 16-page ebook is a very readable introduction to understanding film and worldviews.

Download it now in PDF and EPUB formats.

Check Watkins’ paperback book on the same theme: Focus: The Art and Soul of Cinema, his blog and related Damaris resources.

See our free ebooks too.

The Story of Film: TV series

UK’s Channel 4 has produced an epic 15-part documentary series The Story of Film: An Odyssey. In UK, screenings started 3 September on More 4. Look out for showings in your country – it will surely be syndicated very widely. Past episodes are viewable on Channel 4′s website and YouTube, but sadly restricted to UK viewers: Episode 1, though users of a Virtual Private Network, which does not identify itself by country, can view this video. Trailer:

photo credit: Jim Macfarland / Flickr. Illustrated: Black Country Museum, UK

The Tree of Life is a remarkable and surreal film. When did you last see a mainstream production which started with a quote from the book of Job, and then took a ‘Job’s journey’ through pain to acceptance?

It will probably help you to read the plot (plus lots of background and onward links) in advance at Wikipedia; it is not a spoiler in the normal sense because this is not a conventional story. The preview site is actually entitled Two Ways Through Life. The main official site is here.

This is certainly a conversation-starting film, and one that can help people understand truth through a visual story.

There is an excellent Damaris study article about this film.