Christmas in a Nutshell

Really like this

'Joseph' - great bit of Christmas performance poetry

Last years 'Christmas C(h)ord' was brilliant, here's another superb presentation of the Christmas story from the very talented Dai Woolridge. You can download 'Joseph' here.

Meanwhile the Nativity Factor, which Dai very nearly won last year, is open for entries for the next couple of weeks. Here's some of the best from the last couple of years.

Skit Guys: excellent video clip resource

Thanks to local church leader Matt who pointed me in the direction of Skit Guys, lots of good and thought provoking videos, like the starter for 10 on prayer below (and no, I don't pray about my mum like that).



there's a bit of translating from the American to do for us Brits, but I like their style

Nativity Factor Winners

The winners of The Nativity Factor 2012 have just been announced, a national competition run by ITN to produce a 3 minute film retelling the Christmas story. Here are the top 3 adult entries:

No Pressure (posted this a few weeks ago)



The Christmas C(h)ord, which I think is brilliant.


and joint third Mary and Joe (camcorder style, very clever)


and Operation Christmas, the Angels wear Prada



great competition this year, I can't see these going viral in the same way as Gavin Tyte's Beatbox Nativity last year, but they're all excellent, and thought provoking in their own way. The Christmas C(h)ord should be getting a play at our main service on Sunday.

Jesus v Santa

Good punchy poem to get people thinking at Christmas.

Remembrance Video Clips

2 good video clips for use this weekend, the first from ReelWorship, simple and powerful:



the second is U2's Peace on Earth, as used in the Lincoln U2charist last year

Bible - Visuals and Infographics

In the hunt for some good images for a Bible Sunday display, here's a few links for people who like their information in picture format:

Visual Unit: superb, maps of Bible stuff, philosophical systems, periodic table of the Bible, timelines, etc.

Tim Challies 'Visual Theology' series, nice way of presenting things.

Old and New, which is part graphics part art

and a list of other links here.

favourite so far is this one by Chris Harrison. Try and guess what it is before you see if you were right.


There must be more, any pointers?

Update: some graphics and stats here on access to the bible worldwide. Thanks to Eddie Arthur for that one.

Holy Week Timeline

Superb graphic produced by Bible Gateway (high res version available at the link)

HT Mark Meynell, worth visiting for links to other good stuff.

Sorry about the way it spills over into the sidebar, it was that or a very small picture.

Vote Now for the Nativity Factor

The rather brilliant Nativity Factor competition run by ITN is now closed to new entries. Voting is now open, but only until midnight tomorrow, though it looks like you can only vote via Facebook.

There's around 70 entries, of which there's a selection of my favourites below. Expect to see some of these in a Christmas service around Yeovil in the next couple of weeks.









probably the best of the serious ones, apart from the example vid put together by ITN themselves -


what's your favourite?

Digital Nativity

After yestedays Social Network Christmas, looks like Mary has discovered Google Maps and Joseph has got to grips with some of the apps on his Iphone. I like the donkey at the car hire firm.



thanks to Dave on Facebook for this one. Shame it turns out to be an advert.

PS I'm sure there'll be a thoughtful post up here one of these days, hang in there..... But you may have to wait until after the Christmas Linebacker.

A Social Network Christmas

From Igniter Media

The Nativity Factor - The Christmas Preachers Dream Site

Thanks to Phil Ritchie for pointing out The Nativity Factor, an ITN competition to find a good modern retelling of the Nativity story. There are some really good ones up on the site, the one below is probably my favourite - it's been produced by ITN themselves, along with several other examples. There's also a dedicated Youtube channel: at time of writing there's something like 58 vids uploaded. The problem now is going to be choosing which one(s) to show, but with roughly 20 Christmas services to deal with, it's a fantastic little video library to have.

2 Minutes Silence Video for Remembrance Day

This was produced for last year, but it's very simple and very effective. Planning to use it at 11am on 11.11.11 at Yeovil College, and again on Sunday 13th.

Deep Thoughts from a Shallow Christian

Thoughts on Giving: "Giving is a huge waste of time and money. There's no point giving back to God, he already owns everything anyway, and do you honestly think that you have anything he wants anyway?"

There's a whole series of funny vids from the same stable, all about 1 minute long, on giving, thoughts, temptation etc. Sadly they all cost $20 to download (deep pockets from a shallow.....), but it doesn't take long to browse them. The Giving one was used at a recent diocesan event on giving and stewardship, and worked well to lighten up a potentially heavy subject. That was, until the open question time at the end when parish treasurers all started asking why their contribution to the Diocese was going up so steeply...

Advent Meditation from Christine Sine

powerful video for the beginning of Advent from Christine Sine, ht Jonny Baker. The Christine Sine link has all the words, plus details of music, HD versions etc.

Blessed: Preparing for Worship

Found this on FrSimon, I've been looking for some videos/meditations for a while to use before worship, which aren't the US-style 'countdown' version which you can buy from Sermon Central for $20, or whatever.



Simon has also uploaded stacks of vids onto Youtube, I particularly like this renewal of baptism vows, but there's plenty of other ones to browse. Probably not the sort of thing to use at Book of Common Prayer Evensong. Though you never know.

God is not an Old Man

Great song, great vid



Ht Waiting for the Day via Shallowfrozenwater. I'm sure a couple of those lines are inspired by 'Breathe Deep' by Lost Dogs, but we'll let that pass.

Missing the Joy?

"Adults who can't play aren't really mature enough"
"We think the world can't get along without us. One day a week it's good to discover that it does just fine."

Great meditation on Sabbath, rest, creativity and community.

Missing the Joy from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

If you were after an alternative to Nooma, this might be it. Really provocative series of videos - this is No. 15. HT Evangelist Changing, who posts a really moving clip featuring my old theological college principal, John Goldingay.

Deadline: Post-It's as an art form

Brilliant. And true. Ht sadbuttrue, who also has the vid of how it was made.

Visuals for Worship

Jonny Baker notes the new RUN Video site, which has a good collection of downloadable vids for use in worship, and a free one each month as a carrot.

Other vid sources we've used in church, mainly in our cafe service:

• Proost, including Si Smiths brilliant work.
• Story Keepers (forget the SK stories themselves, unless you're running a holiday club, and just use the retelling of the Bible stories within them - normally 3 per episode)
• Nooma - bit too laid back for all-age worship setting. I know of one vicar who uses the 'Rain' one in baptism preparation. Still not quite sure of the best way to use these.
• Simpsons - the most famous churchgoing family on telly, loads of issues raised either by complete episodes (e.g. Homer vs Lisa & the 8th Commandment, Homer the Heretic) or by short clips
• this King of the Hill clip on church-hopping. Brilliant.
• WingClips - clips from top movies, helpfully indexed by theme, and downloadable for free in decent quality, and in high-def for a small fee.
• ReelWorship: a photo & visuals site with some lovely video loops, great to use for meditations and backdrops.
• If you're loaded, or have a dedicated budget for visuals, US sites Faith Visuals and Sermonspice are worth a visit, the latter is home of the Linebacker.