What does Zombies of the Gene Pool have to do with ministry? A video with no redeeming social value whatsoever. (2:40.)
Quicktime video — Click link, and where it says “Select a format” choose “Source — Quicktime”. Wait until the file downloads to your computer, and then click play. This should work for dial-up connections, and offers higher-resolution for all connections.
Note: Although blip.tv is now defunct, I had a copy of this video and uploaded it to Vimeo. Click on the image above to view the video.
Although this was originally posted on Monday, March 19, I’m backdating this post to Friday, March 16, so you can find the video by looking for the date of the event. This “street videography” gives my take on the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq that took place on March 16. The video is maybe a little too impressionistic, but I wanted to try to capture the feeling of what it was like to actually be there — boredom and all.
Quicktime video — Click link, and where it says “Select a format” choose “Source — Quicktime”. Wait until the file downloads to your computer, and then click play. This should work for dial-up connections, and offers higher-resolution for all connections.
Update: Lots of links to blog and media coverage of the Peace Witness at the Faith in Public Life blog.
Update: Coverage from the Washington Post, Saturday, March 17, 2007 (front page of Metro section):
Rousing emotional start for war protest Arrests made at White House…
by Steve Vogel and Clarence Williams
Dozens of demonstrators, many of the Christian peace activists, were arrested outside the White House late last night and early this morning as a part of a protest against teh war in Iraq.
About 11:30 p.m., police began handcuffing the first of about 100 protesters who had assembled on the White House sidewalk to pray in a planned act of civili disobedience. [Note: arrests continued after reporters left, and over 200 people were eventually arrested.]
The protesters were part of a larger group that had assembled at the Washington National Cathedral for a service on the fourth anniversary of the start of the war. From the service, demonstrators marched through the wind, cold, and dampness to the White House.
The demonstration began a weekend of protest that is to include a march on the Pentagon today. Last night’s event, which was sponsored by more than two dozen religious groups, was not part of today’s antiwar rally at the Pentagon.
Those who were arrested had been among almost 3,000 people who assembled at the cathedral at 7 p.m. for a rousing, emotional service that lasted more than 90 minutes. [The reporters apparently missed the fact that there were between 500-700 people gathered at N.Y. Ave. Presbyterian Church who were also worshipping.]
Participants, whom the cathedral staff numbered at 2,825, heard speakers including Celeste Zappala of Philidelphia, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004.
“I am here tonight as a witness to the true cost of war,” she said, “the betrayal and madness that is the war in Iraq.”
“We lay before God the sorrow that lives in all of us because of the war,” she said.
Last night’s procession was sponsored by Christian Peace Witness for Iraq….
The rest of the article (more than half of it) goes on to preview the ANSWER coalition action scheduled for Saturday.
My week of vacation doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, but because I didn’t have to be in the office today I stayed up late last night figuring out how to make a video. It turns out to be insanely easy to learn how to use iMovie, the video editing software shipped with all Mac computers. So just for fun, I made a promotional video for First Unitarian, splicing in images I happened to have on disk, and adding a soundtrack I had made a while ago in GarageBand….
(Note: video host blip.tv is defunct, so the original link to this video no longer exists. The above image is a still photo that was used in the original video. I still have a copy of this video, but have not put it online again.)
If the clicking on the picture above doesn’t work, try this: Link. (If you tried earlier and it didn’t work, try again — I uploaded a bad file at first.)
After I checked out some other videos on You Tube that promote Unitarian Universalist congregations. Most of the other videos take a documentary approach, with warm friendly shots of kids, choirs, ministers, etc. Most of their soundtracks use hymns, piano music, ministers talking, etc. From a sales and marketing standpoint, such videos are probably much better than mine. I guess maybe my video reflects a different understanding of Unitarian Universalism, more like that in the video for The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Second Life: Link (did Christine make that video?).
I’d love to hear your thoughts on what constitutes a good promotional video for Unitarian Universalist congregations. What demographic would you target? How would you get approval from your congregation’s Board (or would you even try)? Would you do a documentary, something more like a music video, or what?
