The cloud has lifted on Shetland and Dr Ruth and I are staring out of the window at this. The locals call it the Simmer Dim. The scenery has moved from stunning to 8-o
Jul132011
Jul72011
The Sun
Science is awesome!!
The creativity that is emerging around the globe is staggering. No longer are people constrained by the companies who sell ideas, they are free to explore the possibilities. This is the beauty of the digital revolution.
I was given the opportunity to speak about alt worship/emerging church/culture with a group of people exploring their vocation to ordained ministry on Tuesday night. In a short act of corporate worship I showed the Vodafone advert*, “Dad he’s left me”. I used it as an introduction to The Lord’s Prayer. Later on we discussed the concept of the advert as a group. It is essentially based around two emotional responses it elicits from the viewer, identity and empathy. “This is how a Father should act, wouldn’t you like to be like him”? By sticking the vodafone logo at the end of this short story, we are invited to identify the product with the good guy – and they tell us nothing about their product.
The above video is amazing. If you had asked me half way through what it was about, I would have guessed that it was a bunch of mates who thought it would be really cool to slow motion capture an exploding hydrogen filled balloon. I wouldn’t have thought it was a company called GE trying to sell the US some solar panels.
No longer are people constrained by telling us about their product, they are trying to capture our imagination. They are telling us a narrative and inviting us to identify with it. With that in mind, I’m off to make a cup of Gold Blend.
*sorry, it seems to have been eradicated from the internet so if you haven’t seen it before, my apologies.
Jul22011
The Story of Everything
One of the best things about the social media explosion is that talent is no longer confined to a local area. Jonny Baker has shared this video by a guy called Rich on his blog. It is awesome and I plan to show it tomorrow morning as part of our service.
It has also given me a bit of a kick up the bum with an audio project I did with a mate for Biblefresh. Must upload it and get it out there!
Jun232011
Weddings
David Mitchell shares his thoughts on the changing face of modern weddings. The Church of England was accused in The Telegraph of ‘pouring misery’ upon the happy couple, profiteering and forcing the cost of a wedding up to an average of £20,000 (£321.50 is the basic fee for a wedding in the Church of England with no extras like bell ringers). It is amazing how small the ‘wedding part’ of a ‘wedding’ actually is, both financially and as part of the proceedings.
It is interesting to see what someone who sits in the pews or the comfy chairs at a hotel thinks is actually going on with these increasingly extravagant events.