At Home In Lent - In Front Of A Camera

Over the years, I have been involved in various Church Lent Activities-  we had the Hot Potatoes discussion groups, the Soup Kitchen evenings, and joint 'churches together' activities. Mostly involving food,as well as Bible study, prayer and good conversations. Large events in church halls, smaller get-togethers in people's homes. This year...none of that!

Here at UCF, we are all staying at home - so it seemed sense to work through this book. The author walks through his home, and each day looks at a different object/piece of furniture/etc and shares some relevant thoughts. It seemed particularly apposite for a lockdown situation. 

The chapters are very brief - each takes between 6-9 minutes to read. Bob has obtained permission from the publishers to produce a set of 46 readings which people can watch daily through our church YouTube channel. If you are interested in looking at these, the link is here

The World Day of Prayer Service link is now available too. The actual day is 5th March, but some people have said they'd like to check it out beforehand! That link is here. I should say again, this is not the official video, which the International Committee are going to release later. WDPHQ. This has been put together with other Baptist Rev's wives across England and Wales. This service lasts about half an hour [we have cut out a few hymns, and the offering!] WDPHQ have suggested local groups might like to arrange alive Zoom service on the day. We know that is not workable in our situation - so we're happy for other groups to make use of our recording. Do make a note of the details and share this with friends.

A year ago, I would never have believed just how much stuff I'd be presenting "to camera". It is not my natural spot. In front of a class, or behind a lectern, or storytelling in a tent - I'm fine with those. But I find this difficult. And I've made some terrible faux pas. Usually that has meant multiple retakes. Like going a complete blank in the middle of the Lord's Prayer. Or the shot where I walk in and you can see my fur lined slippers [even though the rest of me is smartly dressed] Or disturbing the 'green screen' so the background goes crazy. I have great admiration for teachers producing 3 or 4 lessons a day.

But all in all, I am so grateful for this technology - 20 years ago, we would have all felt so cut off. Looking forward to Easter, and hoping and praying that we can at least worship together in our building one more time before we retire to Norfolk!