Fri 8 May 2009
Video Testimonies in Confirmation?
Posted by Mathew Block under Lutheran Leanings, Main
[2] Comments
Last weekend I was visiting family in Saskatoon and so I ended up attending service at a church out there. It just so happens that it was Confirmation Sunday that day. Based on the recent discussions of confirmation at my blog here and at LCC Director of Communications Ian Adnam’s Think Digital First blog here (and following posts there), I was paying particular attention to the way in which the rite was performed.
One of the things that caught my attention was the use of video testimony in the service. The pastor had previously had each of the confirmants record a video message touching on a number of topics: what their faith and confirmation meant to them, what it means to be a Christian in today’s world, words of wisdom for next year’s confirmants, and so forth. This personal video testimony in some way supplemented the public testimony which the confirmants would give later during the rite of confirmation. I was thrilled with the idea for one primary reason: it made the confirmants wrestle with their own individual faith as they planned their video testimonies. They struggled to find their own individual words for a shared corporate faith they would be confessing that day.
The idea could easily be picked up by other churches (a digital video camera isn’t really that expensive any more, and simple (and cheap) enough editing software is relatively easy to attain. For churches that would rather avoid the whole digital video/projection system route, they could always ask confirmants to give a personal testimony before the church during the actual service itself (rather than pre-recording it). It would still have the usefulness of having confirmants wrestle personally with their faith. The video method has the benefit of allowing the confirmants the ability to avoid public speaking (if they have that fear), and also the ability to re-record themselves if they don’t say things quite the way they intended to.
Thoughts to ponder…
I think this was your blog you were referring me to in another post. It sounds like you gained from these presentations, too.
Yes, this is a creative way to have the confirmands reflect and testify to their faith in addition to the rite of confirmation within the divine service. A couple decades ago (actually, it will be 21 years, in a few days) I participated in the rite of confirmation in the Lutheran church. As well, my class was expected to present a speech on a part of the catechism and what it meant in our lives… reviewed in advance by the Pastor. I don’t remember the speech anymore, although the written copy may still be with my confirmation memorabilia. We wrestled with the topics at the time and went on with life.
I suppose a video recording has the added bonus of being able to be replayed at a later date as a personal refresher (that is, if you don’t mind the watching/hearing recorded versions of yourself). I wonder if we realize we can give ourselves refreshers of our confirmation just by opening the hymnal and turning to the rite of confirmation. (One of the great things of having a printed worship book). It’s amazing how much we can use as an extension of our faith life within the hymnal. Do we consider this as a gift for confirmands?
I think that would be a great idea. I know my hymnal plays an important part in my own personal faith life. And as for the speech on a part of the catechism, my class did something similar. Unfortunately we had only about a week to plan it. Add in some school work on top of it all, and as you may guess the confirmation speeches were less about personal impact of faith and more about regurgitating facts learned. Still, the idea has great merit and should be perhaps more often utilized. Until hearing you mention you did a speech, I had never heard anyone suggest they had done the same thing my class did.