App to help people understand more about Jesus

Did you know that in the UK there are over 1,500,000 regular church-goers with Smartphones? Increasingly Christians are becoming switched on to new technologies, and looking for innovative ways to share the Gospel.

Damaris are committed to providing resources for people where they focus their time and attentions. That’s why they have developed the Talking About Jesus App, an app for iPhone available now on the iTunes AppStore.

Designed to help Christians and non-Christians understand key issues about Jesus: his life, teachings and ministry, it contains more than an hour's specially-filmed video content, all instantly available within the app and without a data connection being required. These 18 short videos feature insightful speakers such as Philip Yancey, Anna Robbins, Andrew White, Krish Kandiah, Nick Pollard and Gary Habermas.

The app can be used on the move, in a small group setting, or at home. Because every video is under six minutes, they fit perfectly into a busy life. You can find preview clips of the videos at www.talkingaboutjesus.org. The app also includes a helpful 28-day study guide for Luke’s Gospel, to accompany the video series.

The app also provides the option to ‘gift’ the app to others, making it an easy way of sharing the Christian faith with friends or family members. The app can be bought for just 69p and is available at the Apple AppStore or through the Damaris website at www.talkingaboutjesus.org.

Damaris co-founder Nick Pollard says: "I’m very excited about the Talking About Jesus app. Like everything we do in Damaris, it’s about finding original ways of doing the traditional mission of the Church. I grew up being encouraged to give paper tracts to people, and this is a tract for the 21st Century. What could be better for busy people than exploring the big questions of life through thought-provoking videos that they can watch anywhere, at any time?"

This launch will form part of a wider campaign aimed at getting people talking about Jesus this Easter. More details will be released shortly.

Republished courtesy Inspire Magazine.

The Media We Deserve

Bookings open for Church and Media Conference 2012

We’re delighted to announce that bookings are now open for the Church and Media Conference 2012. The gathering will take place on Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th September at the prestigious Lowry Arts Centre in the heart of MediaCityUK in Salford. The theme of this year’s conference is The Media We Deserve. Please visit www.churchandmedia.net/conference for further details.

The conference promises two days of sharp thinking, debate, information and networking for all who have an interest in media and Christian faith. Producers, communications officers and church leaders should certainly attend.

The event will include headline speakers of the highest calibre and a celebration dinner on the Monday evening. In addition there will be opportunities for “speed-dating” (when communications professionals can showcase their organisations to media producers), open pitching (when delegates are invited to pitch programme ideas to channel commissioners) and of course plenty of networking in one of the UK’s most spectacular and significant media hubs.

Full passes and day tickets are now available, with significant reductions for early booking. The site also has links to local accommodation, with reduced prices available for those who book now.

Online booking is open at www.churchandmedia.net/conference .

Revealed - how parents control childrens' access to adult media

A new online survey conducted by the website ParentPort reveals that, of those parents surveyed whose children watch films at home, 40% had allowed their children to watch a film classified above their age.

The survey of 1,800 respondents from the UK’s two largest online parenting communities –Mumsnet and Netmums - reveals the challenges and pressures parents face when it comes to keeping the media their children see age-appropriate.

Of those parents surveyed whose children play video games, a quarter (25%) had allowed their children to play games classified above their age.

Furthermore, 16% of parents surveyed said they had bought their children a device or gadget – such as a games console or MP3 player – which they themselves did not fully understand how to use.

However, the parents surveyed did not just give into their children’s appetite for the media – many also closely supervise what their children see and use. In fact, 82% of the parents surveyed claimed they always know what films and television programmes their children watch, and 77% said they always or usually know what websites their children visit.

Meanwhile, the survey also uncovers parents’ boundaries when it comes to media, with one in eight of the parents surveyed reporting concern that Christmas presents their child had received were inappropriate for their age. Some reported being worried their youngsters would have unsupervised access to the internet through smartphones and laptops given as gifts. Others cited well-meaning friends and family overstepping the mark – with examples of pre-teens unwrapping presents of 18-rated video games, and under-tens receiving 12-rated DVDs.

Overall, the parents surveyed recognised the contribution the media makes to their children’s lives. Over half (52%) of the parents surveyed thought films and DVDs generally played a positive role in their children’s lives. Forty-nine per cent cited television as also having a positive effect, and 48% believed the internet also made a good contribution to their children’s lives.
ParentPort website

ParentPort was set up last October to make it easier for parents to complain about material they see or hear across the media, communications and retail industries.

It was jointly developed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD), the BBC Trust, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) and the Video Standards Council (VSC)/Pan-European Game Information (PEGI).

Of those parents completing the survey who knew about ParentPort, 94.7% rated the website as a ‘very useful’ or ‘quite useful’ tool for them as a parent, guardian or carer; while 93.9% said they would recommend ParentPort to others.

Ed Richards, Ofcom’s Chief Executive said: “This survey reveals the challenges facing parents when it comes to their children’s use of the media. ParentPort now gives parents an easy way to register their concerns with the media regulators who work to protect children from inappropriate material”.

Guy Parker, ASA Chief Executive said: “Parents, carers and guardians play an important role as the first line of defence in deciding what’s appropriate for their children to see. But quite rightly, they expect support from media regulators, which is why ParentPort is such a valuable resource to help us understand parents’ views. We encourage parents to take full advantage of it.”

Martha Lane Fox, UK Digital Champion, said: "The world of media is speeding up and changing shape and anything that helps people navigate the new landscape is to be welcomed."

Interview with @drbexl from #BigRead12

The Big Read started off as an initiative in the North East of England in 2009 as Christians from all denominations started reading the gospel of Luke together in local groups. This grew over the last few years and the project is just gearing up to launch #BigRead12 – this year, reading through the gospel of Mark. Today, I am pleased to feature an interview with @drbexl who spends some of her time working on the Big Read


Tell me about the origins of The Big Bible Project and how you have got to where we are today?

In 2010, in North-East England, The Big Read emerged as an ecumenical initiative, which brought together Christians from across various churches to study Lent for Everyone: Luke – a book written by the former Bishop of Durham, N.T. Wright. Rev Dr. Pete Phillips, Director of the Centre for Biblical Literacy and Communication, a part of CODEC (Christian Communication in a Digital Age): a research initiative based at St John’s College in Durham exploring the interfaces between the Bible, the digital environment and contemporary culture.

In July 2009, Bex and Pete got talking – on Twitter, before/during/after #digisymp, an event held at the College. As Pete watched The Big Read – and Biblefresh – emerge, he saw the potential for there to be a national event, and contacted me to see if I’d be interested. In July 2010 I came on board with a brief to “do something digital with Lent for Everyone: Matthew.”

As we recognised that we needed to help people use the digital tools that would help them engage in the conversations, The Big Bible Project was created and The Big Read went digital and national, making full use of the free digital tools which many of us already use in our everyday lives. We have used the fact that we have  resources to inspire our creativity to find other ways to do things – using free tools, encouraging participation from others…

This year, you are encouraging churches and groups to read through the Gospel of Mark together. Do you have any indication yet of how many people will be taking part and what sort of things people will be getting up to?

If we take a look at last year’s figures: Over 24,000 people engaged on the Project website over Lent, others chatted on social media, 5,000 accessed the book via YouVersion’s smartphone app, and nearly 20,000 copies of the book were sold. There’s an online group being planned by @Layanglicana & @Minidvr, and we’d encourage others to join in/set up their own groups.

We have over 200 people already in the Facebook group, and are starting to get comment on #bigread12 hashtag. Last year we had a “I’m doing it” Google map and are considering re-setting that. We need some measurement to justify what we’re doing to our funders, but to a certain extent we have to let go of the figures and put the material about there. Most attempts to measure exact data make it more difficult to access, and we’re more interested in getting the material into people’s hands than “our brand”.

Bishop NT Wright commending the Big Read

What is the importance of social media and websites in the Big Read?

We are currently developing our social media layering, but it will be more evident this year. We will be tweeting daily, encouraging comment on the blogs, conversation in the Facebook group. This kind of thing doesn’t happen with one person behind it – a ‘conversation’ requires others to help push the discussion. Millions of people are using these tools daily, and we want to encourage the Word of God, appropriately communicated (as God is a communicating God), to be flooding the online spaces. As Christians it’s important that we seek to do this well, echoing Christian values whilst we do so.

How do you think social media affects/ has changed discipleship and Bible reading in the 21st Century?

We live in a digital age and need to engage with it. Church has always been about people/relationships, so we’re well equipped for the ‘social age’ (but maybe need a bit more training in the digital aspects). Over the past few centuries we’ve allowed ‘Church’ to be defined as geographical/building spaces, and the digital allows us go global, whilst also augmenting local relationships. On The Big Bible Project site we have around 60 people (#digidisciples) blogging regularly what it means to be a ‘disciple in the digital age’.

CODEC research has demonstrated that numbers actively reading the Bible is around 20%. It is only relatively recently that the idea of ‘individual Bible reading’ has become the ‘preferred’ type of Bible reading… and digital tools do make this easier, with tools such as YouVersion and Bible Gateway, but we also have an opportunity here to have ‘bigger Bible conversations’: inquisitive, open, respectful I think is what we’re looking for with The Big Read…. Allowing the Bible to inform and transform our lives.

Have you got any stories of conversations that happened online spilling out into the local communities where people live?

"Through talking about my church on social media, I’ve had 3 people ask if they could come with me to church!"

I always see conversations as a blend, and I am quite likely to start a conversation with someone on e.g. Facebook, then continue it at church. It makes it easier to meet new people as you’ve already got a topic to get you going! If you’re talking about things that you are passionate about, that authenticity wins through. I’ve never been good at inviting people to those ‘evangelical events’, but through talking about my church on social media, I’ve had 3 people ask if they could come with me to church! We are seeking more case studies for the #digilit section.

What would be your dream for #bigread12?

That we would get lots of people participating! That people would think about thought patterns they may have fallen into by staying in their comfort zone, and be prepared to engage with what other Christians think… and maybe also those outside the church!

What plans have you got for the project in the future?

We’ve just been given the Biblefresh content, so are taking the opportunity to clarify our site/structure, to fulfill our aim to encourage and equip more people to engage in ‘Bigger Bible conversations’, and to use appropriate resources (such as those provided by 12Baskets). We also plan to seek continued collaboration, unrestrained by denominational ties, and work towards more academic research which will have a practical impact!

Come join our conversations at http://bigbible.org.uk

Re-published with permission from www.dodifferent.org.uk

UPLOAD 2012 launched

Join us for an exciting day of discussion, fellowship, encouragement and inspiration. We’ll have input from some great Christian media professionals including the BBC’s Rev Richard Coles. It will also be a fantastic opportunity to meet, pray for and share experiences with other Christians working in the media from all over the country. We’ve got a packed programme, including a separate journalist specific seminar but there will also be plenty of time to relax, unwind and re-charge.

For programme information and details, Register here

Day of Prayer for the Media

Network calls churches to pray for the media in May

The Church and Media Network is inviting local churches across the land to pray for the media on Sunday 20th May 2012. The day is part of our response to the rapidly-changing media environment and the challenges thrown up by revelations of phone-hacking and other media news over the past year.

Roman Catholic churches already mark this day (the Sunday before Pentecost) as World Communications Day. Other denominations will be offered a special prayer to use in services, together with a set of simple ideas that will help churches to engage well with local and national media.

The day has the support of Christian organisations such as the Sandford St Martin Trust, the Christian Broadcasting Council and the 24 -7 Prayer Network. We’d love to see other partner organisations joining in, so please contact us via info@churchandmedia.net if your church or organisation would like to get involved.

The prayer, and resources to go with it, will be available on the Church and Media Network website later this month. Full details will be published in next month’s Need to Know.