26 January 2016 | Nottingham, UK [Peter Jeynes with Tamara Bloom] With 2017 declared as #reformation500 across the world, a youth leader and cinematographer in the North England Conference (NEC) have combined their skills to develop a series of 52 short reformation videos. Each episode, released weekly, sets out to detail the spiritual roots of Christians from the 4th until the late 18th century.
The plan fits in with the recent NEC and Trans-European Division joint meeting which emphasised the value of working in teams to help maintain health and working efficiency. Pastor Adam Ramdin, NEC Youth director, along with Clive Coutet, an expert in all things media, already use that concept in order to help viewers to begin to understand the people and events which form our Christian heritage.
The Facebook page relating to the series states that the videos, ‘Lineage Journey’ is a “multi-faceted educational tool that explores our spiritual heritage showing the connection between the past and the present”.
Ramdin, who presents the series, recognised the need to connect modern youth with their historical roots. He realised that books about the subject would likely remain unread. Instead, a video series featuring many short episodes would probably be seen as more attractive.
Coutet, a freelance videographer and editor, had aimed to create the series in 2012 but, he recalls, the time was not right. He and Ramdin then started on a new idea for a short film about the British Museum and Wesley’s house in London. This developed into a 52-episode series shot on location around much of Europe.
Ramdin states, “The videos lead us, on a journey through time tracing the roots of our spiritual family. Throughout the year we will travel to Italy, France, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Wales, and England, the homelands of forefathers such as John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Aidan, and John Calvin.”
Remarkable for the drone camerawork and excellent shots to camera, often from stunning mountain locations, a five-minute-long episode will be published every Wednesday. “This”, Ramdin says, “will gradually create the full story of our Christian heritage.”
Some of the filming proved to be a challenge. Coutet described a scene shot near Lutterworth. “The trickiest shot was filming through a tight tunnel with the drone. Precisely the point where Wycliffe’s ashes were thrown into the River Avon. As I entered the tunnel with the drone it was a challenge to control it without hitting the edges. At one point it began to climb to the roof. I had to quickly manoeuvre it out so it wouldn’t hit the top of the tunnel and fall into the water below.”
Young adult, Tamara Bloom, wrote in Adventist Review about the need for a different, relevant, presentation method. Writing about Adventist history she notes the possible complexity of making our heritage real.
“For others, the names, dates and figures might have been read, the stories may even have inspired faith and zeal upon first discovery, only to become lost in a sea of facts.” The solution, Bloom writes, of “making church history compelling, is to visit the sites in question.”
The lineage videos are aimed at youth and young adults and so use social media in order to reach a wide spectrum of people.
The first episode places York, a large and richly historic town in the north of England, at the start of the journey through time, with Constantine being the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity. Constantine’s actions, the viewer learns, “Changed the course of history for the whole of Christendom”. In the second episode, ‘Scotland’s Braveheart’, we learn that Columba, on the island of Iona founded a cohort of trained church planters. Ramdin, an experienced evangelist, authoritatively invites the viewer to think about becoming a similarly trained worker for God, to follow in Columba’s footsteps.
Many people are currently taking advantage of the release of the WWII story of Adventist Conscientious objector Desmond Doss, in the film ‘Hacksaw Ridge’, to share their faith. However, there are further historical events to commemorate and share this year. November will see the 100th anniversary of 14 Adventist WWI CO’s being imprisoned for their staunch refusal to break the Sabbath. The new series, Lineage, intentionally relates well to public interest during the 500th anniversary of the year when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. [tedNEWS]
Lineage can be accessed by visiting www.lineagejourney.com where you can subscribe to weekly updates, watch videos and support this project.
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Esti Pujic, associate editor
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Website: www.ted.adventist.org
tedNEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
