Faith CoLab: Tapestry of Faith: Faithful Journeys: A Program about Pilgrimages of Faith in Action for Grades 2-3

Faith In Action: Congregational Activism Video

Materials for Activity

  • Equipment for videotaping, editing video (optional) and playing back video

Preparation for Activity

  • Plan the videotaping. Will children take turns handling the video camera and asking questions of people during coffee hour? Will you invite people to come to your religious education space? Will you invite particular people to be interviewed or allow the children to ask whomever they choose?
  • Identify someone on your religious education team or an adult volunteer with the skills and equipment to edit the videotape. If no one can do this, instruct videographers to press "record" only to capture the material you want to present.
  • Arrange a showing of the finished video, such as on a video monitor at coffee hour or projected as part of an evening event or worship service. Especially if this is the last session of Faithful Journeys, make sure to inform parents as well as others in the congregation when and where you plan to show the video.
  • Make copies of Leader Resource 1 to help both interviewers and video subjects prepare.

Description of Activity

Videotape members telling their own stories of faithful action and/or activism to celebrate the children's shared Faithful Journey and document the stories for your congregation. Invite members to share their stories of times they have taken action for the larger good.

This will truly be a project of the children of this group if they come up with questions to ask people, serve as interviewers and shoot the footage. (Use Leader Resource 1 as a starting point for questions.)

Ideally, someone in the congregation can edit footage to create a more polished product. You might even group the interviews into seven sections about actions that express each of the Principles. Youth and young adults are often good prospects for sharing these artistic and technological skills.

You might use a screening of the videotape as a fundraiser for your Faithful Journeys Action Club (see Session 4), or for another good cause.