Tapestry of Faith: Love Connects Us: A Program on Living in Unitarian Universalist Covenant for Grades 4-5

Faith In Action: Video Project

Materials for Activity

  • A video camera, tripod, and blank tapes for each team of three or four participants
  • Optional: Hand-held microphones

Preparation for Activity

  • Arrange to use at least one video camera. If possible, assemble a video kit-camera, tripod, batteries, tapes, and (optional) hand-held microphone-for each small team.
  • Identify congregational adults or older youth with video skills. Ask some to assist with the interviews, if the children will work in multiple teams. Ask someone to collect the teams' tapes and edit all the interviews together.
  • Establish a place and time to conduct the interviews, such as outside the main gathering place during coffee hour or at a multigenerational event.
  • Publicize the project, preferably before the day you will do the interviews. Inform would-be congregational interviewees when and where to make themselves available.

Description of Activity

Form teams of three or four participants. Give each team a video kit and the assignment to interview people in the congregation about their search for truth.

Make sure each team is comfortable using their video equipment. Instruct them to rotate the jobs of interviewer, camera operator, and producer/director. The interviewer asks questions of the people who want to participate and holds the microphone, if there is one. The camera operator positions the camera (and holds it steady, if there is no tripod) and starts and stops taping. A producer/director can write down the names of the people the team interviews, decide where the interviewer and subject can stand for the interview, and get the next subject ready to be interviewed.

Interviewers might ask:

  • What does the phrase "seek the truth in love" mean to you?
  • Where are some places that you seek truth?
  • When did your search for truth begin? What truth have you found, so far?
  • What does it mean when we say our fourth Principle is "the free and responsible search for truth and meaning?"

If an adult or youth in your congregation has the skill and equipment to edit the interviews together, ask them to do so. Show the finished project at a meeting of the group or the entire congregation. You might also post the interviews on your congregation's website, YouTube, or another website for others to see.

If a video project is not feasible, give the teams notepads and pens/pencils. After they conduct interviews and take notes, compile excerpts from the interviews into an article for a newspaper or your congregational newsletter or website.

Including All Participants

Some participants may be hesitant to approach members of the congregation and ask them questions; others may be nervous about using a camera. You could assign roles on each team instead of having the team members rotate. Or, suggest the children take on the technical responsibilities (shooting video, capturing sound) and an adult be the one to ask the interview questions-or vice versa, depending on the interests and comfort level of participants in the group.