Parish Uses Videotape for Education and Communication
Diocesan Press Service. February 27, 1975 [75084]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- "Videotape should be regarded as a tool for education and communication, rather than a luxury for a local congregation," advised the Rev. William B. Gray, Director of the Office of Communications of Trinity Parish in New York.
For less than $2,000 a congregation can have video-taping potential -- (includes a camera, tape deck and monitor) and an opportunity to develop important programs of Christian Education, community building and involvement.
"Community building is one of the most important uses of video tape," Fr. Gray said. "Television is a magnificent mirror-medium, permitting people to see themselves in all sorts of situations. Group work can be greatly expanded as more people are brought into involvement and decision making.
"This, to me, is an important aspect of education -- involving people. It is much deeper than Sunday School lessons as people learn to act out Christian convictions through planning and producing short television programs."
Trinity Parish has had a video tape program in operation for the past 12 months, utilizing a consultant-trainer and four congregationally based video-tape units. One hundred parishioners have been trained to use video, including the entire faculty of St. Luke's School, and some have had tapes run on Manhattan cable television.
"This year we are going into editing, which is the next step, with a production goal of one half-hour tape a week for television. But that is not nearly as important as sharing tapes between congregations, and the community building aspect of taping events within congregations," Fr. Gray said.
The St. Luke's School faculty, teaching children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, are finding in-classroom use for materials. Congregations are doing training tapes for acolytes and going into their communities to work with citizen groups, offering them the chance to use video to impact their messages.
"An added value of the video equipment is for community outreach by the local congregations," Fr. Gray said. "It can involve people from the neighborhood who are not members of the church; it could have evangelistic possibilities, too.
"Whenever a camera crew goes into a community a tremendous amount of human interaction takes place. People are naturally curious about video and will ask questions of the crew. Such human encounter can be the beginning of dialogue, enhancing the outreach of the church."
Fr. Gray said that if more churches had video, tape exchanges between them could be important for intra-denominational communication as well as for ecumenical enrichment.
"The church needs to take seriously the importance of television as a medium of primary communication for such a large number of people in America, as well as in other parts of the world. People are used to the tube, to being entertained; they relate to certain types of electronic stimulation.
"Before television, people were used to communication by print," Fr. Gray said. "Now there is an added dimension to their lives that has made print valuable for deepening their understanding after television has offered them headlines. The church should meet people where they are and utilize the means that they are used to."