EVN St. Bede Narrative Example

St. Bede Narrative Example

Narrative Brainstorm

The community of St Bede’s clearly finds community, fun, the outdoors, the beach, and a laidback approach to life and worship as cornerstone’s of their church. Therefore, perhaps the primary location is a cookout. The camera could catch various angles of the people eating, drinking, hugging, laughing, and praying. There could also be shots of people at the beach, perhaps, meditating or even playing volleyball. The image of the rector in a Hawaiian shirt is priceless, so perhaps she opens the video as the “host.” She can tell the viewer about the community that is being shown. The majority of the video can be the cookout and the beach with the rector’s voice being placed over it. It can close with her, either surrounded by the community or in a separate more silent space near the water.

Sample Full Narrative

• The video opens up on a cookout. Images of people laughing, playing volleyball, eating sandwiches, and kids running around fill the screen. The music underneath is calypso and the jovial beat matches the atmosphere of the cookout. We notice the beautiful sky, open lawn of the church, and perhaps the water off in the distance.
• The voice of the rector is played over the music as we continue the “tour” of the cookout with various angles taken of the event. The focus of the images is fun, community, gorgeous landscape, laughing, eating, kids, families, and a large demographic. The rector begins to talk about all that we are seeing. Perhaps his delivery is very low key, very conversational, and casual.
• He can start with, “Community is everything. It is what nurtures us, supports us, feeds us, lifts us up during hard time, and challenges us when we are off base. In a big city like LA, it is surprisingly harder and harder to find a rich community of people to share the ups and downs of life. “
• As he continues to talk about why community is so good, how hard it is to find, and what it looks like when we find it, the screen will show various scenes from the cookout that exemplify what he is saying. Maybe someone putting an arm around another when he speaks about “supporting one another.” Or move to the beach to show an embrace or someone listening to another tell a heavy story as the sun is fading.
• The Rector can then say, “fortunately, I have found a community like this.” the camera pans from a scene at the cookout to reveal St. Bedes Church. He can then say, “Yep, here at St Bede’s we are a quirky and fun bunch. We definitely love to get together and have a good time, but there is also a deep contemplative side us. One that seeks the solace of the Divine in our lives. To pray, worship, study, and surrender to the Word of God.”
• Throughout this last segment, images of various moments within the church are “showing” everything that the rector is “telling.” Perhaps there are images of the same people who were laughing and running around outside are now is a darkened sanctuary on their knees. We see a prayer tea m praying with people. We see people lifting their hands in worship. We see people in line to receive the sacrament. We see a circle around the altar, hands together, and praying a prayer together. We see the rector teaching a class and the dry erase board says “The Mysteries of the Gospel of Mark.”
• The rector continues on, “Believe it or not, that guy in the Hawaiian shirt teaching the class is the rector. And that rector is me. Some people here call me Bill, others calls me Father Bill. I don’t care. We are a pretty casual bunch.” Images of Bill teaching a godly play class but then the kids start playfully chasing him around the classroom. “What we are not casual about, though, is our commitment to God and to one another. We have all sorts of ministries to keep us in touch with one another: there is the healing ministry, home bound ministry, hiking ministry, running ministry, 20’s and 30’s group, youth group, and SAGES. We also look beyond our walls and attempt to follow God’s call to serve those around us. We volunteer in town, do beach cleanup days, serve a meal to the hungry, and offer free surf lessons.”
• All of these “tells” will be expressed through the camera “showing” them…either through pictures or through videos.
• “It all comes back to community for us. Whether it is our worship, our meals, or service. This is where we find God and feel enlightened and challenged by the teachings of Jesus. Come spend a Sunday with us or join in on our next Beach Day clean-up. We are a fun bunch and love to have you.” As he says these last ideas, the screen will review the previous images that match the rector’s conclusion. His final words can be matched by a group photo of the St Bede’s community.. As the music fades in again, the screen cuts to a title card that offers the name of the church, the address, phone number, website, and a separate card for SERVICE TIMES.