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'Opening windows' on your Advent calendar can take on an added meaning this year. Paperless Christmas is created and commission by Jerusalem Productions Limited who have a 20-year track record in television and radio. Following on from the success of paperlesschristmas in 2007, BRF/Barnabas has teamed up with the Jerusalem Trust once again to bring you Christmas online... but this year there is more! Encouraged by the runaway take-up of last year's calendar and in response to suggestions and comments from churches, schools and individual users, we are providing a lot more support material for the 2008 calendar. But let's pause a moment. What is paperlesschristmas exactly? Well, it's a series of 25 40-second video clips hidden behind traditional Advent windows... on your computer. Each window video is a thought-provoking and amusing reflection to help us on our way to the celebration of Christmas. Last year's offerings included interviews, music and art work, Bible verses, stories and punchy one-liners that, in the words of the producers, aimed to 'keep the rumour of God alive ' at this very over-commercialized season of the year. Feedback on the first online calendar was overwhelmingly positive and so this year paperlesschristmas is back... and a lot more besides. Teachers asked if we could support the video clips with discussion starters , classroom activities and assembly ideas; church leaders wondered if the clips could be made available for use in talks and presentations during Advent; children's group leaders wanted to show the clips as part of a session with their groups alongside games and Bible-activity ideas. The production team listened to all this has asked BRF/Barnabas to be involved in writing an accompanying resource. Firstly, a CD of all the clips is available for use ahead of Advent, so you can plan how to use them in a variety of settings. Secondly, with each day's video clip there is a collection of reflections, discussion starters and activity ideas which aim to get church groups, classes in schools and families at home talking as they approach Christmas. Thirdly, alongside each day's video, there's a crossword clue that builds up into a 25-word crossword to work on during Advent, as well as a daily word search for younger children that picks up on the themes and content of the clip. Finally, there are four major presentation ideas, particularly for assemblies in school, drawing on two clips each that focus on a particular theme for each week of the Advent season. We hope you will agree that there is a wealth of material here to help you to 'keep the rumour of God alive' this Advent, whether you teach in school, lead a church, use this as a family at home or are a children's leaders with a group. So how do we find all these things?
Advent each year is a wake-up call to all of us to refocus on the greatest miracle of all - that of 'God with us'. This amazing truth at the heart of our faith can so easily be sidelined by all the excess paper-packaging in which Christmas now comes. We pray that this year and the support material from Barnabas will help you and those whom you love and work with to get ready for the birth that brings life to the world. |
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