Break out of that pandemic rut, shake the rust out of your brain and get your creative juices flowing! Countryside Community Church has been invited by PBS to be a part of the PBS American Portrait series by sharing our faith traditions via a 20-60 second video.
We have been chosen to answer the prompt, “the tradition I carry on is…” with stories about religious/faith traditions they’re ending, changing, adjusting, adapting and/or creating because of any of the reasons listed below:
● the pandemic (health & safety concerns)
● money problems (can be micro or macro — personal/family finances or institutional budget shortfalls, etc.
● social change (i.e.: traditions that were racist, sexist, exclusionary, etc.)
● technological change (new possibilities in the digital age)
● generational change (changing interests, priorities, etc.)
● environmental change (disappearing coastline, changing weather patterns, etc.)
● theological change (changing ideas about God(s), changing interpretations of sacred texts, etc.)
You can make your story as fun and as creative as you wish. There’s no fancy equipment needed for this video- you can film it right on your phone! The more visual the video is (with pictures and different video clips showing us your traditions), the better. You can also submit as many videos as you want! We want to get as many people involved as we can, so the more the merrier!
HOW TO PARTICIPATE – 5 EASY NEXT STEPS:
1) Visit PBS American Portrait: HERE
2) Go to our website, select the prompt “The tradition I carry on is…” and think of how you will complete it with your story. SHOWING US THESE TRADITIONS (through visuals and actions) vs. Telling us is encouraged!
3) Create a 20-60 second (approx) self-recorded video answering the prompt ( ideally in the next 48 hours ) .
The more visual, creative (i.e. showing a part of your life or narrating over photos, etc. ) the better, but not required. NOTE: No need to introduce yourself on video, simply start video with your selected prompt and then get right into your answer.
4) Upload to the website – this will require to to register your email, and you will receive a link once uploaded.
NOTE : DO NOT email your video or send as an attachment. It must be uploaded to the platform (Chrome recommended over Safari)
HOW TO UPLOAD STORY TUTORIAL
5) Optional: Once your story is uploaded, you will receive a link to share. Please share your story to your Social Media page/s and nominate a friend or family member whose answer you’d like to see (related to your topic or another topic)
We really need to get our videos uploaded by August 17. If you are working on something truly amazing reach out to Dan at danl@countrysideucc.org and he will let the producers know we will have a late submission or two coming.
Feel free to let your family, friends and co-workers know about this project as well, so we can get more people involved. Below are pdfs you can view or download with more information about the project.
FAQ and About American Portrait
Submission Guidelines
Faith Traditions
Self Submit Tips