Fanning the flames

In a few weeks’ time it will be Pentecost and a new way to celebrate starts this year: Pentecost Festival - www.pentecostfestival.co.uk - organized by Share Jesus International. Over the weekend 9th-11th May 2008 this high energy missional festival will be hitting the streets of Central London – a fitting place for this particular celebration given the wonderfully cosmopolitan make-up of 21st century London.

This weekend-long party is a visible celebration by the people of the Christian faith, but is open to all faiths and cultures. Two years in the making, Pentecost Festival will celebrate cohesion, collaboration and service to society, and deliver 100+ free events from urban-dance performances, theatre productions and graffiti artists through to speed-dating and more! The idea is to break misconceptions about Church as boring, cold and with no life or creativity, by bringing the Church body out of the building and into the streets to celebrate.

This fits nicely with the ethos of Hope 2008 to which the festival is linked. Hope ‘08 aims to celebrate at Pentecost too, by getting Christians all over the country joining together to give one million hours of practical help to their communities.

This theme of ‘living the Gospel’ will also be picked up by www.hopeinfo.co.uk – the online public face of Hope ‘08. The website will feature a new film highlighting Christians making a difference in the lives of others, based around the parable of the sheep and the goats from Matthew 25: 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

Over half of Britons believe Jesus rose from the dead

New research from Theos indicates that more than half of us here in the UK believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But only half of those (~30% of the total sample) accept the traditional Christian belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ and the rest (27%) believe that Jesus rose in spirit form.

If the research is accurate - and there is no reason to think it not - I wonder how these millions of people will react to The Passion, the BBC's new production about the last week in Jesus' life.

Well, we'll start finding out from this Palm Sunday evening, when the first episode of four airs. The final episode is on Easter Sunday, with the two and a half hours of the preceeding episodes repeated beforehand.

With a number of resurrection appearances, the final episode is sure to drive many a conversation across the country about the possibility of life after death.

At the same time, the HopeInfo.co.uk website - the online public face of Hope 2008 - releases a new film of its own dealing with the question of life after death. It includes vox pops filmed recently in which people give their reactions to questions about death.

Poverty and Justice Bible

Bible Society have launched The Poverty and Justice Bible, a new resource that (literally) highlights verses in the Bible that show what it has to say about poverty and justice.

Find out more about this new version of the Bible at www.povertyandjusticebible.org/

This Contemporary English Version translation could well be a helpful resource for people who care deeply about the extreme suffering in the world and can't reconcile that with the existence of a loving God.

News release from the Churches Media Council

CHRISTIANS WELCOME BBC’S PASSION SERIES - 25 Feb 08

Representatives of the UK’s biggest denominations have urged Christians to welcome the BBC’s forthcoming drama series The Passion. The Churches’ Media Council has published guidance for Christians saying “There's no need to debate whether or not the Christian community should welcome this production. We celebrate the fact that the story of Jesus is being retold for an audience of millions.”

The Chair of the Council Rev Dr Joel Edwards said “from time to time opportunities arise nationally that provide significant moments for the Christian faith to engage with our culture. One such opportunity will be the forthcoming BBC series The Passion.” He expects the series to make “a huge national impact” over the Easter season.

The series will be scheduled in peak time on BBC1, with the first episode on Palm Sunday 16^th March. It is likely to attract audiences in excess of 10 million. It tells the story of the last week of Jesus’ life, his trial and crucifixion. The last episode, to be broadcast on Easter Sunday 23^rd March, dramatises his post-resurrection appearances. It has been made by award-winning drama producer Nigel Stafford-Clark, who was responsible for Bleak House and Warriors. The cast includes Cold Feet star James Nesbitt as Pilate and EastEnders actor Paul Nicholls as Judas Iscariot. The part of Jesus is played by the relatively unknown Joseph Mawle, who at 33 is the same age as Jesus during the events of the Passion.

More at: http://www.churchesmediacouncil.org.uk/passion/