A collection of 'talking head' presentations inspired by New Testament characters.
Written and Presented by Brian Pearson.
Belief Encounters is a collection of six New Testament-inspired monologues providing examples of creative preaching, resources for contemporary worship and ideas for developing preaching styles. It also includes a creative story-telling workshop. The six monologues are based on several stories from the Bible, including Judas' betrayal of Jesus, the healing of the leper and the feeding of the five thousand.
This video library can be used as part of a church service or in prayer and Bible groups as a study resource, in schools as part of Religious Education or Theology lessons, or by church leaders and trainee church leaders to help develop creative preaching styles. In these characters you will find the profound, the confused, the elated, the disturbed, the transformed - indeed, a wide range of real human emotions which identify reactions to real encounters with Jesus Christ.
Belief Encounters offers ways in which two-dimensional stories on a page, can be translated into three-dimensional drama for a stage. Unsurprisingly, text from the Bible was the primary source of inspiration for this material but from the outset the primary aim was to allow the 'two-dimensional' characters on the printed page to take on a three-dimensional form, on a stage.
The project was inspired by Alan Bennett's style of giving a voice to 'the supporting cast in life', Dr Jim Fleming's archaeological work identifying the land of the Bible as 'the fifth gospel', and Peter English's bold and engaging street theatre.
Brian Pearson, a Fellow of the College of Preachers since 1996, was ordained as an Anglican Priest in 1979, ministering in parishes in SE London, West Sussex, Somerset, Kent and Warwickshire. He was a Missioner in two dioceses and as the Archbishop of Canterbury's Officer for Mission and Evangelism, led seminars, addressed clergy gatherings and preached in many parts of the UK as well as in the USA, Australia and Canada. He has worked as a freelance broadcaster, writing and presenting material for regional TV and providing commentary on national TV.
Belief Encounters can 'go live' in your church, school, theatre, village or town. Individual monologues from Belief Encounters can be performed on their own in place of an after dinner speech (for instance the monologue 'An After Dinner Speech' would fit in very well) or as part of a larger stage show or performance evening. Brian Pearson can also provide workshops and training in creative preaching, Christian performance and drama.
Once the early results of the material had been 'test driven' in front of a number of church congregations, the shape of the final presentation emerged and the collection was performed and filmed before a live audience in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Brian Pearson noted his hope was that this material brings people a little closer to those who themselves were very close to Jesus. We gratefully acknowledge the valued assistance provided by the minister, Rev Andy Laird, and members of Kenilworth Methodist Church in the making of this project.
We want these resources to be freely available for you to use wherever a video of this nature is appropriate. You might like to use them in a school assembly, a church service, a small group meeting, or during a training workshop.