Title: ABC-TV, Hallmark Broadcast ELCA Television Specials in December ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 14, 2006
ABC-TV, Hallmark Broadcast ELCA Television Specials in December 06-170-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth" will air as a one-hour special on stations affiliated with the ABC television network. Managers of each station will determine the day and time of broadcast in a 60-day period beginning Dec. 3. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) produced the program as part of the Mosaic Television quarterly video series by ELCA Communication Services. Two other ELCA productions will air on the Hallmark Channel.
Recorded in Israel and the West Bank, "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth" returns to the sights and sounds of Jesus' life -- from Nazareth and Bethlehem to Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan Valley, the Mount of Transfiguration, and finally to Jerusalem. It features interviews with ELCA pastors across the United States.
The Rev. Peter W. Marty, host of "Grace Matters," the radio ministry of the ELCA, and senior pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa, hosted "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth." In an online letter he wrote, "One of the joys of traveling to the Holy Land comes through the connection between the topography beneath one's feet and the biblical text inside one's head."
"What were once just words on a page in the Bible suddenly come alive. Galilee, Jericho, Capernaum, Tiberias are not just places; they are real places, full of everyday sights, smells and sounds. They are real places that can transport one's head and heart right back to the time of Jesus," he wrote.
"Introducing Jesus of Nazareth" explores the places of Jesus' life and the meanings behind them. "The nativity scene to me gives the message that Jesus was born in a humble estate. He wasn't born in a palace. But he was born among the poor. And he walked among the poor and the needy. And that is our Jesus," said the Rev. C. Kay Doyle, Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Carmichael, Calif.
"God can do wonderful things with anyone's life. God is here every day, working in lives, as Mary said, lowly people -- everyday, common people. God doesn't call just the people who are on top. God calls everyone," added the Rev. Kristie Ann Jaramillo, St. Paul Lutheran, Kenosha, Wis.
"Jesus had to understand us. He had to understand our joys, our sorrows, our pains, all those things," said the Rev. Chuck Carlson, Gloria Dei Lutheran, Sacramento, Calif. "We see a God who truly was one hundred percent human while being one hundred percent God," he said.
"The story of Christ is one where divinity finds a way to be expressed in the exchanges that mark human community: the exchange of grieving, the exchange of hungry people being fed, the exchange that comes when we encounter an overwhelming dilemma which we might call illness -- which we might call brokenness," said the Rev. Harvard Stephens, dean of the chapel, Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis.
"Introducing Jesus of Nazareth" was released originally as the spring 2006 production of Mosaic Television.
Two ELCA Productions to be Rebroadcast
Hallmark Channel will broadcast "Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas" Dec. 17 at 7 a.m. Eastern/Pacific and 6 a.m. Central. "Joy to the World" will air Dec. 24 at 9 a.m. Eastern/Pacific and 8 a.m. Central on Hallmark Channel.
"Snowboard Christmas" was the first new Davey and Goliath production in 30 years. It is a one-hour, stop-motion animation television special that made its broadcast debut on Hallmark in 2004. Davey and Goliath is a property of the ELCA, which hired Premavision, Inc. (Clokey Productions), Los Osos, Calif., to produce the program.
The special portrays the themes of unity and oneness among Christians, Jews and Muslims. Davey, a Christian, meets Sam, who is Jewish, and Yasmeen, who is Muslim.
"Snowboard Christmas" was named a "Platinum Best of Show" winner in the 2005 Aurora Awards and was awarded the 2005 Telly Awards bronze statuette in the Film/Video Television Programs for Children category. Aurora Awards recognize excellence in independent film and video production. The Telly Awards are premier awards honoring outstanding local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as video and films.
The ELCA and Starlight Home Entertainment, Inc., Los Angeles, released "Snowboard Christmas" on DVD in 2005. It is available in major retail outlets across the country and from Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the ELCA, Minneapolis.
ELCA Communication Services produced the one-hour program, "Joy to the World," in 2005 for the National Council of Churches USA and the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission.
"Joy to the World" features Lutheran Christmas worship in various cultural traditions -- African American, American Indian, Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian and Latino. A Swedish Santa Lucia celebration introduces the mix of cultures recalling the birth of Jesus Christ through music and praise. Services of several ELCA congregations across the United States and Puerto Rico were recorded for the program. -- -- --
Information about "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth," including an updated list of ABC-TV stations and air dates, is at http://www.ELCA.org/introducingjesus/ on the Web.
Information about Davey and Goliath is available at http://www.daveyandgoliath.org/ -- the official Davey and Goliath Web site maintained by the ELCA.
Details about "Joy to the World" are available at http://www.ELCA.org/joytotheworld/ on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog