wfn.org | ELCA Video Contest Submissions Close, Judges Named

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: ELCA Video Contest Submissions Close, Judges Named
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>July 17, 2009  

ELCA Video Contest Submissions Close, Judges Named
09-153-CD*

CHICAGO (ELCA) - Creators submitted 224 videos hoping to win the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) "God's work. Our hands."
video contest.

"I'm blown away by the diversity of the entries," said Scott
Hendrickson, director of marketing, public relations and creative
services, ELCA Communication services, "(The video contest) is really
showing a good representation of the church."

The contest was started so that ELCA members can share stories of
God's work and embrace the church's new tag line "God's work. Our hands."

"We always wanted the members of this church to own the tag line,"
Hendrickson said.

The ELCA accepted submissions until 11:59:59 p.m. Central Time July
15.  People can log on to the Web site http://www.godsworkourhands.org and
create an account to rate videos.  Video rating will continue until July
22 at 11:59:59 p.m. Central Time.  After that the 10 most popular videos
in each category will be sent to four judges who will select the winners.
Video popularity will be determined by a combination of the video's viewer
rating on a scale of one to 10 and the number of ratings received,
Hendrickson said.

Winners will be chosen on the videos' "creativity, ability to
inspire, interpretation of theme and popularity," according to the video
contest's official rules.  A video's ability to inspire will garner 40
percent of its score, while the other three categories will be 20 percent
each.

"If we want to create a sense of enthusiasm and pride then it is
important (for these videos) to inspire," Hendrickson said.

Because all creators may not have the ability to create a
professional-grade video, judges will not be scoring on aesthetic appeal,
he said.

"We wanted to make sure the contest was accessible to all people,"
Hendrickson said.

The four judges are: former photo editor of the Dallas Morning News,
Anne Farrar; Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary vocational coordinator,
musician and ELCA pastor, the Rev. José Antonio Machado; actress Kirsten
Nelson, of the popular USA Network television series "Psych"; and
television host, European tour guide and author, Rick Steves.

First prize is a $5,000 ministry grant for an ELCA congregation and
a $2,500 cash prize for an individual entry.  Second prize in both
categories is a high-definition "Flip" video camera.  Prize sponsors are
Odyssey Networks and Lutheran Film Associates.  Winners will be announced
at the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.

>---

* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a
concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash.
This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.

>To watch video contest submissions visit
>http://www.godsworkourhands.org on the Web.

More information on the 2009 Churchwide Assembly can be found at
http://www.ELCA.org/assembly on the Web.

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