Motivation:
This service was driven by the desire to do something other than ‘talk to/at/with people’ by going to the extreme of not talking at all. Additionally, it was an opportunity to examine worship from a purely visual perspective, allowing God to speak to us through visual images via the movie, Baraka (more on that later)
Environment:
As is often the case, the space was gently candle lit with a projector displaying the movie up the front.
Coffee was available up the back along with a space to chat if people wanted that opportunity. The movie goes for about an hour and a half, so it was made clear to participants that they could come late, or leave early if they needed to. Coffee continued to be made available to sustain people throughout.
Service:
A short small handout was produced, introducing the night and indicating how nothing would be said tonight, but that instead people were encouraged to sit and watch the movie, and ask God to speak to them. Reflect. Pray about what you see. Ask questions of yourself in relation to what you see.
Baraka is a ‘movie’ with no direct plot, no speech, no storyline, but instead a collection of images which allow a story to be constructed. Many of these are drawn from the world’s religions, nature, and other scenes of humanity.
That was essentially the entire service. When the movie finished, people were free to sit and leave when ready.
Debrief:
Despite having no plot per se, Baraka turned out to be more challenging and confronting and depressing than at first intended. It has quite a harsh position in regards to humanity, and this has the potential to cause some discomfort. Not that that’s a bad thing necessarily, but is something to be aware of, and people may want to debrief afterwards. A discussion probably wouldn’t hurt if time permitted, or questions to go away with, readings, etc.
Definitely ensure you watch the movie and see how you respond to it first before showing to the congregation.
