Co-Mission Media Forum 2009: Content

A short while ago, I was thinking about an event I was planning. Well most of the details are finalised. Here it is.

Co-Mission Media Forum 2009: CONTENT
7th February 2009; 9.30am-5.30pm @ The Factory, 577 Kingston Road, Raynes Park, London SW20 8SA

A day of talks, seminars and stuff for workers in, and students of, Art, Film, TV, Radio, fashion, comedy, music, theatre and design – and their families. And given that anyone can write a poem, take a photo, use Garageband, or edit a film on iMovie and it on Youtube , we’re all creatives. So anyone is welcome - from within the Co-Mission churches or other evangelical churches.

Theme: Content
We were told the Medium is the Message. Now Content is King. How do Christians respond to the call to creativity – in film, literature, art and design? Given that we can create whatever we want, paint a picture of anything – real, imagined or abstract – write a story in which anything happens, or design a building that looks like a Gherkin, what are we, as Christians, going to do? What will we create? What stories do we tell? What themes do we represent? Is the limit purely our imagination? Does the Bible have anything to say about the content of our work?

Morning
Gavin McGrath will be leading two sessions on this subject. Gavin worked with L’Abri Fellowship and was a frequent speaker to university groups throughout the UK and Europe. He was vice-Principal of Trinity School for Ministry outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is the co-editor of The New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics (IVP 2006). He now leads a church in Earlsfield and is passionate about film, jazz, cooking, wine and triathlon. But not all at the same time. Gavin blogs here.

Afternoon
In the afternoon, we will break into smaller sessions more specific to different areas of art, media and design. There will be two different sessions on music (the nature of Music led by Matthew Mason; and song-writing led by Jez Carr); two sessions on writing (novels led by Matt Searles; and writing for children led by Ed Drew); a session on art (The Blank Canvas led by Aly Gordon); and a session on design (Being creative to the brief of another led by TBC). There will also be a session on the BBC and Public Service broadcasting led by Tim Plyming. We will endeavour to round off the day with a panel discussion.

Venue
All of the above will take place in the Factory, the new headquarters of the Co-Mission Initiative. We hope to provide a crèche and sufficiently broad programme that the event is suitable for families (since Saturdays are very precious!). Do let me know if you can volunteer someone for the creche/kids activities.

Find a map here.
It's in Raynes Park (Nr Wimbledon) 577 Kingston Road SW20 8SA
The Factory is about 10 minutes walk from Raynes Park main line station.

Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and coffee will be provided – since talking over food and drink and sharing experiences is a key part of the day. But there will have to be a small charge to cover these costs (as well as offering money for use of the venue and paying travel costs for speakers). Costs, then, might be around the £5-£7. Small beer for a whole day of talks designed specifically for those in the creative arts, media and design world.

Interested? Email: jamesedwardcary@yahoo.co.uk