Church Army backs creative way of re-telling Ten Commandments

22 Jan 2007

Church Army's new Chief Executive Mark Russell has backed a new DVD aimed at helping school children learn the importance and value of the 10 commandments. Exodus 20 produced by  Active Media Publishing with support from Church Army, is centred around a feature film in which real school children from 10 schools based in the northeast tell and act in their own stories about what the Ten Commandments mean to them.

Mark Russell says, "I am delighted to support this creative and exciting way to bring alive the Ten Commandments for young people. Using relevant stories young people can debate the moral issues in question and see how the Bible and its advice still stand the test of time. I am encouraging the evangelists we have working with young people and schools to use these packs."

Film-maker Ian Cottage involved 10 schools and 120 children in this unique and exciting project. Each school was given one of the commandments and asked to explore its meaning for today by writing a story, set within their own lives, to illustrate the meaning of the commandment. In addition, the children went on to act in their own stories as part of the film.

Exodus 20 tells the story of 12 kids and how they deal with the issues that the commandments cover. Spanning a whole weekend, from a Friday afternoon at school through to going back to school on Monday, the film interweaves the stories together to form a single narrative. However, the 10 individual commandment stories offer some topical and gritty insights into the lives of today’s school-children. Using bullying, knife-culture and underage drinking as the setting for the stories mean that the film is both realistic and unsettling.

The teacher-friendly, engaging and practical classroom material that accompanies gives ideas for how to use the film in PSHE and Citizenship lessons and assemblies. Written by a team of authors led by Alison Cannon, author of Voices for Today, the materials have been trialled in the classroom and enjoyed by the students.

Excited by this project, Richard Armiger of Active Media Publishing, says, "As soon as I watched the film, I could see the possibilities. Not only is Exodus 20 edgy and culturally relevant in a way that few Christian resources are, but it’s brilliant to see how normal kids are interpreting one of the significant parts of the Bible. Hopefully, it will inspire people to discover the Bible as a great book, and not just a boring ‘rule-book’"

To listen to an interview with Ian Cottage and Mike Kelly of Airship Films or to view samples from the DVD visit www.exodus20.org.uk. To order copies of  Exodus 20 contact  Active Media Publishing on 0845 226 8507 or email sales@ampublishing.net