By: Christa Meland

How is your United Methodist church reaching out in its community and/or the world? What are you doing in response to God’s call to heal a broken world? The Minnesota Conference wants to see and showcase the God-sized impact that you’re making through its first-ever video contest.

The 2015 annual conference theme will focus on missional impact—which can include mission projects near and far, but also ways you are reaching new people and fulfilling the United Methodist Church’s mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The top three videos will be shown at the 2015 annual conference, and all of the videos will be made available on the conference’s YouTube channel and distributed conference-wide via e-mail after annual conference. The church that produces the winning video will receive $500 to put toward the mission-based initiative of its choice. Second-place will receive $250 toward a mission-based initiative, and third-place will receive $100 for that purpose.

Video submissions are due by March 31, 2015 and should be no more than three minutes in length. They can include photos and/or video footage. Preference will be given to videos that tell a story about the difference your church is making outside of its walls and that highlight the ways in which church members are growing in their faith and learning new things through their involvement. The judging process will place much more emphasis on the story than the technical expertise (so don’t worry if you have limited or no video experience!).

The contest doesn’t require expensive filming and editing equipment. Filming can be done on something as simple as a cell phone, and there are a number of free programs for assembling and editing your video (click here for some great no-cost resources). Aim to have some photos or footage showing the mission activities you’re involved with and some people sharing (on camera) how and for whom they are making a difference.

Any person or group from a Minnesota United Methodist church, campus ministry (Wesley Foundation at University of Minnesota), or chaplaincy (Wesley Center for Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice at Hamline University) can participate in this contest. This would be a great project for a youth or young adult group—and it could be a fun and meaningful confirmation project.

Videos will be judged by Minnesota Conference leaders and communications professionals from the Minnesota and Dakotas conferences.

They will be evaluated based on:

• Impact of content;
• Effectiveness in telling story of church or organization in mission; and
• Creativity/novelty.

Videos should be submitted in .MP4 format (preferred) or .MOV format on either a USB drive or DVD. They can be hand-delivered to the conference communications department or mailed: Attn: Communications / 122 W. Franklin Ave., Ste. 400, Minneapolis, MN 55404.

Questions? Contact Christa Meland, director of communications (christa.meland@minnesotaumc.org or 612-230-6132).