Our article this month comes from Br James Woolford, member of the Youth and Children’s Committee.

Over the Christmas period myself and my family have enjoyed settling down and watching a film. Whether that is a Christmas movie, with my personal favourite being the Muppets Christmas Carol, or a big box office blockbuster like Wicked: For Good, there is something wonderful about spending time together in different world for a few hours.

A lot has been made recently about the decline in shared experiences of entertainment. With children and young people becoming increasingly isolated by their phones and social media, people feel that the days of gathering together and sharing an experience have passed. However, that is not a universal truth and there are signs that people are carving that communal experience once more.

From the dawn of humanity people have gathered together, shared stories and felt the warmth of others around them. Stories have great power to connect and to teach ourselves about human and divine nature and sharing them together only amplifies that experience.

There have been countless times when we’ve been watching a film and one of my children has made a deep point about it or asked a thoughtful question. Take the movie Wicked for example. For those not familiar with the story, it is a prequel to the Wizard of Oz and tells things from the point of view of the good witch, Gelinda and the wicked witch Elphaba before they were given their titles and when they met in school and formed an unlikely friendship. Alongside the dramatic effects and soring, memorable songs, is a really deep message about discrimination, prejudice and societies need to scapegoat people as good or wicked. During the film my youngest child Charlotte (who is 9) turned to me outraged at how Elphaba was being treated just because she was green and how that wasn’t fair or right. My hope is that this film and experience will help her to spot when it is happening in the real world as we use these fictional spaces to explore real world issues. We were able to talk about big things like racism and discrimination through a lens that was approachable and accessible.

The church can learn much from this and from the world of entertainment in general. Firstly, the need for community is still present in our children and young people who still crave shared experiences, even if they don’t always know how to express that need. Secondly, the need to speak to them in a language they understand and explore big issues using varied methods that make it accessible to them. And finally, that we must not shy away from tackling big subject and we must truly listen to their voices as they explore the world around them.

Let us use our community to embrace the wonder of the world and explore our faith as a community of people gathered in love and imagination.