Candace Minster – Spiritual Journey
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Chicago Sunday Evening Club, Education, Faith Based Production, Nature, Peace and Justice, Spiritual Journey, Tim Frakes Productions, women
This story reminds me of summer. Candace Minster is an Environmental Education Coordinator at the White Violet Eco-Justice Center, a ministry of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-in-the-Woods, Indiana. I recorded this story for 30 Good Minutes, WTTW, Channel 11, PBS, Chicago on a blazing-hot summer day.
Tags: Gardening, Justice, Spiritual Journey, Sustainability, Tim Frakes Productions, Video, women
Honoring MLK, KKK Cross Sculpture at Chicago Temple
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Culture, Education, Faith Based Production, Interesting Places, Peace and Justice, Pro Bono, Spiritual Journey, Tim Frakes Productions
If you are in Chicago’s Loop, stop by the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple and check out a sculpture based upon a cross that was burned on the lawn of Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi in the autumn of 1963. The students were being encouraged by Ed King, the campus minister to go into the city and to try and desegregate the churches on Sunday morning.
That not only led to the arrests of the students, but also led to the KKK burning a cross on the college lawn. Ed King kept the cross and gave it to the United Methodist Church who were in the process of trying to desegregate the denomination nationally. So, this cross became the symbol for the desegregation of the United Methodist Church in the 1960′s.
Eventually, the cross was taken to Pittsburgh at the general conference and walked around the conference hall. It became a rallying point. Later, the cross was given to Gerald Forshe, a pastor in Chicago, who brought home. He took it to Jack Kearney who was a very well regarded sculptor in town.
Kearney took that charred wooden cross, encased it in a kind of skin of metal, so that it wouldnt disintegrate. On it, he placed the obviously African American, distressed, truncated Christ. And so Jerry has had this sculpture for over 40 years in his own possession.
But when Jerry was very ill last spring he wanted to make sure that First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple received it and put on public display. The cross is a gift to the church that we can make available to people who visit and want to know the story. This cross not only referrers back to 1963, but it, holds a great deal of power for us today.
This summer, First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple had a guest who came to worship. He was a retired university administrator from Mississippi. He saw the figure on the cross and immediately said, “That is James Chaney.” James Chaney was one of the three young men who were murdered as they tried to register voters in Mississippi in 1963. Chaney was the only African American among the three. And so at least for that person, he saw in this figure, that historical moment.
Tags: Art, Chicago Temple, Cross, James Chaney, James Cheney, KKK, United Methodist
Cook, Write, Pray
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Evangelism and Outreach, Faith Based Production, Interesting People, Pro Bono, Spiritual Journey, Tim Frakes Productions
Despite challenges, Tom Christensen has learned to trust God in every circumstance. Here is the testimony of a single parent, letter-carrier turned chef, author and cancer survivor. Tom is a member of Lombard Bible Church, a part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Tags: Bible, Cancer, Church, Cooking, Faith, Illinois, Lombard, Spiritual Journey, Testimony, Tim Frakes Productions, Video
Introducing Jesus of Nazareth
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Award winning video, Education, Faith Based Production, History, Interesting Places, Middle East, Travel
It is Advent and a good time to reflect on the life of Jesus. This production aired on ABC Television in December 2006. I produced it for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with my good friend Peter Marty as host. Jim Quattrocki directed the on-camera sequences. Jim Parks did the editing.
www.frakesproductions.com
Tags: Bible, Gospel, Holyland, Jerusalem, Jesus, New Testament, Peter Marty
Herald of Truth
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Client Production, Evangelism and Outreach, Faith Based Production, Tim Frakes Productions
Herald of Truth, is an Abilene, Texas based ministry founded in 1952 that reaches out to individuals through media, the internet and events, doing what the local church can’t. Bill Brant, the President of Herald of Truth (and my professor back at Harding University) asked me to put this image video together.
Tags: churches of Christ, Evangelism, Tim Frakes Productions, Video
Carrie Newcomer – 30 Good Minutes, Spiritual Journey
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Chicago Sunday Evening Club, Faith Based Production, Interesting People, Music, Peace and Justice, Spiritual Journey, Tim Frakes Productions, women
This is a spiritual journey I produced for 30 Good Minutes, WTTW Channel 11, PBS, Chicago. Singer and songwriter, Carrie Newcomer, drawn to the social justice and peace focus of the Quakers, writes songs about the sacred in the ordinary things of life.
Tags: Faith, Music, Peace, Tim Frakes Productions, women
Anna Hauge, Gifts of Grace
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Disaster, Education, Faith Based Production, History, Interesting People, Tim Frakes Productions, women
Here is a story I produced for Lutheran Life Communities Foundation. Anna Hauge was a Navy nurse on board the USS Tranquility, the hospital ship that rescued the survivors of the USS Indianapolis disaster in August, 1945. Anna is one of those unsung heroes who lived through an epic chapter in American history.
Tags: Education, History, Tim Frakes Productions, women
HAPI: Madame Gabriel
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Education, Faith Based Production, Interesting People, Interesting Places, Tim Frakes Productions, women
My second visit to Haiti in 2011 was with Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI). One of the many projects HAPI has going is Nouvel Etwal (New Stars). The New Stars help young Haitian girls develop self esteem and share their stories through dance. One afternoon we packed the girls in a van and drove to a nearby village to meet with a group of older adult women. One of these women, is a former professional carnival dancer. Many years have passed since Madame Gabriel danced on the big stage, but its clear from this video that she has moves and grace.
Tags: Art, Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions, Video, women
Empowering Haiti: Let’s Hear it from the Girls
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Carribean, Education, Faith Based Production, Interesting Places, News, Peace and Justice, Pro Bono, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel, women
It’s back to Haiti in August. This time, I’ll be shooting footage for Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI). HAPI was founded in March 2007 as a fair trade artisan co-op focused on spirituality and creativity. The marketing of the resulting art supports women’s economic development and empowerment.
HAPI Executive Director, Valerie Mossman-Celestin and my friend, photo journalist, Paul Jeffrey asked me to help with this project. The footage will be woven into a short documentary. “Let’s Hear it from the Girls” (working title) will connect the voice of girls in a rural Haitian community to touch us with stories, music and dance that convey the joys and challenges of growing up female in Haiti. The film will also capture the subtle messages of hope emerging from a dream that the community recognize the value and equality of girls and women.
We will be working in Mizak, a mountainous, rural section of La Vallee in South-East Haiti, 80 km south of Port-au-Prince and 12 km west of Jacmel. The total population is just over 35,000. Seventy percent are peasants living under the poverty level of less than $1 US per day, and 63% of the population is under the age of 18. There are no jobs available, no electricity, no telecommunication system, no plumbing, and no water filtration. The majority of households have no measurable income and they rely on system of barter and trade.
HAPI plans to make this DVD available as a teaching resource to folks in the United Methodist Church. The project is funded in part through a grant from the United Methodist Women’s organization.
Look for more in the coming days and weeks!
Tags: Haiti, Tim Frakes Productions, Travel, women
The Bread Shed
Posted by timfrakes | Filed under Education, Evangelism and Outreach, Faith Based Production, Peace and Justice, Tim Frakes Productions
The Bread Shed is a grass roots, faith-based, volunteer organization in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, that feeds the hungry, both spiritually and physically while sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
My friend Jim Ward asked me to help this growing organization make a video about their work. Big thanks go out to Briana Freeland and Kevin Fields for their help with the production. Also, thanks go out to the Ward family for their hospitality.
Tags: Church, Hunger, Poplar Bluff, Tim Frakes Productions, Video