ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 14, 2006  

ABC-TV, Hallmark Broadcast ELCA Television Specials in December
06-170-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth" will air
as a one-hour special on stations affiliated with the ABC
television network.  Managers of each station will determine the
day and time of broadcast in a 60-day period beginning Dec. 3.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) produced the
program as part of the Mosaic Television quarterly video series
by ELCA Communication Services.  Two other ELCA productions will
air on the Hallmark Channel.
     Recorded in Israel and the West Bank, "Introducing Jesus of
Nazareth" returns to the sights and sounds of Jesus' life -- from
Nazareth and Bethlehem to Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, the
Jordan Valley, the Mount of Transfiguration, and finally to
Jerusalem.  It features interviews with ELCA pastors across the
United States.
     The Rev. Peter W. Marty, host of "Grace Matters," the radio
ministry of the ELCA, and senior pastor, St. Paul Lutheran
Church, Davenport, Iowa, hosted "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth."
In an online letter he wrote, "One of the joys of traveling to
the Holy Land comes through the connection between the topography
beneath one's feet and the biblical text inside one's head."
     "What were once just words on a page in the Bible suddenly
come alive.  Galilee, Jericho, Capernaum, Tiberias are not just
places; they are real places, full of everyday sights, smells and
sounds.  They are real places that can transport one's head and
heart right back to the time of Jesus," he wrote.
     "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth" explores the places of
Jesus' life and the meanings behind them.  "The nativity scene to
me gives the message that Jesus was born in a humble estate.  He
wasn't born in a palace.  But he was born among the poor.  And he
walked among the poor and the needy.  And that is our Jesus,"
said the Rev. C. Kay Doyle, Gethsemane Lutheran Church,
Carmichael, Calif.
     "God can do wonderful things with anyone's life.  God is
here every day, working in lives, as Mary said, lowly people --
everyday, common people.  God doesn't call just the people who
are on top.  God calls everyone," added the Rev. Kristie Ann
Jaramillo, St. Paul Lutheran, Kenosha, Wis.
     "Jesus had to understand us.  He had to understand our joys,
our sorrows, our pains, all those things," said the Rev. Chuck
Carlson, Gloria Dei Lutheran, Sacramento, Calif.  "We see a God
who truly was one hundred percent human while being one hundred
percent God," he said.
     "The story of Christ is one where divinity finds a way to be
expressed in the exchanges that mark human community: the
exchange of grieving, the exchange of hungry people being fed,
the exchange that comes when we encounter an overwhelming dilemma
which we might call illness -- which we might call brokenness,"
said the Rev. Harvard Stephens, dean of the chapel, Carthage
College, Kenosha, Wis.
     "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth" was released originally as
the spring 2006 production of Mosaic Television.

Two ELCA Productions to be Rebroadcast
     Hallmark Channel will broadcast "Davey and Goliath's
Snowboard Christmas" Dec. 17 at 7 a.m. Eastern/Pacific and 6 a.m.
Central.  "Joy to the World" will air Dec. 24 at 9 a.m.
Eastern/Pacific and 8 a.m. Central on Hallmark Channel.
     "Snowboard Christmas" was the first new Davey and Goliath
production in 30 years.  It is a one-hour, stop-motion animation
television special that made its broadcast debut on Hallmark in
2004.  Davey and Goliath is a property of the ELCA, which hired
Premavision, Inc. (Clokey Productions), Los Osos, Calif., to
produce the program.
     The special portrays the themes of unity and oneness among
Christians, Jews and Muslims.  Davey, a Christian, meets Sam, who
is Jewish, and Yasmeen, who is Muslim.
     "Snowboard Christmas" was named a "Platinum Best of Show"
winner in the 2005 Aurora Awards and was awarded the 2005 Telly
Awards bronze statuette in the Film/Video Television Programs for
Children category.  Aurora Awards recognize excellence in
independent film and video production.  The Telly Awards are
premier awards honoring outstanding local, regional and cable
television commercials and programs, as well as video and films.
     The ELCA and Starlight Home Entertainment, Inc., Los
Angeles, released "Snowboard Christmas" on DVD in 2005.  It is
available in major retail outlets across the country and from
Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the ELCA,
Minneapolis.
     ELCA Communication Services produced the one-hour program,
"Joy to the World," in 2005 for the National Council of Churches
USA and the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission.
     "Joy to the World" features Lutheran Christmas worship in
various cultural traditions -- African American, American Indian,
Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian and Latino.  A Swedish Santa Lucia
celebration introduces the mix of cultures recalling the birth of
Jesus Christ through music and praise.  Services of several ELCA
congregations across the United States and Puerto Rico were
recorded for the program.
-- -- --
     Information about "Introducing Jesus of Nazareth," including
an updated list of ABC-TV stations and air dates, is at
http://www.ELCA.org/introducingjesus/ on the Web.
     Information about Davey and Goliath is available at
http://www.daveyandgoliath.org/ -- the official Davey and Goliath
Web site maintained by the ELCA.
     Details about "Joy to the World" are available at
http://www.ELCA.org/joytotheworld/ on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog