With more than 1.5 million video minutes viewed at the website biblevideos.lds.org, The Life of Jesus Christ Bible videos given to the world by the Church last Christmas have been viewed in 194 different countries. Last week, a new video based on the parable of the Widow's Mites became available for the first time. The website states the videos were created "solely for the purpose of helping more people understand and appreciate the matchless life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world."
Starting with the parable of the Widow's Mites, the Church plans to release new videos periodically highlighting such things as the baptism of Jesus, the wedding in Cana and the Samaritan woman. In conjunction with the Easter holiday in 2012, a group of videos will be released depicting the suffering, burial and resurrection of the Savior. The Church News plans to spotlight upcoming videos with a brief description, screen shot and historical context.
The videos are available on the Bible videos section of lds.org, the scripture section of lds.org and an iPad mobile app. Additional well-known media channels and formats include YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, Mormon Channel, iPhone and Roku. Non-English language versions are also available for users to enjoy with more languages coming.
Sharing the videos with family, friends and others is quite intuitive and members are encouraged to do so. Users can download the videos and show them on a computer, send links via email, post links on Facebook or Tweet messages to others containing links to content. The Church's Facebook page dedicated to the videos received close to 50,000 "likes" and more than 9,000 people shared them by email. A viewer commented, "Watching the six short videos and reading the scriptural passages from the New Testament strengthened my faith and brought the spirit of Christmas into my heart, mind and spirit."
Forty-six biblical scenes were filmed fall of 2011 at the Jerusalem movie set at Goshen, Utah, and the videos released so far are from those efforts. The Church plans to film 50 or more additional scenes this year. Video content will be released progressively to the public, creating an expansive library of New Testament videos.
The success of the videos is due to their focus on the Savior and the incredible production values utilized to shoot, edit, compose and finish the film. The videos invite the Spirit to be present and teach viewers about the importance of the Savior's life and teachings. At the First Presidency Christmas devotional where the videos were announced, President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, captured the essence of the videos when he said, "Like the scriptures which these short films follow faithfully, they may seem to you quiet. Your faith and the Holy Ghost will create the emotion these world-changing events deserve."
