Preach Magazine Issue 4 - Preaching in the digital age | Page 19

FEATURE

THE DIGITAL PREACHER:
ROB BELL
Any survey or evaluation of digital
preaching would be severely lacking
if it didn’t include Rob Bell; indeed for
many he is the epitome of the digital
preacher. Though he has caused some
controversy in recent years, owing
mostly to his book Love Wins, Rob Bell
has continued in his pursuit to bring
preaching into the digital realm.
It all began on 11 September 2001, the
day Nooma’s Rain 01 1 was filmed. Bell
was pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church
in Michigan, which had a significant
number of the congregation involved
in the ‘creative industries’. Keen to
engage with new digital technologies,
he formed a team to create videos
that would be culturally relevant
and talk of the Christian faith. In
their own words, ‘Our goal with
every single film we make is to create
something that is not only visually
beautiful, but to create films that
speak the way of Jesus to all people,
everywhere.’2
This now-iconic film was more music
video than sermon, with Bell walking
the streets of an industrial block
in Chicago with bleached blonde
hair and thick rimmed spectacles,
looking every bit the new-wave
Christian poster-boy he was about
to become. Over the next eight years
Bell produced a further 23 films that
almost singlehandedly redefined
what Christian media should
look like. This was experimental,
digital Christianity for the YouTube
generation, even though YouTube
didn’t exist until more than half of the
Nooma films had been created.
The videos are very much of their
time and are now beginning to
look a little dated. However, it
should not be underestimated just
how groundbreaking the Nooma
videos were. Their visual and
communicative style – with emphasis

on repeated content, musical breaks,
and highly artistic visuals – is
imitated by many of today’s new
creations.
With the ending of the Nooma series
in 2009, and his stepping down from
Mars Hill two years later, Bell started
to explore a new route in digital
preaching. While publishing books
and speaking on tours, he began a
partnership with Carlton Cuse, the
executive producer of the award
winning TV show Lost. After a failed
attempt at creating a mainstream
TV drama loosely based on Bell’s
life, they found success in a new
talk-show format called The Rob Bell
Show that was broadcast on
the Oprah Winfrey Network in
late 2014 (see some examples at
bit.ly/RBellShow).
In the hour-long show, broadcast
at prime time, we see Rob Bell
surrounded on three sides by
scores of ultra-cool twenties and
thirties. Unsurprisingly, this show
is almost painfully fashionable,
with a liberal quantity of hanging
Edison lightbulbs and pallet-adorned
set walls. Between his informal
interactions with the audience there
are a series of short, Nooma-style
films that highlight specific issues
or themes, but it’s when he gets
off his stool that the preacher in
him begins to shine. In these short
sermons (usually 3 to 5 minutes in

19

length) we get to see Bell at his finest,
dynamically introducing God into
the everyday lives and experiences
of his audience. Whilst he may be
talking to people in the room, this
sermon is designed to be viewed
through digital media, the audience
is as much window dressing as they
are congregation, and that’s not to
knock it or them. They are there to
signify the community of explorers
that we are all a part of: not just one
person watching the TV or computer
screen, but rather a collective,
separated geographically but
connected digitally and spiritually. As
the multiple camera angles capture
every word and movement, a subtle
musical element fades in, and as
Bell gets more passionate, the music
builds. These sounds aren’t pumped
into the studio; they are added later
for us, the digital viewers, and as he
finishes his piece, and the sounds
fade away, he returns to his stool to
begin further interaction with the
congregation, both digital viewers
and those there in person.
The new format has a significantly
larger budget than the Nooma films,
but it sticks to the same principles
listed above. By creating this show,
Rob Bell has expanded the genre with
which he became synonymous, but
as we will find out, there have been
others filling the space he left behind,
bringing their own innovations.

THEY ARE THERE TO SIGNIFY
THE COMMUNITY OF
EXPLORERS THAT WE ARE
ALL A PART OF: NOT JUST
ONE PERSON WATCHING THE
TV OR COMPUTER SCREEN,
BUT RATHER A COLLECTIVE,
SEPARATED GEOGRAPHICALLY
BUT CONNECTED DIGITALLY
AND SPIRITUALLY.