Narrated Meditations on Calvary

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Linda Bonney Olin

For a (Very) Limited Time…

Now until Easter Sunday, 2024, this page will feature audio links to all six chapters of Were You There When They Crucified Our Lord? Meditations on Calvary, narrated by yours truly. Follow along in your book or simply listen.
May your Holy Week devotional time be enriched by these prayers, scripture readings, meditations, songs, and questions for discussion or personal reflection.
Blessings,
Linda

EDIT April 8, 2024

Easter Sunday has come and gone, and so have the recorded narrations for Chapter Two through Chapter Six. I’ll leave the Preface and Chapter One here for the time being. ~ Linda

Preface and Chapter One: The Authorities

Chapter Two: The Twelve

Chapter Three: The Women

Chapter Four: The Jeering Crowd

Chapter Five: The Unseen Presence

Chapter Six: The Redeemed

Collaboration Curve

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Linda Bonney Olin

After a two-year hiatus while I worked on other projects, my Holy GhostWriter plunked me back into hymn-writing this year, with an exciting new twist!

Thanks to Facebook groups, YouTube, and the Hymn Society in the US & Canada, I’ve connected with several composers to work on new musical settings for texts I originally published with public domain tunes and for some brand new texts. In addition, I’ve written melodies for a couple of my newest hymns, with harmonization help from Diva Daughter, Theresa Olin (aka The Inexorable Juggernaut of Music Theory).

It’s been quite a roller coaster ride, careening up, down, and around the learning curve of collaboration. I mean, it’s one thing to tweak a hundred-year-old tune written by a guy who is, shall we say, in no position to argue with my choices. It’s quite another to communicate and negotiate with a living composer who brings a different vision and style to my lyrics, and who is as new to the art of collaboration as I am. Fortunately, my HGW has blessed me with partners who possess a gracious heart as well as musical skills.

Our newest pieces are not going public yet, in order to preserve eligibility for competitions and publishers which require unpublished work. Stay tuned for those!

Meanwhile, I hope you’ll enjoy the lovely new setting written by talented young composer Jared Bernotski for my text “How Long Is the Longest Night.” Jared himself sings HLITLN, accompanied by Cade Johnson, in this video. (Lyrics below.)

Continue reading →

Meditations on Calvary

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Linda Bonney Olin

To help make your Lent and Holy Week devotional time more meaningful this year, I invite you to listen to my narration of Were You There When They Crucified Our Lord? Meditations on Calvary, which will be posted on this page through Easter Sunday. Each chapter of this book focuses on a particular group or individuals who were present (or conspicuous by their absence) when Jesus of Nazareth was arrested and crucified. Book details

The following excerpts omit the Preface, the discussion questions, and some of the songs. If you’re following along in the book, you may wish to pause the recordings at appropriate points to consider the discussion questions and sing the songs I left out. (If you don’t have the book, you can download the Kindle edition instantly.) But you’re also welcome to simply enjoy listening to the audio narration.

*********************
EDIT: April 5, 2021
Easter Sunday has come and gone, and so has my posting of the chapter narrations.

I hope my meditations drew you closer to the crucified Jesus by inspiring you to put yourself in the place of those who were there on Calvary.

Blessings,
Linda

Look Back with Jeff & Clyde

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Linda Bonney Olin

One year ago, my son and I put the finishing touches on our joint book project, Puppet Ministry Pizzazz, with an acknowledgments page. The first person Jeff wanted to mention was the late Millie Jones, an elderly member of our church family. As Jeff wrote, Millie was “a light of love and positivity that shone brightly despite her small size.” What a wonderful legacy!

Jeff & Clyde in “Clyde Is Unique”

Jeff & Clyde rehearse for “Clyde Is Unique”

Last night I ran across a letter Millie wrote to twelve-year-old Jeff after he and Clyde performed at a worship service. Their skit, titled “Clyde Is Unique,” featured a song that contrasted Jeff’s talents and interests with those of his sister. For one thing, as you see from his sweatshirt, Jeff was a Dallas Cowboys fan, while Theresa rooted for the 49ers. The takeaway was that each of us is special, a one-of-a-kind creation by God. (An updated version of “Clyde Is Unique” is one of the fourteen sample scripts in Chapter 4 of Puppet Ministry Pizzazz.)

Here’s what Millie’s letter had to say about Jeff and Clyde’s message: Continue reading →

Puppet Ministry on YouTube

Posted on October 2, 2020 by Linda Bonney Olin

News Flash

Moochacha and I have had so much fun recording our faith messages that we’ve collected our videos into a new Puppet Ministry playlist on YouTube!

Our Facebook post of “Moochacha Learns about Grumbling” reached 700 views in just a few days, so we decided to upload the videos to the YouTube platform for a broader audience.

Whether you’re a puppeteer looking for ideas or a kid (of any age) looking for gently humorous faith lessons, we hope you’ll be inspired by our little performances. Enjoy!

Linda

P. S. While you’re visiting my YouTube channel, please check out the Now Sings My Soul playlist to hear vocal renditions of some of my favorite hymns and faith songs from Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord.

Zoom into Puppet Ministry

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Linda Bonney Olin

With churches closed down by the Covid-19 pandemic, many congregations have turned to technology solutions like Zoom to hold worship services, meetings, and Bible studies online. Teaching the pilot class of the “Puppet Ministry Pizzazz” course via Zoom last month was a bit of a challenge. But, in the process of learning the ropes, I discovered that Zoom could be a useful tool for puppeteers to broadcast and record their conversations with a puppet pal.

For the following three videos, my laptop’s built-in camera and microphone recorded Moochacha chatting with me in a Zoom meeting window. The laptop did extra duty as teleprompter. After hitting the Record button in the Zoom window, I clicked over to a Microsoft Word document containing my script (in a different window, NOT a Zoom screen share). While I scrolled through the Word doc, Zoom continued to record me in my Zoom window.

Continue reading →

Moochacha as the Easter Bunny

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Linda Bonney Olin

Happy Easter season, everyone!

In a previous post, I showed you the costume goodies I scavenged for my puppet pal from Wal-Mart’s Halloween clearance shelves. The bunny ears and tail and the felt basket with a soft lamb design were a no-brainer to use in an Easter skit with Moochacha. Little did I know how circumstances would shape the way those props led into our 2020 Easter theme!

Our church, like hundreds if not thousands of other congregations, suspended worship services to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Since we couldn’t be with our church family in person, Moochacha and I took our Easter message to YouTube. We incorporated our feelings of isolation and disruption into the message itself. You can watch it on my YouTube channel, or use the video viewer below.

Your turn!

Maybe this time of social distancing is your opportunity to try personal puppet ministry yourself! You can practice and re-record your message as many times as you wish, then post your finished video on YouTube or other free platforms for your audience to enjoy. If you’re willing to wing it, try Facebook Live. There you can get feedback immediately in the comments, for a more personal, interactive experience.

Your message doesn’t have to be religious, either. You and your puppet pal can chat on video to teach and entertain and comfort, and simply stay in touch with your family, students, or anyone else. Have fun!

For lots of puppetry resources and links to all the posts in my Puppet Ministry blog series, make like an Easter Bunny and hop over to the Puppet Ministry Resources page. And get a how-to head start with Puppet Ministry Pizzazz: Make Your Message Pop with a Puppet Pal.

Stay safe! God bless!
—Linda

Puppet Ministry~of Course

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Linda Bonney Olin

News Flash!

Binghamton District Lay Servant Ministries of the United Methodist Church is sponsoring a brand-new course based on my book Puppet Ministry Pizzazz: Make Your Message Pop with a Puppet Pal. Being a UMC lay speaker myself, I’m super excited about this opportunity to equip and inspire more puppeteers.

The course will focus on “personal puppet ministry”: a solo puppeteer sharing the love of Christ and teaching lessons about the Bible, the church, or Christian living, by chatting with a puppet buddy in front of audiences of any size and any age. Personal puppet ministry adds a fun but meaningful element to children’s time in worship services, to Sunday school and vacation Bible school, to visitations, and many more settings.

I’m preparing to lead the pilot class, assisted by my pal Moochacha and my son’s pal Clyde (visiting from Texas). We’ll meet at First United Methodist Church, Chapel Street, Windsor, New York, for a full-day session on Saturday, May 9, 2020. Eligible participants who complete a pre-class assignment of reading and activities in addition to attending the class can receive advanced lay servant/speaker course credit from the Binghamton District.

If you’d like a flyer with information and registration form for the May 9 course, pop me a request on the contact form.

EDIT: Class postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, I’m working on the syllabus and leader guides for both the one-day class format and a 4-evening classes format. Farther down the line, I hope to create a scriptwriting workshop for puppeteers, too. We’re looking forward to submitting these courses for possible inclusion in the UMC Lay Servant Ministries Course Catalog nationwide. It’s a big “ask,” but my Holy GhostWriter is up to the task, God willing.

News Flash #2 (about being #1)

Speaking of my HGW being on the job… Puppet Ministry Pizzazz reached Amazon’s #1 Best Seller status among Kindle books in the Puppets & Puppetry category earlier this week! That was a huge gift of encouragement. Amazon rankings fluctuate pretty quickly, but I snagged a screen shot before my book got bumped out of the number one spot.

Sorry, Elmo!

To follow my journey of developing a ministry with my pal Moochacha, check out the series of puppet ministry blog posts here on Faith Songs. You can find that and other helpful stuff on my Puppet Ministry Resources page.

Blessings,
Linda

Puppet Props for a Puny Purse

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Linda Bonney Olin

’Tis the day after Christmas, and all through the store
puppeteers can find bargains on goodies galore.
On foot or in car or on sleigh, giddyup it
to get props and costumes for you and your puppet!

Clyde and I are a day late (or 365 days early) with our Christmas greeting, but we’re right on time with a tip for your personal puppet ministry.

The days following Christmas and other seasonal holidays offer a terrific opportunity to pick up nifty props and costume items for your puppet pal, without busting your budget. Clearance shelves in discount department stores are stacked with holiday-themed hats, shirts, bibs, neckties, decorations, and who knows what else, at bargain prices. Don’t forget to scout those bins for puppet accessories when you raid the stores for clearance candy and return the wrong-size jammies from Grandma.

Look especially for items you and your puppet pal can work into a premise for a ministry message. In the Halloween clearance sale, I found a headpiece with bunny ears and a cute basket to dress my cow pal, Moochacha, as the Easter bunny. We could develop several lessons from that setup. (Edit: Check out “Moochacha as the Easter Bunny.”)
For another example, Moochacha wearing a glitzy unicorn horn could prompt a conversation about the precious, unique identity each of us is created with, or about envy.

Jeff and I had a lot of fun with the “Ho! Ho! Ho!” hat in the Merry Christmas photo above. But it wasn’t just comical. It also launched a serious discussion about Christmas generosity and cherishing God’s gift of family in “Clyde Teaches Jeff a Christmas Lesson,” one of the fourteen sample scripts in Puppet Ministry Pizzazz. In that skit, the “Ho! Ho! Ho!” hat served as a callback to add humor, emphasize the lesson, and unify the skit. (Using callbacks is explained in the chapter about writing your own scripts.)

’Nuff said. Giddyup and go see what treasures are waiting for you and your puppet pal! Leave a comment to let us know what you found.

Happy foraging!
Linda

P.S. If you missed previous posts in the Personal Puppet Ministry series, catch up here:
Puppet Grace
Picking a Puppet Pal
Picking a Puppet Pal, Part 2
Puppet Pal ~ Personality Plus
The Puppet Leaves the Pulpit
Puppeteer & Pal Meet the Kids

For more info and suggestions, check out this page of puppet ministry resources and my brand new how-to book, Puppet Ministry Pizzazz: Make Your Message Pop with a Puppet Pal.

Puppet Ministry Pizzazz Has Arrived

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Linda Bonney Olin

The Third Sunday of Advent speaks of a long, dark season of waiting, culminating in great joy when the Lord’s promise was fulfilled. Of course, Advent refers to the centuries people waited for the promised Messiah, whose arrival Christians celebrate on Christmas Day. I’ll bet Mary’s nine months of waiting felt like a century, too, and her joy when the promised son finally lay in her arms is a pleasure to contemplate.

Another long wait culminated in great joy on this year’s Third Sunday of Advent. After years of working off and on to produce a book on personal puppet ministry, I finally can announce the arrival of Puppet Ministry Pizzazz: Make Your Message Pop with a Puppet Pal.

Puppet Ministry Pizzazz has its own page here on Faith Songs, and you’re invited to hop over to that for detailed book information. But Moochacha and I couldn’t resist giving you a quick video intro:

Rejoice, with pizzazz, friends! The Lord has fulfilled his promises: a book and a baby, safely delivered. Pray with me, too, that Puppet Ministry Pizzazz will be a source of blessing in many lives. The world needs more messengers of faith and hope and love, and that’s what puppet ministry is all about.

Is the Lord calling you to give it a try?

Merry Christmas!
—Linda

P.S. If you have read and enjoyed Puppet Ministry Pizzazz, please help spread the word. A great way to do that is leaving a brief review on Amazon or other websites where interested readers gather. Thanks!

Linda Bonney Olin ~ Faith Songs

Music, ministry, and more