Looking for supporters for more regular videos!

Alastair Roberts

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Looking for supporters for more regular videos!

June 28, 2018

Alastair Roberts

You can now support me on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged

Transcript

Hi, a couple of months ago I set up a new YouTube channel, designed in large part to create a context within which I could have a far more direct interaction with an audience. If you're writing on someone like Twitter, things are speedy and there's an immediacy to that interaction, but it's very difficult to go into things at length, to explore and unpack ideas, and to talk through a particular subject. On the same way, when you're writing on a blog, things can be fleshed out in greater length, but there's less of the sense of an immediacy to it, and there's less of a personal interaction, which is something that I've always wanted to cultivate.

Same with a podcast, there are benefits to that too, not least the interaction with other people, the conversational style, which I have always appreciated. But yet, the YouTube format provides particular benefits and opportunities that I have always wanted to explore. And more recently, have taken the chance to do so.

Over the last few months, I've answered a series of questions that have been sent in by people who watch my videos and people who follow my blog, and I hope to do that for many times in the future. I hope that people will send in theological questions, questions related to the church and society, questions related to the scripture and the interpretation of particular passages. These are all things that I'm passionate about and I love to share with others.

I've been doing theology online in public for over 15 years, and for that time, it has been something that I've found great fulfillment and pleasure in, not least in having the connection with an audience, with people who share the passion that I have and who want to benefit from my insights and also to share their insights with me. And that has been a deep pleasure and a deep, deeply rewarding experience over many years. Now, the problem is, as time goes on, I find that I have less and less time with which to work.

And also, finding the justification to give time to writing online when I need to earn money is quite a struggle sometimes. I love to do this, but at the same time, I need to pay the rent. And one of the things I was thinking about for this series is to have questions and answers, but also if people would be prepared to support this as a means by which theology can be done in a way that is helpful and fruitful.

Now, if you found this helpful, I would ask if you would be interested just to donate a couple of pounds a month or dollars or whatever currency you use, and help me to produce these particular set of videos to make it economic for me. I've generally lost money in writing online and producing material, and I need to produce material in a way that is sustainable, not least for the sake of the material itself, because if it's not sustainable, I won't be able to produce it. Now, I don't want to put any pressure upon anyone to give anything towards this.

This is not going to be something that prevents people from participating if they're not contributing financially. I want you to contribute to your church first. That's your primary responsibility in terms of giving.

And if you have anything that you have left over that you feel would be well used in helping me to produce these videos, that would be greatly appreciated. It would be a great support and an encouragement as well. Now, I hope in the future to produce these on a regular basis, and the more support that I have, the more regularly I will be able to produce them.

I hope to have a series of videos over a number of days, and to answer questions that people send in on Cure is Cat in the comments on these videos by email and by other sorts of means, and to provide a context within which people can raise these pressing concerns and find detailed, thoughtful answers given to them. Now, this has always been a challenge and a delight, and I hope to do this for many years in the future. I invite you to become part of this in supporting me within this particular activity.