BYU's men and women a cappella powerhouses, Vocal Point and Noteworthy, recently teamed up with Faith Counts and the Church to create this stunning Christmas video, "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful."
Jed Wells, the brainpower behind the music video, told the story of how came up with the idea. " I was sitting in my kids' Primary program at church," he said, "and I got to wondering what the Nativity would have looked like from a child's perspective. Here were all these kids in front of me bearing solemn and honest testimony of their Savior. And over the course of the meeting the scenes of the video started to take shape in my mind."
Filmed on the Church's Goshen Bible video set, many miracles went into play to turn this vision into a reality. "Getting this all done in time was a miracle," said Jeff Sheets, director of the Laycock Center for Creative Collaboration at BYU. "The heavens literally smiled upon us with sunshine and warmth to melt some serious ice on the Bible video set."
And, the sweet symbolism of those surroundings remind all of the purpose of the song and video, to help us all set our hearts towards Bethlehem. "Spiritually, this is what we do every Christmas," Wells said. "We return to Bethlehem and we experience the Nativity anew. I wanted to illustrate the simplicity of the faith of those who were there that night, who followed the star or something more ineffable, and found the young family there."
Working with Faith Counts has allowed the power of this video and its message to reach far beyond members of the Church. "We hope that the film will inspire people to reflect inward about the value of their own faith this holiday season," said Sheets. "No matter what you believe in, faith influences all aspects of your life."
Faith Counts is a nonprofit, interfaith organization with the simple mission of promoting the value of faith in our society. "It's this beautiful collaboration of faith, but this whole alliance is about just the value of faith in society and the good that it does and recognizing the beautiful patchwork of faith that we have here in America," said Lauren Winder who works closely with Faith Counts as a public relations associate with the Church.
The Church has been a major contributing partner to Faith Counts since its inception, having been inspired by the vision of Elder L. Tom Perry. But Mormons are only one among many religions as Catholics, Sikhs, Jews, Seventh-day Adventists and many other faiths have come together to create and share uplifting content. Currently, Faith Counts has over 70 contributors from a number of different religions.
"We know that this moving music video will reach far beyond the walls of BYU," said Kerry Troup, communications director for Faith Counts, " and through the power of peer-to-peer, viral sharing, its inspirational message will resonate with millions of people."
For more from BYU Vocal Point, check out their great Christmas album, He Is Born. Or have a little fun with their pop culture album full of popular music, movie themes, and video game songs, Nonstop. Or, for something a little mellower, check out their album full of worship music, Lead Thou Me On. Or, why not get a little of it all in the album that has everything from "Be Still My Soul" to The Monkee's "I'm a Believer," Standing Room Only.
For more from BYU Noteworthy, check out their first, self-titled album that has everything from inspiring hymns, Broadway classics, and pop music.