Living Roots is the ministry today. The other notes come from Altarnet’s own program pages. They describe the television, the institute, and the films the ministry has made.
Living Roots
Altarnet’s ministry today is Living Roots, a weekly video and audio podcast. Patrick J. McGuire hosts it with co-host Digital Pastor Jim Pierce.
Each episode follows the earthly ministry of Jesus, week by week, in one telling of the Gospels. The readings come from the Hebrew Text Version prepared by Dr. Miles Jones and the Benai Emunah Institute. Jonathan Felt is the archivist. Janet Felt writes and performs the Scripture-based music, including the Living Roots theme.
New episodes are published at livingroots.tv and on the Living Roots Podcast channel.
Youth television
Urban Altarnet
Urban Altarnet was an all-request music television program. It went into daily syndication in 1999. More than 2,000 episodes were broadcast in the United States and Europe. The ministry reported that those episodes were available to more than 80 million television households. The show ran in a two-hour daily edition and a 60-minute weekly edition.
Artists who appeared included Mary Mary, Nappy Roots, and Trin-i-tee 5:7.
Title card
Mary Mary
Nappy Roots
The Altarnet Experiment
The Altarnet Experiment was a youth music and culture series, made in a 30-minute daily edition and a 60-minute weekly edition for international, regional, and local schedules. People and groups featured on the show included Cleveland and Christopher, P.O.D., Angelica and Christopher, the O.C. Supertones, Sixpence None the Richer, and Superchick.
Cleveland and Christopher
The Light
In 2007 Altarnet prepared The Light Programming Network, a satellite and cable service planned for households across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Altarnet Media Institute
The Altarnet Media Institute trained and mentored emerging media professionals in practical, on-the-job apprenticeships. It was a values-based program aimed at positive programming. Students were placed in a professional work environment and produced actual television programs and video projects. Alongside the shows, Altarnet ran educational workshops, seminars, and extended internships in production and marketing.
Documentary films
Patrick J. McGuire produced, directed, and edited both of these short documentaries. Both films play on this page.
Serampore for the 21st Century
A 6-minute, 22-second film on the renewal of Serampore College, the college William Carey founded in the former Danish settlement of Serampore, just outside Kolkata. The film was made with the William Carey Heritage Foundation, which works with the college to carry on Carey’s legacy. Serampore has long been described as the first university in India.
Orissa: Community Transformation
A 5-minute, 26-second film on Christian community work in Orissa, on India’s Bay of Bengal coast. The state is a flood plain of about 37 million people, much of it rural and tribal, and one of the country’s poorest regions. McGuire and his team documented practical care for the whole community: social, economic, and spiritual. The organization in the film is Friends of Orissa.
Bible Islands
Altarnet presented Bible Islands, a closed virtual world for children and the adults who play with them. Games and activities highlighted the Bible, the Holy Land, and Christian values, and they also worked on math, reading, and thinking skills. Parents had their own page, could follow each child’s progress, and could play alongside them. A family membership covered personal player accounts for the household.
Part of the membership proceeds was designated for Altarnet’s media projects. The world was built with Christian content collaborators named on the original pages: the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Thomas Nelson and Glueworks Entertainment, and Answers in Genesis. Bible Islands was a product of Compedia Ltd.
