Guest blog by Steve Price (member of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians and Secretary of the Magic Circle)

The Fellowship of Christian Magicians (or FCM for short) is a group of Christian entertainers, who use their performing skills to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ.  The tricks that are performed are either used as “visual aids” (for example escaping from a pair of handcuffs and talking about how “Christ has set us free” – Galatians 5v1), or simply to attract / engage an audience.  It is a very effective method of presenting the Gospel in a clear and memorable way.

Some Christians are wary of performers who term themselves “magicians”.  The Bible is clear that Christians should not get involved with the occult, or with evil spirits – but this is absolutely not what we do!  Members of FCM use natural principles to produce amazing effects.  Most will freely admit that what they perform are simply “tricks”.  Robert Houdin (a French magician, who Harry Houdini named himself after) once said “A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician”.  Nowadays, most people understand that what they are seeing is not “real”, but merely special effects.

So what skills do you need if you want to try Gospel Magic?  Well, probably not the ones that immediately spring to mind!  Perhaps the most important skills are “people skills” – being confident; being able to make eye contact; being able to communicate clearly.  You might take these for granted, but so many performers think it’s all about the trick, that they forget the primary purpose – to entertain, and (if appropriate) share the Gospel.

Some tricks are easy to learn (they can be learnt in minutes), others are much more complicated (they take years).  Most magic sets, or books on magic from the library, are aimed at beginners and therefore focus on simple tricks that anyone can do.  This is the way to start.  If you get bitten by the bug, why not join FCM?  FCM has a national conference each year (along with several regional events).  FCM provides ideas, lectures and hands-on workshops to enable you to develop your magic skills and use them to teach the gospel. Find out more about the Fellowship of Christian Magicians at www.fcmuk.org

Steve Price is Secretary of the world famous Magic Circle.  He has been performing full time since 2005 and each year he performs for a large number of churches and Christian groups.  You can contact him at:

info@stevepriceillusions.co.uk

07986 219997

www.stevepriceillusions.co.uk