Coordination : Making Your Church Tech More Effective

Making Your Church Tech More Effective 

When we talk about keys to doing church tech better, we often discuss the need for prayer, reliance on the leading of the Holy Spirit, or more training for tech volunteers - all of which are legitimate keys.  But there is one key to effectiveness that, in my experience, is consistently overlooked: coordination.

We may, for instance, have a lighting plan for Sunday that looks amazing when considered by itself.  We may have also chosen the video backgrounds for our worship set that we think are most appropriate.  What's missing?  The synergy we get when we coordinate those two elements.

In another instance, our senior pastor may have been preparing a great message for Sunday, while our soloist has been working on getting an awesome song ready.  The thing is, the song and the message have nothing to do with each other - and that is not wrong.  It is just that it could be so much more effective with some advance coordination.

If your church has a technical director, he will most likely be the one charged with coordinating the technical side with the plans of the teaching pastor and worship leader.  If you do not have a technical director, consider experimenting with a weekly planning meeting that includes the senior or teaching pastor, the worship leader, the video director, the lighting director, and the head sound engineer.  At that meeting, you may wish to discuss coordinating these service elements (not an exhaustive list):

• sermon>>supporting video and visual notes
• sermon>>set (on platform) elements or objects
• sermon>>special music
• worship songs>>video backgrounds
• worship songs>>lighting
• video backgrounds>>lighting
• countdown/pre-service video>>sermon
• special music>>video projection
• special music>>lighting
• lighting>>set (on platform) elements or objects

In short, we are simply more effective when we unite our individual areas into a coordinated effort, instead of seeing each area as a stand-alone entity.  If you have not made much of an attempt to coordinate previously, try it.  Be intentional about it, and be disciplined.  I think you will see some immediate and positive results. 

Should You Move to HD Projection? 

Many churches are currently debating over whether or not to upgrade their projection equipment to high definition (HD).  Is the change inevitable? Necessary? Good stewardship?

The answer is certainly not the same for every church. But as you are seeking God for direction, here are a few questions you will want to be asking:

1.How important is your media ministry to the overall ministry of your church? 

•  Do you use projection every week?

•  Is your media an "out-in-front" ingredient in your worship service?

•  Do you consider your projection a key tool in drawing people to your services?

•  Do people routinely comment on how the media you display has impacted them?

•  Do you project full-length movies for outreaches or other purposes?

•  In what ways would a failure to make the upgrade hinder the ministry of the church? 

2.Can you afford the upgrade?

•  Have you done your homework on equipment and installation pricing?

•  Have you traced your video signal from end-to-end to make sure that all components can process an HD signal?  If you have a component that cannot, is the replacement cost for that component included in your estimates?
•  Will you have to take on additional debt to obtain the equipment, or have the funds already been budgeted?  

3.Will a change in screen size work with the architecture of your existing building?

•  Most HD projection is done using a 16:9 screen aspect ratio instead a 4:3 ratio.  Can your building easily accommodate the change?

4. Is the media that you want to project available in HD resolution?

•  Many Christian video producers are still creating content that is only available in standard resolution.  How about your favorite producers? (WorshipFilms.com has a ton of HD content - just for the record!)

•  If your favorite videos are not available in HD, have you experimented to see what they will look like "stretched"?  Some still look great, others - not so much... 

5.  Will making this expenditure, at a time of economic hardship for many, create a stumbling block to your members who have continued to sacrificially give, or are they supportive of making the investment, realizing it is important to your church's ministry?

6.  What other investments or new ministries will be put off or cancelled in order to make this change possible? 
Ultimately, of course, we want the heart of God on this decision, just as we do in every decision.  These questions are only meant as guideposts to be prayerfully considered.                                                                                                                                     

Finding the Balance: Money & Resource for Creativity

Finding the Balance 

There is a massive trend taking place in the Sunday morning church service. Many, if not most, churches are stepping up their efforts to be creative in the way they communicate, and in large part, this is a good thing.  But it comes with a price tag and raises some questions that deserve serious consideration.


The price tag comes in three forms:

1.  Capital Expenditures.  There is no end to the list of equipment that we can purchase and implement to help us "do better" on Sundays.  Intelligent lights, audio recording equipment, in-ear monitors, fog machines, projectors for environmental projection, faster computers - they all represent significant investments.

2.  Manpower.  Creativity takes time.  Time to brainstorm, write, rehearse, build and install sets, coordinate lighting and projection, create videos, and more.

3.  Opportunity Costs.  This may be the biggest expense of all. What things are being left undone that could have been accomplished with the money and manpower we are pouring into our creativity?

As we consider these costs, and weigh them against the need to be more creative in our communication, how do we find the place of balance?  Where is the line between what is needed and what is unnecessary extravagance? Unfortunately, there is not one right answer, but here are a couple guideposts they may help us as we seek God for His leading:

1.  Who are we (as a local church body) called to reach?  And are we the type of congregation that depends heavily on the Sunday service to see people won to Christ, or are we more missions-oriented and evangelistic?  The answer to the question of how much to invest in creativity is significantly tied to those two questions.

2.  Is the payoff there?  If it cost us 40 man hours to get a skit together, does the skit move the hearts of our people and make the message memorable enough to justify it?  If we are using 20 man hours per week to prepare video announcements for the service, does the impact of those videos justify the time spent?

3.  What is our motivation?  If our motivation is that we want to help people grasp what God is wanting to say, or we want to help people enter into true worship, then we have to at least give serious consideration to the idea.  If our motivation is to be the coolest looking church in town, or we want to be able to play with the latest tech toy, we probably need to back up and reconsider.

We need to be effective - effective in the way we use our time, and effective in the way we allocate our resources.  And creativity is a tool that we should use only when it causes us to be more effective. Being creative for any other reason is a waste.
                                                                 

Keith Green: Here I Am Send Me

Oh lord, there's just so much to be done.
Oh lord, so many souls to be won,
Oh lord, this world is falling apart,
Dying for love from a broken heart.

Here am i, send me, though there's really not that much i can do.
What i have seems so small, but i want to give it all to you.

Oh lord, you said the harvest was great,
But lord, looks like the workers are late.
It's getting hard to understand,
How they ignore your great command.

Here am i, send me, though you said the ones who labor are few,
Still my heart hears the call, and i wanna give it all to you.

Oh, to reach the ones nobody does,
Give up my pride and even work in the mud,
I wanna be like those who spilled their blood,
And gave it like water to you.

Oh lord, there's just so much to be done.
Oh lord, so many souls to be won,
It seem this world is falling apart,
Lord won't you send me?

Oh lord, there's just so much to be done.
Oh lord, so many souls to be won,
Oh lord, this world is falling apart,
Crying for love from a broken heart.

Here am i, send me, though there's really not that much i can do.
What i have seems so small, but i want to give it all to you.

Here am i, send me,
Though you said the ones you've chosen are few,
Still my heart hears you call,
And i wanna give it all to you.

All Because (The Passion of Christ) by Tree63

Blessed Be Your Name (worship video w/ lyrics)