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Church Video Ideas: Beginning and Developing Your Church’s Media Ministry - Pt. 3

Orginally published on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 5:44 AM
by Greg Atkinson

Keys to a Winning Team Definition: “A team is a group of interdependent people committed to a common purpose who choose to cooperate in order to achieve exceptional results.” Synergy is when we come together to do that which we can’t do on our own.

“The best way to avoid burnout is to build depth within the team. A team with depth can better handle the transitions of life and continue to move ahead in ministry.” – Len Wilson, The Wired Church

Keep the team focused: Define and communicate your purpose. Come up with your mission, vision, and core values and teach it to your team regularly.

* The Creative Worship Planning Team: is usually made up of the Senior Pastor, Worship Pastor, and the following ministry leaders (if you have them): drama, graphics, video, creative writer, props. This is not a team for everyone on staff or even involved with worship – this is for your dreamers, artists and “out of the box” thinkers.

Ginghamsburg model: The Pastor shares the week’s Scripture passage and the “desired outcome”. The team asks questions for clarification and then throws out ideas. They decide on the “hook” (theme) and also the metaphor (look).

Time: Drama, graphics, video clips, music matched thematically - all are great, but take time. PLEASE NOTE: If you don’t know what the sermon is until Saturday night, NONE of the above is possible.

* The power of the series: Stand alone messages have their place, but there is no denying the power and potential of linking your messages together into a series (3 week, 5 week, etc. - I wouldn’t go beyond 7 weeks). REPITITION!

Resources:
1. There are a number of companies and churches that sell pre-packaged message series (often including title slide, promo, teaching outline, and even music suggestions). Check LifeChurch.tv’s OPEN and Seacoast’s All Access, plus companies like SermonSpice and WorshipHouse Media.
2. Your Creative Worship Planning Team can come up with your own series. Your graphic artists and techies can make visuals, promos, title slides, etc.

Discernment: Know when too much video/media is too much. Use media that supports the theme – it should never distract. Don’t be afraid to “cut the cheese”. If it doesn’t fit – don’t use it!

Planning and preparation: Tim Eason of ChurchMedia.net wrote an article about his bewilderment of people’s lack of planning and thought put into special gatherings, such as Easter. He was amazed that people were still downloading Easter graphics from his website as late as the night before and even the morning of Easter! When I was the Director of WorshipHouse Media, our biggest sales were Saturday night.

They should rehearse, too: The media team (your sound, media, and lighting techs) are a vital part of your worship team. They should be at rehearsal with the rest of the team (singers, band, choir, etc.). You may want to start small. You may not be ready to have your media techs at rehearsal (if there is nothing for them to do), but you should always have your sound techs there.

FREE Idea: Each Sunday morning before your first service, you should ALL participate in a total “run-through” with music, video, sound, and lights. Run through the service just like you will for the real thing.

Ways to take your ministry and team members to the NEXT LEVEL

Attend conferences and workshops as a team when possible: There are several great workshops/conferences hosted each year nationally, statewide, and locally.

Go on a retreat together: This is invaluable to the unity, fellowship, and tightness of your group. Retreats are a good time to reinforce lessons on teamwork, servant-hood, and ministry, as well as grow together and really get to know one another. Bring an “outside” retreat leader/speaker or lead it yourself! “In-house” retreats also work well when you are not able to get your whole team “away” for a weekend (Myself and other consultants/speakers are available to come to your church and lead a retreat).

Provide your worship team with the best technical support: INVEST in technical quality.

“Nothing adds to the flow of worship in a more understated way than a system that operates unnoticed. On the flip side, nothing detracts from a service more than a system that screeches and rasps.” - Dave Horn

See that your equipment is quality, in good working condition, user friendly, and “right for the job”. See that your techs are properly trained on how to use this equipment.

See what’s out there: Check out my blog for top quality companies that produce graphics, videos, loops, etc. Try to “raise the bar” of your church’s presentations.

Recruit, train, and value your Techs: Let’s face it: Your sound system can make or break you. Your video clip can add or take away from the service. Think of the tension you or your techs have experienced on a Sunday morning. We are in the 21st century! You MUST take the Media Ministry of your church seriously. If your techs are comfortable, confident, and competent, they will get less frustrated and all who work with them will too! I’ve found that the 2 biggest hindrances to services flowing smoothly and EVERYONE being more at ease are training and equipment.

* “Strive for excellence. Stand in grace.” – Tim Eason

Stretch yourself: Read, go to conferences, network, go to a museum, learn, question – GROW. Check the LINKS page of my blog for various growth sources. If you are “clueless” when it comes to media please get these 2 books: “Multimedia Made Easy” by Tim Eason and “Silver Screen, Sacred Story” by Michael Bausch (check out Chapter 2).

Minister to your team: People can sense when/if they are being “used”. Many of the people involved in a media ministry are not involved anywhere else in the church – they don’t sing, play anything, teach Sunday School, etc.. If you neglect the wonderful opportunity to minister to them and have them be a part of a “small group”, who will reach them and care for them?

Pray for your team: Regularly lift your team up to the Lord. Pray for them as a group and as individuals. Know their struggles and how you can best pray for them.

Greg Atkinson lives in Dallas with his wife and their three small children. Greg served previously as the Director of WorshipHouse Media, after having served as a worship pastor for 11 years. Greg is now the Technical Arts Director at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship and continues to consult, teach and write about worship, media and creative communication. You can connect with him through his daily blog, Church Video Ideas, his podcast, Creative Synergy, or his email: .

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