To those who attended my breakout session on visual media at the BCMD Worship Team Boot Camp on Feb. 25, thank you so much for attending! I hope the day was as much a blessing for you as it was for me. As promised, here are my notes from the session.
- Role of technology/Visual Media in a worship setting
- To create an environment
- Visual Worship Leaders
- What is a worship leader?
- A worship leader can’t make people worship, and it’s not our responsibility
- Two things we can do:
- We can and should respond to God with worship.
- We can and should speak, sing, play, create, and use technology in such a way that the people we hope to lead receive every opportunity to respond to God with worship.
- What is a Visual Worship Leader?
- Oversees, curates, prepares the visuals
- In a very real sense you shape the direction of the service
- It’s your job to help everyone know where they should be:
- Congregation: What words am I supposed to sing right now?
- Band: What words am I supposed to sing next?
- If you don’t go at the appropriate time, you can cause a bit of chaos
- At times, you have a greater influence on the environment of worship than anyone else
- Choices you make impact the flow and experience of the service in significant ways
- Be vigilant, always listening, always watching, always learning
- To serve the Word
- Four load-bearing walls of Worship Service (Constance Cherry)
- Gathering
- Word
- Table/Response
- Sending
- The Word is the focus – everything points to it
- Message over media
- Don’t do something just because it looks cool – does it serve the message?
- Example: structure visuals around the sermon
- We create graphics for sermon series
- Those inform our visuals throughout
- Message over media
- Four load-bearing walls of Worship Service (Constance Cherry)
- Band and pastor can’t do their job without you
- Not a job you can do without preparation
- To create an environment
- General Pointers
- Backgrounds
- Not too many colors
- Not too much motion
- You’ve got to be willing to delete stuff that looks cool
- Not too many changes
- Every song doesn’t have to have a different background
- Same goes for slides in the sermon presentation.
- Keep the background and use foreground images
- Text
- legible
- common font and size for songs
- slightly smaller font size for message
- create a style that you think looks good, stand at the back and make sure you can read it.
- comprehensible
- how much is too much at one time?
- less is more
- the great serif debate (serif or sans serif)
- sans serif all the way baby! (it’s less cluttered and therefore easier to read in a worship setting)
- concise idea onscreen – not multiple ideas – specifically in the worship context
- I usually shoot for no more than 2-4 lines per slide in a song
- 4-6 lines per slide in a sermon presentation
- care for orphans and widows (in text)
- Punctuation & Phrasing
- relax, it’s just poetry
- rules of sentence structure don’t necessarily apply
- commas and line breaks dictate phrasing (but you don’t have to SHOW the commas)
- I don’t include punctuation at the end of a line except for quotes and questions
- relax, it’s just poetry
- how much is too much at one time?
- Lighting
- Use light to define spaces
- Example:
- Smaller lit area during preaching
- Larger one during music
- Example:
- Be conscious of the emotional impact of color and light
- DO NOT USE RED
- Think about your house lights
- Up or down?
- Don’t be afraid to go black
- Use light to define spaces
- legible
- Backgrounds
- Resources
- Books
- Websites
- visualworshiper.com – blog
- http://www.sundaymag.tv/lighting-color-theory/ – great article by Camron Ware about the emotional impact of color
- lukemcelroy.com – articles
- judkossum.wordpress.com – my blog
- Visual Media
Well, there you have it! If you have any questions, feel free to comment here.