ok….maybe only 3 months…and its been a very busy 3 months. I have a couple of things in the pipes that will get posted to churchnology.com here in the next couple of days. dc has also been too busy to post with a recent new addition to his family with a new baby girl. But there is hope, as spring is approaching we will not only post more but expand churchnology to not only presentation software and audio visual support but also branch into blogging (and obviously, the time required) and also the basics of using the web to the advantage of the church both in promotion as well as ministry focused uses as well. So if you’ve been waiting on new posts they are coming and if you just now discovered churchnology.com read some of our older posts to get a feel for what we are….but the long and short of it is….We’re BACK!!!

How many times have you sat in church and seen a short clip of a movie as the pastor’s illustration? Or, sang along with a nice Powerpoint presentation of a praise song? Or, sang the printed words of a praise song from the bulletin? Did you ever see the letters CCLI and a number printed on the slides, or the handout? If not, there is a good chance you were watching an infringement of copyright that could cost the church up to $30,000 per incident. The CCLI was created to enable churches to be able to use copyrighted material in worship without having to contact he copyright holders individually EVERYTIME they need permission to use the song, words and the CVLI was created for protecting the copyright of videos and dvd’s.

Both these organizations are very important to the way you are able to use media in your services. But there is good news, both are annual licenses and are priced according to average Sunday attendance. The CVLI license gives you over 100 movie production companies including most of the major studios and the CCLI license gives you access to over 150,000 songs.

The major third party worship software applications integrate the CCLI license number into the presentations and also are able to download lyrics directly from the CCLI website.

We need to remember copyright infringement is a serious issue in the digital age and it is the Church’s responsibility to make sure it respects all copyright laws.

This post is going to build on DC’s last post as well as touch back on the very first post on Churchnology.com

Pull out your answers to the following questions:

Average Age?
Average Education level?
Level of Employment?
Number of families with small children?
Involvement with Church Activities/ Groups?
Do they go to the Movies?
Do they listen to the radio?
Do they follow the local sport teams?
Do they give topical suggestions of what they’d like to see in the service?
Are you a rapidly growing church?
What is the largest demographic growing in your church? (youth, young Adults, young married couples, new families, baby boomers,seniors)

The answers to these questions should shape the answers to these five new questions:

What?

Why?

When?

How?

and maybe the most important in this sense:

If?

Let me explain:

and go back to the title of this post: How much is enough? or maybe, How much is TOO much?

The demographics of your church directly impact and focus how you use technology in your services.  Most people that work with media and ministry would suggest different approaches to integrating technology into a worship service depending on the median age of the participants.  I have a 4 year old son and I am learning day by day what methods work and don’t work when it comes to enacting change in his life.  This is a great analogy in regards to integrating technology into a worship service.  Remember: NOT EVERYTHING YOU TRY IS GOING TO WORK FOR EVERYBODY.

The path DC and I are suggesting can be summed up in two words: baby steps.

Let me give you an example:

Average Age?    40 years old
Average Education level?   some college
Level of Employment?    business professionals, doctors, lawyers
Number of families with small children? 10
Involvement with Church Activities/ Groups?    about 45% are involved with at least 1 church activity or group
Do they go to the Movies?  the younger congregants more than the older congregants
Do they listen to the radio?     mostly classic rock, christian, or country; some talk or sports
Do they follow the local sport teams?  yes
Do they give topical suggestions of what they’d like to see in the service?  some but it usually is divided-younger want more contemporary; older want more traditional hymns
Are you a rapidly growing church?  growing steady but would say rapidly
What is the largest demographic growing in your church? (youth, young Adults, young married couples, new families, baby boomers,seniors) empty nest and seniors

Which now causes us to plan our integration based on the answers to these questions:

What? How? When?

Based on the age, education level and involvement with Church activities this could be as little as taking the Church Annoucements out of the bulletin and creating a powerpoint slide presentation that is played via projector before church starts; after a couple of weeks use the projector for Annoucements and maybe the scripture readings or responsive readings during the service;  4-6 weeks since using the projector for announcements you involve your music minister or choir director and integrate a couple of praise songs into the service and ONLY the praise songs are projected; the traditional hymns are still sung from the hymnals; 8-10 weeks you transition the traditional hymns over to the projector and add the Pastors “talking points” or scripture references to be displayed while he’s speaking.

Why?

This method of integration allows the entire congregation to take baby steps into the deep end of the pool slowly and together.  By slowing warming up the congregation to the use of the projector, before long if the projector was down for repair, you will hear how much the congregation missed it being there.

This method also adds the technology without taking away the traditional aspects that are so important to some of the older members.  It also allows everyone to follow along with the pastor as well as be more involved with the singing because they are no longer looking down into a book but instead are looking towards the platform.

And for the pastor it gives them greater control over changing the flow or direction of the sermon as they are led.  Third party software like MediaShout or EasyWorship allow song lyrics and scriptures to be integrated with no distraction to the congragation “on the fly”  as well as integrate video clips directly into the sermon as illustrations.

and

If?

This one is the biggie….what do you do If no one likes it and everybody complains?  This is a trick question.  These two things you need to do before you ever embark on integrating technology into worship.  If you do this first, hopefully, you’ll never  have to deal with the If no likes it and everybody complains?

First, Pray.  Seriously, pray that this is the best direction for the church to go and pray what to integrate so that it doesn’t alienate but invites people to accept the idea of technology and worship. 

Second, Don’t laugh at this,   Form a committee-Involve each age group and let them tell you what they need to see specifically in the service and sculpt the use of technology to meet those needs.

More to come-

This blog is not for just churches new to the idea of integrating technology into church but at the same time some of the hints, tricks and tips we offer may sometimes be things old pros know but may have forgotten or have become so comfortable they don’t pause and take the time to do anymore.  Honestly, it happens to all of us.

Allow me to write a few words of introduction. I am an AV professional that has 18 years experience running sound for large and small scale events and concerts. I also have experience in supervising the design, installation and operation of a University’s classroom technology, performance venues and conference rooms. I have worked with the Gospel music association for the Academy on Campus program. One such event had Casting Crowns as the winner of the event. I have worked with many artists in Christian music at churches ranging from small to large churches. AV is my passion and calling. It is a talent that God has given me and called me to aid others. II love to share how to use it with others and want to be a resource for any ministry that needs help.

Just as LG stated, I hate to see churches make a big deal of using technology, just to use it poorly. I feel that anything that the church does should be the absolute best for God’s glory. Technology is yet one more thing to should be done well.

Thanks,

DC

The first thing we need to cover as we start our journey is NOT how to use technology in church. It’s how to prepare to use technology in church. The level and definition of “being prepared” really depends on the congregation of your church or the make up of your Youth Ministry. Following will be a simple list of questions you need to have answered BEFORE you attempt to introduce technology into your program. You know your group so only you will know the answers. Yes I know, it sounds like a dating site form but in a way you can’t expect your application of technology to work if you don’t know your target audience. I’ll explain the need for answers for the qwirky questions as we go along.
Average Age?
Average Education level?
Level of Employment?
Number of families with small children?
Involvement with Church Activities/ Groups?
Do they go to the Movies?
Do they listen to the radio?
Do they follow the local sport teams?
Do they give topical suggestions of what they’d like to see in the service?
Are you a rapidly growing church?
What is the largest demographic growing in your church? (youth, young Adults, young married couples, new families, baby boomers,seniors)

Only you are going to know your group and if you come up with other questions that help you define your target audience, please share those with us here in the comments section.
We’ll go in depth on why the answers to these questions are so important as you strive to integrate technology into your programs/services in the next installment. To be continued…