I love going to see a good movie. Heck, I love going to see a mediocre movie. I'm just a huge fan of film.
When imagining what this team might look like 9 years ago or so, I knew the world was becoming more video-oriented (youtube was still sort of new) and that if the church was going to communicate in a language the world could understand, film was a key ingredient.
And so in our church of 200-250 people, we would create between 20 and 40 original videos a year depending on the vision for a particular series or service. Here are some of the ways my team members came up with to use video effectively:
1) Original background for songs. When the choir sang "God of Wonders" we created a background that was timed to the music. Then when it became a congregational song, we continued to use it behind the lyrics we sang. Another favorite of mine was "How He Loves." Oh, and "God of This City." Guess I had a lot of favs.
2) Music Videos. Sometimes there was a song we wanted to use but it didn't seem like a good choice for a solo or choir or congregation piece, so we'd buy the song and set video to it. These were often very powerful moments.
3) Drama on Screen. We sometimes wrote original scripts and then, to use locations or to ensure the best performances (you can do multiple takes on video, not in live theatre tho!) we would film the drama and show it before a sermon. I remember one time we did a play on "National Treasure" movies and taught about the incredible value of the Bible. It's one of my favorite examples of this because we sent a team of students on a "treasure hunt" and filmed them all over town. Then, as we watched the video of them walking up to the front of the church building, we stopped the video and they walked in to finish the script live. I absolutely loved the integration of video and live theater. It was really effective!
4) Baptism Videos. Lots of churches do these, and I'm so glad we did them too. The benefits are many, but one of the things I wish we'd done is give each person a copy of their video testimony along with a video of them being baptized. Maybe that's something you're already doing. I just didn't think of it 'til after I'd left. There's no doubt that there are times it serves our faith journey to remember clearly how we were rescued by Jesus. These videos can do that well.
5) Other. I'm not even thinking of another way we used original video, but there probably were others. That's the nature of the creative process. We were not just trying to find ways to make videos. We were trying to find ways to communicate Biblical truth. Video was a servant. If there were other ways we could imagine serving the objective, we'd find a way to make it happen. That's part of the joy of the creative process.
A note, now that we've watched a handful of years go by. The videos available (free or inexpensive) are now myriad. That wasn't the case when we built this team. I go to www.worshiphousemedia.com almost every time I plan a worship gathering. There are other great resources. Be sure to check out a variety of them to see which may resonate with your church best.
But don't sell out to mass-marketed videos completely. There is still something amazing about seeing video that is unique to your church. For example, when we dedicated our refurbished worship space, we used the song "God of This City." There is a guy in that church who flies helicopters for a living. So I grabbed the camera, strapped in to the passenger seat, and we flew over OUR city, OUR church, and when we sang those lyrics with that video in the background... well, you can imagine. By the way, cost of such a project? $3 for the tape and several hours of time on the part of a handful of people.
I loved what Cara and her folks did with this part of our team!
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