Archive for the 'Church video' Category

More Christmas Media Resources

Monday, December 17th, 2007

Here are a few Christmas media resources that my friends sent me to check out and are new for this year. I encourage you to check them out as well:

EXTRA:

Deck the Walls

I made a collection of still backgrounds last year for Christmas/Winter. You can purchase them HERE.

End Of The Year Savings For Your Media Budget

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

HWY end of year sale

Each season seems busier than the last when you’re in ministry, but no season tops this time of year! Here we are again in December juggling preparations for Christmas programs, special services, ministry outreach events, holiday parties, family events, not to mention Christmas shopping. And somewhere in here we have to focus on wrapping up “business” for the year. It’s time for those of us with “use-it-or-lose-it” budgets to make the most of whatever we’ve got left.

Thankfully, HighwayVideo.com has put together a terrific year-end sale, which means you can get more bang for the last of those 2007 bucks. From now until the end of the year, you can purchase ANY of Highway’s 5-video DVD volumes for only $25 each.

Highway Video makes some of the best videos on the market (in Collide Magazine I rated them as one of my Top 10 Church media producers), which makes these deep discounts all the more valuable. So check out Highway’s “2007 Blizzard of Savings” sale before the year, the sale and your budget all disappear!

Christmas Resources For 2007

Monday, December 10th, 2007

Christmas Media Review

Usually I do a thorough (and very time-consuming) review of all Christmas media resources each year, but this year I am swamped, so I’m going to link you to my review from last year HERE and the best of the new from this year HERE. I’ll be reviewing some select Christmas media products that are new for this year soon.

Also, a few years ago I worked on a template for a traditional “Lessons and Carols” service. I make it available to churches every year for free. If you’d like to use it, base yours off of it and make it your own, however it can serve you - download it HERE.

EXTRA:

A few years ago I arranged “O Holy Night” for worship leaders that lead from acoustic guitar and want something more modern sounding. You can download the chord chart HERE and listen to the arrangement HERE. On the recording, I’m playing guitar and a local worship leader friend (remember my blog on “The Network”) is singing.

PERSONAL:

I’m on vacation today through Wednesday. I hope to do a lot of reading and research for my book, as well as spend some time with my family and not think about church for a few days.

Join A Great Team In H-Town

Friday, December 7th, 2007

My friend, Dave Grumme, from Sugar Creek Baptist Church in Houston, TX is looking for a Creative Media Producer. This isn’t just any church, friends, this is the church that wins every film festival it enters. This team produces the finest media of any church in America. I was a judge at a film festival once where they won every category they entered, plus the they were the overall winner. Working with Dave will stretch you professionally and spiritually. If you are a talented media producer, I strongly encourage you to pray about this opportunity. Below is the job description from them:

Company: Sugar Creek Baptist Church
Job Title: Creative Media Producer
Description: The Creative Communications team at Sugar Creek Baptist Church is a highly creative and collaborative environment. We are a team of producers, directors, artists, designers, writers, programmers, technicians and musicians who are passionate about developing and executing shockingly beautiful, creative media to reach an audience who respond to spiritual concepts spoken in a visual language. We are currently seeking a full time Creative Media Producer to add to our team.

JOB SUMMARY:
The Creative Media Producer is a creative, energetic and organized team member with the ability to conceptualize, strategize, create and produce long and short form video projects, interactive media, and motion graphic designs. The primary focus of this position is to develop and produce creative media for our Student Ministry through individual ability and by building and leading a volunteer ministry.

This will involve:
Pre-production: concept meetings, script-writing, storyboarding, scheduling, and budgeting.
Production: Directing cast and crew, acquisition of video and audio, lighting and photography.
Post-production: logging, digitizing, editing, design, mixing, color correction, and output to various media formats.

The CMP is a devoted follower of Christ who maintains a life of spiritual development and accountability. The Creative Media Producer is a team player who exemplifies a positive “can do” attitude, creates and maintains a superior working environment and fosters an attitude of professional excellence.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

A committed follower of Jesus Christ with a call to ministry work for the purpose of utilizing video production to impact our community and world for Christ.
One year of professional video production experience.
A pro-active work ethic including a self-motivated drive for quality and creativity.
Excellent project management skills and ability to multi-task several projects at the same time.
Flexibility to adapt to unforeseen circumstances and a strong commitment to meeting deadlines.
Extreme attention to detail and a passion for excellence in creative and technical production.
Strong creative abilities.
Experience and training in digital video production exhibited by a professional reel.
Experience and training in studio and field production including lighting, audio and camera work.
Experience and training in post-production work including non-linear editing, compositing, and motion graphic design.
Expert use of the following programs: Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, DVD Studio Pro, Keynote, Soundtrack, Motion and Compressor

APPLICATION:

Sugar Creek Baptist Church offers a competitive salary and benefits package. This position is based in Sugar Land, Texas (a suburb of Houston) and the successful candidate will need to live within commuting distance or relocate.

To Apply:

1. Email a cover letter and resume including salary requirements (PDF is preferred). Submissions will not be considered without salary requirements.
2. Email links to your on-line work samples with detailed information about your specific involvement.
3. Mail a non-returnable DVD of your work to the address below.

Sugar Creek Baptist Church
Attn. Pastor of CC
13333 Southwest Freeway Ste. 200
Sugar Land, TX 77478

Have You Heard of Crossroads Creative?

Monday, December 3rd, 2007

I’d like to tell you a little more about one of the regular readers and comment contributors on this blog - his name is Richard Gaspard and he’s the Media Director of Crossroads Church and Director of Production of Crossroads Creative. Richard is a talented, visionary leader and has developed a video ministry that is truly on another level. (Remember my article: “The Next Level“?) Well, Richard and Crossroads have taken that step to the next level and started offering their media created in-house to other churches.

If you’re looking for media resources created by another church that can relate to your world, you’ll probably find something you can use at Crossroads Creative. Their videos are available for download or you can order the DVD volumes. They have creatively divided their resources into different series. Their series are called:

  • On Ramps (video sermon series intros)
  • Scenic Routes (video parables)
  • Fast Lanes (video skits)
  • Video (video clip-art or generic video announcements that you can customize for your church)

* PLEASE NOTE: For you, the readers of my blog, you can get 30% off your order through January 31st by using the promo code: CVIDEAS.

Personally, I’m proud of Richard and what he’s done at Crossroads and hope to see our video ministry expand in the future so we can offer “Bent Tree Media”. Well done Crossroads Church!

My Days Off

Saturday, December 1st, 2007

It’s rare that I post over the weekend. Just felt like blogging, I guess. Yesterday (Friday) was a day of running errands. I took my son with me, so it was some good father-son time.

Friday night I ended up running media (or VJ-ing) for a Michael English concert at Fellowship Dallas, where my friend Brian Davis serves as the Technical Director. Thanks to Brian for giving me the freedom to VJ and have some fun. I was running EasyWorship and doing some cool eye-candy on the screens while Michael English was singing. It was special for me, as I hadn’t seen him live in 12 years. It’s great to see that God did a big work in his heart and is still using him.

Tonight I get to take my oldest daughter on a date. We’re going to see the “Nutcracker”. I’m taking her to dinner before the ballet and she picked Denny’s. I don’t know why, but that’s where she wants to go, so Denny’s it is!

* On another note, I can’t believe it’s December!

What Are Your Christmas Plans?

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

Today we have another meeting to plan for our Christmas Eve services. We’re doing 2 services on Sunday, the 23rd and 3 services on Monday, the 24th. We’re doing a mixture of special music, a small dramatic presentation and a message. This is a small Christmas for us, as we’re maxed out with the new building coming soon. I’m curious… what are you doing at your church for Christmas?

Also, if you did something special for Thanksgiving, I’d love to hear about it.

EXTRA:

Many of you have emailed me about the audio equipment we’re selling at my church. Tomorrow I should have a complete list of model numbers, prices, etc.

PERSONAL:

It all comes down to the showdown tonight - the Cowboys and the Packers! Wouldn’t you know we have rehearsal during the game?  :(

Christmas Goodies

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

Yesterday was a 14 hour day, so I’ll be brief. I’ll be reviewing some new Christmas media resources in the near future. For now, I’d like to mention 2 things: One from SermonVideos.com and one from WorshipHouse Media.

SV ChristmasPak

My boy, Craig, and his team at SermonVideos.com have created a new Christmas Pak for ‘07. Their Christmas Paks are a favorite each year. I’d encourage you to check out the first two if you don’t have them and if you do, it’s time to purchase their new Christmas Pak 3. Go HERE and look for the newest resource on the right.

WHM daily freebie

My friends at WorshipHouse Media are giving away a FREE download every weekday until Christmas! That’s right… every weekday. Also you can watch a daily podcast from Dale and Kent. Go HERE and click on the “Daily Freebie” ad to go to each day’s freebie.

EXTRA:

If you’re a fan of Paul Baloche (like I am), you may want to check out his video of the Christmas version of his song, “Offering”. You can watch it HERE.

Tech Arts Leadership Team

Monday, November 26th, 2007

Last night after our last service I held the first gathering of our just formed “Technical Arts Leadership Team”. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but was busy settling in and focused on the new building. Now as we get closer to the transition into the new worship center, I see that forming this team and multiplying myself is essential.

The majority of staff and ministries at my church won’t be affected much by the move. My world (the Tech Arts Ministry) will be in store for a HUGE change. We have to train a large team of volunteers on all new, professional equipment. There will be learning curves across the board - new sound board, new lighting board, new video switcher, new cameras, new Video Suite/environment, new computers with new presentation software (we’re switching campus-wide to EasyWorship). New, new, new….my head is swimming with the newness of everything and the learning curves that lie ahead as I will attend each training session and need to be able to explain each new piece of equipment to a volunteer that misses the training (you know someone’s going to miss it).

I’ve attempted to share the burden and responsibility with my newly formed Tech Arts Leadership Team. The meeting went great. I gave them an update on what’s been going on lately, when we’re expected to move-in (it looks like Jan. 27 will be our first Sunday in the new worship center) and what the training and commissioning schedule looks like. I’ve asked each team member to step up, take ownership and leadership in their given area and be pro-active in seeing that their teams are trained.

Besides myself, as the leader, the Tech Arts Team is made up of one person overseeing the following:

  • Audio
  • Lighting
  • Video Production
  • Live Video
  • Graphics/Social Events
  • Volunteer Scheduling/Assimilation
  • Stage Managers
  • Systems/Equipment Maintenance

So, how do you do it at your church? Do you haves some sort of team like this in place in your tech or media ministry? If so, how does it work? How often do you meet? If not, maybe this is something worth considering. I’m excited about it!

EXTRA:

Collide 2

If you haven’t already, you need to check out Collide Magazine. In their second issue, I wrote about my Top Ten church media producers. Check out my list (plus 5 new up-and-comers) and see what you think. You can subscribe HERE.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:

Lest I forget: Yes, the Cowboys are 10-1. Just thought I’d mention that.

Catching Up

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

I’m off work today and hope to catch up on some long overdue reviews. You would not believe the amount of products that I receive from companies/producers. I have a stack of unopened packages sitting on a shelf in my house. I hope to review them today and tell you about them soon. Look for reviews of new media resources from LifeWay, Crossroads Creative and Christmas resources from Angelhouse Media, Flashlight Films, Highway Video and Worship Films.

Facebook group

If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to join my Facebook group for my upcoming book: Church 2.0. You can find the group HERE. I’d love for you to be a part of the group and join the conversation. Please feel free to post new topics and items for discussion.

EXTRA:
Kindle

Who’s hoping to get a Kindle this Christmas?