Church Video Ideas

Don’t worry: this is a G-rated blog. I was reflecting on what makes me smile these days and what I’ve used as a way to not go insane with all the craziness at church. It’s a special time that I look forward to each night. My wife and I started this months ago. Each night, after the kids go to bed, we pop in a DVD and watch various TV shows or movies together. It sounds simple, but it’s been a great stress reliever and is something we’re able to do together and just enjoy laughing together.

First we watched all 3 seasons of “Arrested Development”. I think that show has one of the greatest and most perfectly cast ensembles ever on television. Then we watched all the “Harry Potter” movies (because my wife had read the books, but never saw the movies). Then we watched all 3 “Lord of the Rings” (because my wife had read the books, but never saw the movies). Then we watched seasons 1-3 of “The Office” (gotta love Dwight!). Now we’ve gone back to Season One of “Lost” and have started working our way through each episode. We’re going to watch every episode of “Lost” and then I’m hoping I can get my wife hooked on my favorite show: “24″. I think if we start with Season One, she’ll get hooked!

The challenge of watching episodes on DVD is knowing when to go to bed. It’s so easy to say, “Let’s just watch one more.” Have you experienced that? I have to make myself stop and go to bed. What shows do you enjoy?

EXTRA:
My Tarheels are back on top. Number 1, baby!

Hello and a good day to you all. What a week it has been. I have definitely sensed the power of prayer and the presence of God this week. Thanks for all your calls, texts, prayers and emails. I haven’t been able to answer email since Monday, so forgive me for taking a while to reply.

This week has been amazing! We’ve had long days of setup, planning, building, buying, cleaning and prepping - mixed with full nights of training and rehearsals - followed by late nights of working after rehearsal. The transformation of seeing our “construction zone” change into a worship center has been indescribable. When I heard our worship pastor start to sing the first song from the stage 2 nights ago, I almost lost it. It was such as rush and breath of fresh air. You can get so caught up in all the details and fires to put out that you can easily forget that this is our new home and where future special times of corporate worship will take place.

I have never been so proud of a team, as I have been this week. From my staff, to volunteers taking off work to come and help out during the day, to my tech arts team training and rehearsing each night - it’s been wonderful to see the response. My admins have been pro-active and God-sends - they have literally thought for me, fought for me, answered and worked for me and protected me from any distractions. They also saw that we had home-made meals brought to the church each night, including a meal for my staff and our families last night.

Yesterday, we as a Worship & Arts staff had a mandatory meeting from noon to 2pm. Our worship pastor had planned a special trip and no one would tell us where we were going. Our admins had gotten us boxed lunches to eat in the car and flew to our unknown destination. We arrived shortly later at the local IMAX theater. I’m a “movie-guy”, so I was thinking cool - “I wonder which movie we’re going to see”.

Our worship pastor bought everyone’s tickets and gave them out without saying anything. The ticket lady handed us a pair of 3D glasses and we were rushed into the dark theater. We sat down to see, feel, almost touch and experience U2-3D on the IMAX screen. Words can’t describe it…

For the next 2 hours we were absolutely blown away by the most amazing movie and/or concert experience any of us have ever experienced - it was just what the doctor ordered. I smiled the whole time. We left the theater refreshed and with new wind in our sails. It was a moment I will never forget. My boss (our worship pastor) is the greatest and his love for us was poured out on us. I thank God for our team.

Speaking of teams - I’m watching my tech arts team grow each night. You can literally feel the excitement, energy and momentum. People that haven’t served since I started at the church (this Sunday is my one year anniversary) have come out of the woodworks to participate and get trained on the new gear. I have sat back in wonder and praised God for what he’s doing all around me.

That’s all for now. I must get some rest. I’ll be back in “blogging action” soon.

PERSONAL:

Yes, I did miss “Lost” due to work/rehearsal. Please don’t call or email me and tell me what happened. Shame on some of you!

Thanks to my friend, Phil Cooke, for posting this blog on the Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD war. Apparently, Blu-Ray is the future. We had recently been discussing this at my church - wondering what we should put in our video control room. Guess we’re going Blu-Ray shopping.

FYI - Both Phil and I will be speaking at NRB and NAB. If you’re there and have never been to one of his classes, I encourage you to check him out - you won’t be disappointed. In February, I’ll be reviewing Phil’s new book on this blog.

PERSONAL:

I’m extremely disappointed with the Cowboys.

It’s good to be back blogging. I got back Tuesday night from Atlanta. We had a great trip and great meeting with Clark ProMedia. I came home to find out that our home internet was down and so wasn’t able to blog Wed. and Thurs. (I didn’t have time to go somewhere else with my laptop).

I was swamped all day Wed. and Thursday, then left Friday morning to go to Phoenix, AZ. I had a great visit with Christ Life Church in Tempe, AZ. Above is a picture of me in the middle and Jeremy (their worship pastor) on the left and Tim (their media minister) on the right. They are great guys and serve at a church with a ton of potential. I look forward to continuing to work with them. Below (besides seeing Beowulf) was the highlight of my trip. That’s right… they have In-N-Out Burger in Phoenix, too!

I came home late Saturday night, got up early Sunday and we had a great day of worship at my church on Sunday. I left the best for last - the ultimate highlight of my week was my oldest daughter praying to receive Christ on Wednesday night. Yesterday we celebrated that at my church with a rose on the platform! We took a picture of her with her rose that I’ll post in the near future.

Now it’s back to work with a short week. What are you doing for Thanksgiving? We’re staying in town and have family coming to us.

If you don’t read WIRED magazine, I highly suggest you check it out. This past month’s issue came with a cool supplement called their “Geekipedia” - “149 people, places, ideas and trends you need to know now”. It’s pretty cool. I’ve asked this before, but I like getting updates. What magazines do you read? How many of you have checked out the new Collide Magazine? On my “Charter Sponsors” page, you can see some other magazines that I subscribe to and recommend. One final question: Do you have a favorite magazine? If so, what is it?

Wednesday night, our top candidate for the Audio Coordinator position flew in. I was with him and in several meetings all day yesterday. He’ll be here all weekend and run Front of House on Sunday. Pray that God would give us wisdom and discernment.

EXTRA:

One of my favorite producers, SermonVideos.com, has a new and improved website. Check it out HERE!

BONUS:

If you or creative people you know are into video production, you might be interested in this…

WorshipMusic.com is hosting an “I Will Remember - Music Video” Contest

They are looking for a fresh and well done music video to go along with song track “I Will Remember”. The entry who wins gets a $500 shopping spree at WorshipMusic.com. All those creatives and filmmakers at your church can get the details and info HERE.

The contest runs during the month of Sept., so its “go time” if you’re interested.

EXTRA, EXTRA:

Collide Magazine ships today. This is THE new magazine for those involved in ministry and media. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can HERE.

In meeting with the folks at MediaShout the other week, they mentioned that out of the list of the Top 25 Most Innovative Churches in the US, 19 of them used MediaShout. I found that interesting. I’m a regular user of EasyWorship, but also have a great respect for ProPresenter and MediaShout. I’m curious as to what you use at your church…SO, I created a Squidoo poll where you can vote. Please go HERE to place your vote or.

EXTRA:

Have you heard of Sermon Cinema? Might be worth checking out.

PERSONAL:

Yesterday was a great day. We did a funny drama, great music, our pastor was back from his sabbatical and we played an in-house video we did that was hilarious. Also, we had 4 people shadowing people on the Tech Arts team and watching what was going on behind the scenes. We just did a volunteer campaign called “iServe” and it produced some great new contacts.

Also, after our last service last night, I got to sneak over to Denton Bible and catch one of my favorite artists in concert: Shawn McDonald! I love him, his music and his testimony. Wow!

As I mentioned before, I’m holding several training sessions at my church this summer. The first one is for video directors/switchers and is this Thursday night. I have some “in-house” things that I’m going to talk about as well as some skills we’ll seek to learn/improve. I’m curious, though, if any of you have 3 tips or guidelines that you would share in general with video directors. I’d love to hear them.

EXTRA:

Simpsons fans will dig this cool interactive promotion for the upcoming film based on the animated family. You can go HERE to get “Simpsonized.” Basically, you just need to upload a photo of yourself to get transformed into a character.

BONUS:

“Five Storytelling Secrets for Pastors and Teachers” by Steven James:

• Key #1 - Let the story speak for itself.
• Key #2 - Stop telling your listeners what happened and start showing them who struggled.
• Key #3 - When you tell stories from your life, always be the mistake maker.
• Key #4 - Never tell the same story twice.
• Key #5 - Pretend Less; Believe More.

To read the entire article click HERE.

I’m back home after attending my family reunion in South Carolina. The highlight of my trip was spending time with my mom and step-dad, my sister’s family and visiting Brookwood Church, where I visit whenever I’m in town. I enjoyed talking with their youth pastor and senior pastor. The family reunion was so-so. My brother, who I haven’t seen or heard from in 3 years was there. He said “Hi” and “Bye” - that’s about it. My kids didn’t even know who he was. That’s life. We all come from various family backgrounds and dynamics. We all need prayer. I know I do.

BONUS:

• Get FREE “Evan Almighty” video clips from SermonSpice.com HERE.
• Get a cool liquid distressed motion background from WorshipHouse HERE.

After being sidelined for a while with a fractured foot and aching back, I was thrilled to join the ranks of the healthy last night as I played in a softball game. I haven’t played softball in over a year, so I’m sure I’ll feel it today. I appreciate all the prayers for my back and overall healing.

My family is out of town this week, so I’m living the bachelor life. After the softball game, I made it in time to catch a 9:30pm movie (it was $.50 Tuesday at the dollar theater). I saw “Next” with Nicholas Cage. I like Nicholas Cage and I enjoyed the movie, except for the ending. I thought it was a horrible ending. Has anyone else seen this movie? If so, what did you think of the ending?

EXTRA:

I forgot to mention Father’s Day resources from Angelhouse Media yesterday. I encourage you to check out their media resources HERE. They have “I Love You Dad” - which is similar to what they did for moms. They also have a countdown and loops. Check them out!

BONUS:

As you know, I love the band: MuteMath. They just recorded the theme song for the new “Transformers” movie. You can check it out HERE.