Back to Basics: Media Ministry - How?

How do we do media ministry?

The short answer is very intentionally.  Media is not a tool that can just be thrown together and expected to be effective.  Unfortunately in many churches that is exactly what is happening.  The results are mixed.  In the area of audio, video and lighting sometimes you pull it off and sometimes you don’t.  If you pull it off then maybe someone was affected and their heart and mind was opened to what God had for them but your tech team is stressed to the point of breaking and completely missed the message of what the media was being used for.  If you don’t pull it off then nobody was affected and you probably lost someone for the entire service and in extreme cases maybe forever.

I don’t mean to be overly dramatic here so let me clarify.  How many of you have family members and friends that don’t know Christ?  I have a bunch.  It is like trying to push an elephant out of the way with a feather to get them to step foot in a church.  So say you finally do get them to come to church and the sound is bad, video is out of sync and a light bulb falls and hits someone in the head.  Ok, so the last one is out of our control and yes, that did happen.  What I’m trying to say here is that every Sunday we may have only that one chance to reach a particular person for Christ.  And we are not ready…

So how do we get ready?  Let’s take a trip shall we?  

First and foremost is PRAYER.  We should start everything by going before the throne of God and seeking His will.  We need to ask God where we are going and let Him provide us with a map.  We should be praying for God’s guidance in how to specifically implement media into every ministry of our churches.  We should be praying for guidance into what media to implement for elements of our worship services.  We should be praying for our team members and the staff in the area of spiritual growth.  We should be praying for our team members and everyone else who will be performing their duties during a worship service.  I also say a special prayer for media use in funerals and weddings because I know there will be people in the audience that this really is the only time they come into a church.  Prayer is our first step of communication.

Colossians 4:2 (NLT) 2Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
 

Next thing we have to do to get ready is PLANNING.  God has given us a map so now we need to start plotting our course.  Like I said before, using media should be very intentional.  The decision to use media at all and what specific forms of media to use should come out of the planning for outreach, worship services and other special events.  Everyone needs to be communicating what God has laid on their heart concerning a certain event, sermon series, ministry etc.  If God is in it then we should all be on the same page of the map and carrying out a plan instead of everyone doing their own thing.  It makes it so much easier when everyone is using the same map to get somewhere.  If I know before hand what the heart of the worship leader is on a theme then I can create an atmosphere with sound, lighting and video to help convey that to the congregation.  
Now the pastor also needs to be of the same thinking.  We need to all be going the same place if you know what I mean.  If the pastor is preaching on a topic and the worship leader is leading us in songs the complete opposite of the topic then it makes it very difficult to use media consistently especially if you had no input and are making a cursory attempt to implement.  Everyone feels like they are on roller coaster ride.  
Good planning will also lead to less stress and exasperation of your team by them not having to react to everything on the fly every Sunday.  Some people are fine with adapting to a whim but most technical people are not.  The remedy to all of this is effective communication and planning.  

Proverbs 3:21 - 23 (NLT) 21My child, don’t lose sight of good planning and insight. Hang on to them,  22for they fill you with life and bring you honor and respect.  23They keep you safe on your way and keep your feet from stumbling. 

Proverbs 21:5 (NLT) 5Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.


PREPARATION is the next thing that needs to happen to get ready.  After you have prayed for God’s guidance and have plotted the course then it is time to prepare for the trip.  Prayer and planning should also be part of your preparation.  If you have planned and now know what the destination everyone is heading toward then it is most certainly easier to set lighting and choose what graphics, fonts and video you need to use.  In your preparation think of how this graphic or motion or video will be perceived and does it really fit into getting people to the destination.  Get others in your family or your friends to look at things and see what they think.  Continue the effective communication by running everything through those that were involved in planning to make sure you are staying true to what was planned.
Also with preparation comes the administrative part.  You need to keep in communication with your team who will be implementing the media by operating equipment.  They need to know what the plan is as well.  If we all plan a trip and have a bus (media) to take us there, then we better let the bus driver know where we want to go or we will never get there.  Our audio, video and lighting operators need to understand what we want to accomplish in a worship service and help us get there.  There needs to be easy to follow instructions or script for the service, also called cue sheets, for your team to use.  Tech team members need to make sure that they completely understand every element and if they don’t they need to ask.  I use a weekly e-mail to inform or remind the team what is coming up that Sunday and I also attach the service script for them to look at and start their own preparation.  Another way to accomplish this communication and also planning is through online collaboration which can be much more interactive but everyone has to take the responsibility to check in.
I ask the members of my team who will be operating gear at a worship service to be on position a half hour before a service starts and an hour before special events.  Those times are becoming increasingly not enough.  In that time they need to first prepare their hearts for worship.  Take time to pray with the team before every service.  Then they can start visualizing what they are going to do for each element by looking through the service script which they should have reviewed earlier in the week.  They should also use this time for final testing of CDs, DVDs, videos, and performing a final sound check.
Preparation is key in using media in ministry to creating an atmosphere conducive to worship and removing distraction.  Not everyone prepares in the same matter but our preparation should be beneficial in helping us to arrive at the destination.

Joshua 7:13 (NLT) 13“Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things.
 

Next is PRACTICE.  Going back to the trip analogy, we all now know where we are going and how we are going to get there so now we need to check the bus to make sure it is in good working condition so that we do not break down on our journey. This is an area that is seriously lacking in many churches.  Once you have prayed, planned and prepared you absolutely need to practice.  If you create a slide show or video on your computer and then wait until you are in the worship service to see what it looks like on the big screen you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.  Then it is too late to change anything and people in the congregation are adversely affected by what we have presented. Recorded media can all be very different.  If the first time you hear a CD accompaniment is during the worship service and it starts out too loud or too low then you have caused a distraction and have possibly thrown off a choir or vocalist.  You need to take the time to know how your media elements look and sound before it is presented to a congregation.  I am a firm believer in tech rehearsals and sound checks.  I want to know that everything works and how it going to look and sound before I present it as an offering for my Lord because that is what it is.  More to come on that in another post.  Practice needs planning and preparation as well as communication and cooperation to be effective.  It is very difficult to practice when you have not prepared and/or don’t have the cooperation of others.  Good planning and communication will go a long way in making practice a reality.

1 Corinthians 9:25 (NLT) 25All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
 

As with everything and not just media ministry you must remember your PRIORITIES.  Your personal relationship with God comes first.  Personal time in prayer, reading God’s Word and studying should come before everything.  Next is your family.  Your family comes before church or ministry.  I believe that with all my heart but I don’t always put it into practice.  I believe more time with family would come about when there is a team effort in planning, preparation and practice.  The more we can all rely on others to get things done because we are all using the same map and going to the same place then we can enjoy the trip and rejoice together in arriving at the destination.

Philippians 3:8 - 9 (NLT) 8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ  9and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 


With PRAYER, PLANNING, PREPARATION, PRACTICE all in the context of our PRIORITIES we can be used of God to accomplish His will in people’s lives.  We offer our gifts and talents for His use and glory and with that we should be very intentional.