Testing Post

I just upgraded to WordPress 2.5. This is a test.

 

Update My Blog Address

Thanks to all my blog-world friends that linked to this blog. PLEASE go in and change the address from www.churchvideoideas.wordpress.com to www.churchvideoideas.com. Thanks so much!

 

DVDs for Shut-ins

I came across this announcement from a church and thought it was pretty admirable and  noteworthy. Most churches are upgrading from tapes to CDs and from VHS video to DVD. This is a cool way to allow those on the receiving end to upgrade with you. We all have either have an extra/cheap DVD player that we can give away (I just sold one on Craig’s list for $10) or we could buy a cheap one and donate it to the cause. This may not fall in some people’s cutting edge/innovative idea category, but I dig it and applaud them for their ministry to those that can’t get out. Aren’t we called to provide for the widows and the weak?

EXTRA:

Picking up on the topic of service audio and video recording, there are lots of things to consider (including copyright issues). Anthony Coppedge and I are going to be addressing this on our new podcast: Creative Synergy. Subscribe today!

 

Wk. 4 At My Church (Using EasyWorship)

The journey continues. Today was week 4 of “the switch”. Remember 2 Sundays ago, I trained 2 people on EasyWorship. One ran it last week and the other ran it today. I just came in for about 10 minutes before the first service for a “refresher” with Amy. She rememebered well from 2 weeks before and ran both services alone today. I was in a Sunday School class during one service, then sat with a friend and my wife during the second service.

I also popped by the church this past Friday afternoon to train two new people. One of the people I trained is the person who had been creating the slides each week in PowerPoint – she was a crucial one to train so that myself or the Technical Director, Brian, don’t have to set up the slides each week. Now she can continue to prepare the slides (which is part of her job), but now on EasyWorship, instead of PowerPoint. I showed her how easy it was to connect to CCLI’s SongSelect Lyric Service and import songs into the EasyWorship database. It really is simple and impressive. She caught on quick and will now begin preparing the EasyWorship slides each week during the week.

A SIDE NOTE OR MINI-LESSON:

In my conferences on “Beginning and Developing a Media Ministry”, I talk about two teams:

1. The PREPARATION team – A person(s) who creates the slides each week (that’s who I trained Friday)
2. The PRESENTATION team – These are the people who come in on Sunday morning and just run what has already been created for them.

PERSONAL THOUGHT:

This was an especially cool and out of the ordinary Sunday for my church. The theme/focus was “worship”. If you know me, you know I was a happy camper. The pastor wove his message throughout the entire service. He actually started the message before we even sang our first song (that really blew people’s minds). He pretty much magnified God and said why we worship, which led into a time of worship. We would sing 2 to 3 songs, then he would come back up and teach some more. The pattern repeated a few times. It was a great worship experience and a nice break from the norm.

 

A Birthday Present…

Anyone got a Catalyst Conference hookup? At first I thought with the timing of my surgery and when I’d be able to travel that I couldn’t go. Now, I see that I will be able to fly, can get flight tickets and have a place to stay, but no pass for the conference. Does anyone reading this happen to have an extra pass/badge?

 

Today Is My Birthday!

That’s right, September 22nd, also known as the first day of Fall, is my birthday. I turn 31 today. I guess I really am in my 30s!