March 21, 2004
Worship Service Eye Candy TipsPosted by
My church started using projectors and PowerPoint quite some time ago. When we did, no one really had an idea about how to implement it in the worship service. We had been to some other churches using it but we didn't have a handy resource to go to when we needed help or those handy tips and tricks. Over the years we have constructed our own tips and unwritten rules formed out of experience. (Some of them embarrassing.) Some of these are common sense, but just in case.
- Make sure you use a large enough font on your slides. Do not try and put a whole chapter of the Bible on one slide. I, personally have found about four to six lines of text to be enough.
- There should be a good contrast between the color of the text and the color(s) of the background. Sometimes adding a shadow will help a little bit. While we are speaking on backgrounds, please avoid using pictures of people or pictures of some kind of action as the background. It is distracting to those of us who are visual learners. One color, a color gradient, or a muted picture without any action can make good backgrounds.
- Transitions aren't completely evil. If you choose to use a transition, only choose one and make sure it is subtle, no dropping in and bouncing across the screen. I like the cross fade (fast) in newer versions of PPT. Same rules apply for custom animations unless you are really trying to bring attention to something. I recommend avoiding custom animations altogether.
- Don't use PowerPoint for everything. I have been to churches that plop practically every word said on PowerPoint. Special music, Choral music, choruses, hymns, etc. At my church we use the PPT to display words to choruses and page numbers for hymns and that is about it for the music section of the service. There is just something about picking up a hymnal and singing the harmonies written rather than having the words flashed up on a screen and reading it from there.
- Check for spelling errors before you use the presentation in a service. It will save you a red face.
- Train the folks that will actually be running the software before the service begins.
- If you are constructing the presentation, get together with the worship leader and try to nail down exactly how songs are going to be done. Is it going to be verse one, chorus, verse 3, chorus, verse 4, refrain, chorus? All the slides should be set up as closely to the order that will be taken during the service. Don't ask you PPT operator to flip backward and forward, that can get really confusing. The operator should be able to push the forward button after the words are on that slide are done. It takes a bit more preparation but it is well worth it.
- Keep all your choruses in separate PPT files without backgrounds so when constructing a worship presentation you can just copy and paste slides, it will save you from tons of typing in the future.
Do you have more PPT suggestions? Maybe you would like to share your thoughts on a different program other than PowerPoint. Please leave those suggestions and secrets in the comments.
Class dismissed!
March 21, 2004 5:04 PMexcellent post!
Posted by: Bryan at March 21, 2004 6:06 PMDifferent strokes for different folks, I guess. Our church puts the words for everything on the screen. People are invited to use the hymnals if they wish, but they don't have to.
Also, while working out the sequence of verses and choruses with the projector operator is recommended, the worship leader should still have the flexibility to change it up as he or she feels led during the actual service. As a result, there's no substitute for having an operator who KNOWS the song and can pick up on spur-of-the-moment changes. Again, in our church, we alternate our worship styles: early service is semi-contemporary, middle service is completely contemporary, last service is completely traditional. We try not to have a late-service operator work the middle service, because he or she is likely not as familiar with the choruses or songs we use.
One additional minor tip to add to your excellent list: sans-serif fonts are more legible and readable for small blocks of text. However, if you must, for some reason, put a large block of text on the screen, a serifed font is more readable, as long as the font-size is large enough. The theory is that the serifs lead the eye from one letter to the next better when there's a lot of text.
We've also learned when it's appropriate to show things like church calendar items (before the service begins, and again as people are leaving... but never during the service).
Posted by: Eric at March 21, 2004 6:24 PMWe've used PowerPoint for several years. My church meets in an office auditorium that we rent. I agree with pretty much what you said and what Eric said too. One point about our worship services is that they're pretty tightly scripted because of time. We have two services, so there's no room for much flexibility as far as a song being extended to another round of the chorus or whatever. The folks who run the PP know exactly what's coming next.
Our church just bought Media Shout, which is a software package that integrates all media for a church service into one file and allows the person running the slides to see (on the computer screen) what slides are next, although what's projected is just a single slide. We haven't started using it yet, folks are learning it, but I've heard from folks who do use it that it's fantastic.
Posted by: jen at March 21, 2004 6:54 PMGood additions!
I agree completely that the PPT operator needs to know the song to be flexible in case the worship leader feels the need to change it for whatever reason. However, we have found that quite difficult. I was going to mention the san serif fonts but I forgot, so I am glad Eric brought it up. And yes, announcements should come before or after a service.
jen, I would be interested in hearing more about what the folks who are learning Media Shout think of it. The only problem with that program is my church has moved over to Macs and I believe that is PC only.
Posted by: Christopher at March 21, 2004 10:23 PMWait a minute! Your church has "moved over to Macs"?!
Praise the Lord...could this be the beginning of the revival in the land we've been praying for? ;-)
Posted by: Eric at March 21, 2004 11:35 PMI think your server is demon-possessed, by the way. I got a "server error" the first two times I hit the "Post" button, so, naturally, I tried it again. Voila...three copies of the same comment.
Of course, I am using a Mac. ;-)
Posted by: Eric at March 21, 2004 11:37 PMI was impressed...8 comments in such a short time....then saw it was a tech problem.
maybe we should make a PPT on that.
One PPT coming right up!
Now there are 8 comments!
Posted by: Christopher at March 21, 2004 11:59 PMAnother thing: our PPT operators have to be at worship band practice on the weeks they're "on" on Sunday mornings. That way they hear what the band does and is involved in making the changes to the slides. We have one person who inputs the original data into the PPT presentations for continuity.
I'll try to remember to let you know about Media Shout. As I said, we're not actually using it yet.
Posted by: jen at March 22, 2004 11:33 AMYeah we convienced the church that the video editing would be easier to do. We bought an iBook. Soon we got the dual proc G5 and now even the pastor is using a PowerBook for his office.
Posted by: Christopher at March 22, 2004 9:39 PMI just found this site www.studio1productions.com they have a large selection of video backgrounds and music. I see they have just added HD animations too.