the church picnic

Normally, I am against most age-old church traditions. They are generally filled with the same pomp and circumstance that have driven people away from God for decades.

However, there is one tradition that I am so happy is alive and well today: the church picnic!

Okay, I’ll admit…some of it is out of selfishness. The food is generally very good, and abundant. Burgers and dogs. Potato, macaroni and other salads of a delicious nature. Cookies, pies and cakes. Oh, yeah!

But one other reason I love the picnic: everything else disappears for a few hours. Troubles, job woes, personal issues…they go away to make room for laughter, games and fellowship. I look around at the faces, and see a simpler time. Not quite Little House on the Prairie, but not today’s fast paced world, either. Somewhere in between. Somewhere that’s fun, and genuine, and good. Somewhere you can take a deep breath and relax.

Somewhere I like to be.

Now, excuse me while I look for my eating pants…we have a church picnic this Sunday!

when a media guy listens

Gotta be honest. Most services, I’m so intent on listening for cues and making sure the next slide is ready to go, I don’t get to listen to the message. Oh, I hear it, I’m just not listening.

So, the first time I listen to it is usually on Monday when it’s up on the podcast. And even then, I’m sometimes distracted by the mechanics, and not the content, of the Word.

But last week, I listened. And then I listened again. And it was one of those messages. And you know what I mean by one of those. It was one of those that hit me right where I was at that very moment. It dug deep into my soul, and scooped out the junk that I was living with. It released me from a bunch of the stuff that I think has been holding me back.

But my point here isn’t the change it made in me. The point is…I wish everyone that was hearing the message would listen to it.

We live in a world where folks are Facebooking, and Twittering all the time. We are so busy with what’s going on that we aren’t paying attention. And I’m not talking about the people tweeting and posting during the service. Heck, I’m one of them! It’s so cool to see a status update that says we have the coolest church around, and looking up to see the poster in the third row!

I’m talking about the way we are submersed in the everyday crap that takes our attention away from what really matters: each other.

Take a few moments today or tomorrow. Put down the iPhone, blackberry or Android. Put the iPod away. Step away from the computer and turn off the TV. Be in the moment. Listen to what’s going on.

Don’t just hear it.

if you don’t have a podcast…

if you don’t have a podcast set up for your church, then you are missing out. More importantly, your congregation members are missing out.

A clean, crisp recording of the message, along with a reliable podcast hosting company, is a must in today’s electronic age. This was not more evident to me until this past message series at LifePointe. It was a relationship series that touched everyone’s soul, and the podcast hits were off the charts!

Give your congregation the chance to re-listen to the message, give them the chance to share it with friends and family. Your pastor spent the time putting together the Word, so don’t make it a “one chance only” opportunity.

when media isn’t needed…

What? There’s a time when you don’t need media to enhance a message? Say it isn’t so!

Well, we found out at LifePointe Church this weekend that yes, sometimes keepin’ it simple is best.

As we finished up our last message in a relationship series, our Pastor brought his wife on stage. They talked about the story…the map, if you will…of their relationship. There were some powerful moments, some funny moments, and some solemn moments. To put it simply, there were some human moments.

While it was one of the longest messages Jamey had ever delivered, it was also one of the most driving, most engaging sermons I have heard. The kind that sends you down Reflective Boulevard.

And there wasn’t a drop of splashy media to be found. No video support, no cool graphics/photos. Just Jamey and his wife. Telling their story.

That was all we needed.

the day before

It’s Friday, the day before the first service of the weekend. So what does the day of the Media Guy for LifePointe Church look like on a Friday?

9am, roll out of bed. Check Facebook, and think of witty tidbit to post as my first status update of the day. Then, decide what to eat for breakfast…big bowl of cereal (or, The BBC as it’s know in this house), or leftover cold spaghetti? No contest….spaghetti. Then, I turn on the tv to see…wait a minute, this isn’t what you want to know.

Actually, earlier in the week I was able to load up the song lyrics thanks to our worship leader Stephen. He usually has them posted on Planning Center Online weeks in advance.

Then later this evening, Jamey will call with the verses and the phrases he’ll want up on the screen. This is awesome, because there are many pastors who wait until moments before the service to release this info, and that puts the stress factor at 78 for the tech team!

The real trick comes in deciding what types of video backgrounds to use for the songs and the message. Why is that tough? Well, you want to keep it interesting, cool, and relevant, but you don’t want it to distract from the words on the screen, which are the most important thing. The most important thing for any church media guy to remember is to enhance the message, not distract from it.

Mentally, though, the truly hard part is always remembering that it’s not a “show” we’re putting on…it’s a living, breathing embodiment of God’s word.

pay zilch, you get zilch…

One of my duties as Media Guy at a church is to post the weekly podcast. Here’s a brief outline of what’s involved:

-record the message on Sunday morning

-convert it to the correct file type, then edit it as needed

-upload it to the podcast site

Always trying to be aware of budget, I have tried to use a number of free podcast hosting sites. They all worked fine initially, but would always fail, or shut down, after a period of time. What was the affect? Irritated congregation members who couldn’t find the messages when they wanted to hear them. This is unacceptable, especially when someone needs the spiritual charge that listening to a sermon can give.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I broke down and signed the church up on a paid hosting site. And guess what? It works perfectly! And, the peace of mind factor is huge! And, for the $5 a month it’s costing us, it’s turning out to be the best investment we’ve made in a while. Folks can tune in whenever they want. They can listen on the site itself, or download on iTunes. It’s heaven! (pardon the pun)

Moral of this story? Pry open the wallet, spend a few bucks, and your life, and the lives of others, cold improve by leaps and bounds!

peaceful easy feeling…

It’s 8am Sunday morning, and I’m sitting at my computer at church as I write this. We’ve already been here longer than an hour, and I’m listening to the worship band rehearse, and the volunteer setup crew putting the finishing on the stage. It’s a huge feat, because we meet in a movie theater, so we literally “build” a church and tear it down every single Sunday.

And right now is always the most peaceful time of my week.

It’s those few moment between disorganization and chaos.

It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. It takes that feeling of accomplishment to a new level, and it gives me the opportunity to watch a bunch of guys give a valuable block of time to their church…and mostly without complaint.

It’s the best time of my week…

Plant this!

LifePointe Church has been in existense for 16 months. That’s 69 weeks (68 if you count the week of the Great White Death of ’08). We’ve had Sundays that were successfull beyond all imagination, and some not so much. We’ve had dozens come to Christ, and many baptized. We’ve had parties and picnics that show the best of the people we have involved in our congregation. And, we’ve reached into a community looking for something “different.”

But after all of that, we still, interestingly enough, need to think of LifePointe as a church plant. A church still in it’s infancy.

And that’s a very cool thing!

We get to make mistakes. And then correct them.

We get to tweak here and there, and change things up to keep it fresh.

We get to try new and exciting ways to reach people that haven’t thought about church in years, or have never even stepped through the doors of one.

We get to wake up every day, and treat it like a clean slate. And that is very cool.

Now, for the $64,000 question: Why doesn’t every church start each day like a plant? Why does the status quo have to be the order of the day? Why can’t changes be made on the fly in order to maximize their reach into the community?

Why can’t church be a fresh, new thing every day?

Boy…if every church maintained that level of liquidity, that level of excitement…evryone would be going to church.

Did I mention how lucky I am to be at LifePointe?

Laugh, cry…the whole gambit

Gotta be honest with you…I’m an emotion pimp.

It’s true. I want to see people cry or laugh or whatever when they watch my videos or read what I write.

So, when I create a video for the Sunday message, or choose a moving graphic for the background of a song, I always ask myself “Will this bring a tear to their eyes?”

I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’ve always felt my job was to add support to whatever is being said or sang on stage, and if that message or song is meant to be poignant and meaningful to someones life, how can I help to invoke that feeling?

Every now and then, I like to take a peak back thru the audience. I like to see if there’s laughter or crying because of what I helped do.

Don’t get me wrong…I never want what I throw up on the screen to be the focal point, or to take away from what the Pastor or Worship Leader is doing. I just want to make sure that what is up there can help give that extra nudge over the emotional ledge.

I am an emotion pimp.

LifePointe staff & stuff

One thing about being on a church staff is that you are thrust into a scenario unlike anything you’ll find in the “real world.”

I have been in sales in corporate America for 21 years. Each sales staff is made up of “x” amount of people, all there to do one thing…make money.  There are different & conflicting personalities, personal agendas, and huge egos. Sure, they are all there to “promote customer service” and “increase awareness of the company in the community”, but beneath that, there are always ulterior motives.

A church staff is different. Just like in corporate sales, they’re there to find ways to promote their product (God), and ways to increase customer satisfaction (keep the congregation happy), and to keep the church mission on track (to help others develope a connected relationship with God).

But, beneath all of that, lies…well, nothing else. Sure, you’ve still got some conflicting personalities and some egos to deal with…that’s just human nature. But when the agenda is the same for everyone, then the group works.

I know that many times I like to think that running the church like a business is the best way to go, but then, I step back, look at the fellow staff I deal with, and know that it could never be run like a business.

It’s so much better.