Lead with Wow, Not Why
In the current climate it is really difficult to make a case for the need for new technology in worship. You need funds? There’s a single best strategy to follow: demonstrate don’t debate.
We’re not implying that you don’t bother with the philosophy and the big picture stuff. To the contrary, it is vital you are able to exactly articulate why you want to do what it is that you want to do, and are able to communicate that clearly and succinctly. Because what will happen is that the conversation with your money people will at some point turn to the why, and it doesn’t stay there long. As soon as it does, you have to be able to pounce on it with your brand of biblical, theological and missional backing.
But this is all secondary. If you lead with the why you will lose them. Instead, lead with the wow. Create an effective demonstration that models the possibilities of your new technology in worship, using a message to which they can relate. Pick imagery that will appeal to your “target audience”.
See, most pastors and decision makers aren’t antagonistic to the power of your new idea in worship; they’re just ignorant to it and don’t want to allocate funds to something that doesn’t make sense. In general people tend to confuse Jesus and the horse he rode in on. In other words, they get caught up in the methods and culture of what worked for them at one time. In the process, it becomes easy to develop an unhealthy attachment to specific methodologies. Sometimes, it takes a “wow” moment to help these people see what is new. This mistake can happen to anyone, and if you’ve been in ministry long enough, it has probably happened to you, too.
This means as an advocate of digital media it is your responsibility to provide an opportunity through which your pastors and decision makers can experience God by your new vision. One effective demonstration will do more than untold amounts of describing. It must be seen to be understood.
For example, say you have caught a vision for environmental projection in worship, so ably demonstrated by Cameron Ware. The majority of the startup cost is in 3-4 new projectors. Find people in the congregation with business connections who can secure you units to borrow and use on an assigned Sunday four weeks from now. Since they probably won’t match, try to get equal lumens on them.
Buy the Matrox TripleHead2Go unit, necessary to create a “video wall” of three side by side images, with your own money – it’s $200 or so on eBay. (Hopefully you’ll be able to submit a receipt on it later. Hey – we never said being a change agent isn’t without personal risk.) Set the projectors up with a Mac laptop and the Matrox device. If you don’t have the correct software, use any kind of software like QuickTime just to get the image outputted to the second display. Shoot it on anything – you can get special scrims, fabrics and screens later once you’re shown people the possibilities. Make sure and choose images that fit the direction for the day, whether that is by matching the main idea, theme, look, color scheme, etc.
Once the worship service is done, you can either choose to be aggressive and pursue your targets for feedback, or passive and let them come to you with their excitement and enthusiasm. That depends on your people and situation. One change agent we know without much political cache did a video projector demonstration in worship once without commentary, waited two months to let the fury die down, did it again, waited two more months, and did it a third time. After the third service, a benefactor approached him and said, what will it take to do this every week?
Dustin Bauerle said,
Wrote on July 30, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
I agree with this idea. The underlying principles of why are an absolute must, but if we don’t show the “wow” then the concept is just that – a concept.
It’s especially important when I remember that most of the leaders/decision makers in our church have either experienced only this church for a long period of time, or have simply never experienced some of these concepts. Getting those individuals to see beyond what is already known requires more than words.
Lynna said,
Wrote on August 18, 2010 @ 11:35 am
I wish it were this easy. I make up half of the tech crew at our church. The other guy is strictly technical. The minister of tech left suddenly two years ago when his personal life was in conflict with the church, and the other guy and I were left high and dry. The leadership decided since the other guy was a guy (and only men are equipped to lead), he was named the lead person. Since his specialty is equipment upkeep, we are falling farther and farther behind in technology. Leadership (not the pastor but new people who took these positions only after our membership grew… and grew in a big part due to the cutting edge tech we once employed to reach out to the community) has decided that technology is of the devil. I have the youth pastor in my corner, but even that is not enough.
I downloaded the trial of Media Shout 4 to my personal laptop and created what was the most awesome and in control service that we have ever been able to create. It was previewed before service, but the associate pastor stated that it was not appropriate for worship since motion loops were employed. He further stated that PPT was good enough for his former employer (the Defense Department) and therefore more than good enough for the church.
We are loosing younger members and younger families because other churches have passed us in our technical outreach. I feel like I am fighting a losing battle even though this IS where God wants me.
shepaints said,
Wrote on September 14, 2010 @ 10:29 pm
recently had a long and exhaustive conversation with the head of our money team about using images in worship…he assured me that the most important thing about the lyric slides was that the words be really large and not too many on a page. in his words “No one pays any attention to all those pictures you artistic types put behind them.” I argued with him for quite some time about the fact that most people are effected by images. He disagreed! Admittedly he is a numbers guy but he and i are the same age (early 50′s) and he has somehow completely missed the revolution in the world of images. Luckily for me and the rest of the congregation he has no objection to the use of images in any area of worship or the facility so this is not going to cause a problem…other than the fact that he sees no need to replace a projector bulb that needed to be replaced a year ago because it is so badly altering the colors it is projecting….no one notices except me and a handful of other artistic types in the congregation so i guess we will wait until it quits completely…next stop…overhead projector and transparencies. Can’t wait.