The Importance of Living Your Brand

This is the second in a series of special posts written by friends of Midnight Oil. These guest bloggers bring unique insights into the interface of image and ministry. We hope you learn from their experiences and find useful applications to your own context.

Yesterday I had an interesting experience in the Dallas airport that made me realize just how much everyone in your organization needs to live your brand. I’ve always been fascinated by Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, not only for his vision, but the way he designed the stores as a 3rd place (after home and work). The design, attributes, and products in a typical store were carefully developed, and his desire to reflect a great coffee experience is notable. But yesterday, I was reminded that with thousands of employees, just how hard it must be for Starbucks (and other big companies) to train employees to live out the brand on a day to day basis.

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This is the first in a series of special posts written by friends of Midnight Oil. These guest bloggers bring unique insights into the interface of image and ministry. We hope you learn from their experiences and find useful applications to your own context.

As I’ve been on the road having conversations with pastors, worship leaders & techies who are all trying to figure out how creativity works in worship, I have had a growing burden to gain a clearer understanding of what true, biblical worship is. I have much to learn and more scripture to dig into than i can comprehend. Here are some of the main things that have stuck with me, and here are some questions I’m asking myself in hopes of finding the answer to “What is Visual Worship?”.

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There’s no doubt that we live in a visual culture, and that culture has become less and less interested in the institutional church. While we have the most powerful story to tell, the way in which we tell it is often the least powerful way for the time in which we live.

Quite often, the reading of scripture in worship is the least engaging moment of all. Rather than approaching scripture as story, scripture is often shared in a dry, emotionless way or done as a broken, monotone, congregational reading. With screens so prevalent in worship now, the most common approach to scripture in worship is to just put the text on the screen and hope that people read along. Are any of those methods really very effective for our visual culture? Probably not.
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We are excited to announce the release of the new 2010 Midnight Oil Sampler!

The new 2010 Sampler by Midnight Oil is full of great new worship media not available individually on any other bundle or disc. Here is the complete list, most of which is brand new. We put stars by the new exclusive media:

1. All Clear Scripture Video *
2. Beyond the Tomb Still Images Set
3. Church Picnic Announcement Image
4. Daylight Savings Announcement Image
5. Front Porch Stories Still Images Set *
6. Good Friday Still Images Set
7. Graduation Loop *
8. Loaves and Fishes Still Images Set *
9. Psalm 145 Scripture Video *
10. Retro Christmas Tree Countdown *
11. Tales of Wonder Christmas Still Images Set *
12. Wave Intro Video

Get a wide variety of great media from the growing Midnight Oil library for one low price with the 2010 Sampler Disc.

This annual, limited time only product contains 5 videos and 7 sets of stills that span our entire catalog, including some exclusives not offered anywhere else. (Some of these were the monthly freebie media offered from 2009, so if you subscribe to our newsletter and missed some, this is your chance to get them all on one resource.)

For only $25, it’s a great way to get your Midnight Oil collection started. Preview what’s included here:

2010 Worship Media Sampler

Save even more with our sampler discs from 2005-2009. Normally $25 apiece, buy the entire 6-disc for only $75 here (includes over 70 pieces of media):

Sampler Disc 6-pack (05-10)

NOTE: This limited time offer is only available now through February 28th and will not be offered again.

If you are a church in the market for an experienced media director, or a media director looking for a church position, let us know! We have a friend looking for a church, and we have realized that there aren’t many great places to look for jobs right now. So, we’re considering adding a job board to this website. If we get enough interested parties, we’ll pursue it. For starters, if you are in the market, either as a church or as a prospective employee, please contact us here.