Today I visited a very nice congregation and was quite pleased to see they were using a projector to aid in the worship experience. It took some time to implement the use of a projector in our congregation. Some felt that it would spoil the worship experience. On the contrary. Projecting the hymns and songs led to a dramatic increase in singing during worship.
Our communications and worship department workers were trained and are always looking for ways to improve their ministry. I wish all churches would take a similar serious approach. It seems to me that in some places, churches are just rushing out to buy projectors, hooking up a screen and Action! No training.
So my momentary joy at seeing the projector in this church went right out the window in no time. And enter my peeves. I went through every one of these in a single Sunday morning service.
1. Correct spelling is not optional – It is both amusing and annoying to see some of the common spelling errors, which show that someone behind the controls is no Spelling Bee. It is a sure source of distraction for the youth in particular who poke fun at the spelling errors and miss out on worship.
2. Failure to check the lyrics – There is nothing more confusing than errors in the words of a song on the screen. Given it’s a familiar song, half of the congregation are stubbornly singing the right words. The other half are singing the error (some thinking it’s creativity at work, while some are just learning a new song – with the wrong words!). And the song leader is oblivious to the error…just wonderful.
3. Use of inappropriate backgrounds – Some people just love busy screens. This drives me nuts. I can barely read the words while I fight with huge mountains and scenic landscapes. I find keeping it clean and simple to be most effective, using good contrasts like a white or very pale background with black letters.
4. Sleeping or otherwise non-alert operators of the computer sends me up the wall. Imagine singing an unfamiliar hymn, the song leader surging ahead, and the words are still stuck at the first verse or at the chorus. And then there is rapid advancement of the song, sometimes even too far ahead. Just great I tell you.
5. Projecting of the family photos wallpaper, and desktop while searching for files during worship. So help me! This is sure to get me to start thinking dark thoughts during service.
I’ll resist the temptation to go on and on.
Instead, let me share with you some very useful free tutorials and articles I came across at Imagevine. Be sure to take advantage of their free backgrounds download. But do, use them responsibly.
Take care,
Marvia
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