Archive for: worship

Guest Blogger: AJ Rinaldi on Worship June 4, 2008 | Written by AJ Rinaldi

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Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting a church in a small community in Texas as part of a project I was working on for EvanTell. This is a rare opportunity because of my family’s involvement in our own church in our own small corner of the Dallas area.

So what? People visit churches every Sunday across the country-nothing remarkable about that, right? Well, that’s my point—there are so many churches across the country in small (or maybe not-so-small) communities that we don’t hear of everyday, we tend to forget that great ministry happens everywhere! What comes to mind when you think of a small church in a small town? One thing I always have to remind myself of is that talent and giftedness is not unique to the “Mega-church” crowd.

Now, I do not attend a “Mega-church”, in fact, comparably our church is modest in size, so I do not judge by attendance numbers or budget—or do I? It’s easy, isn’t it, for us to assume that smaller churches in out of the way places are probably doing the “best they can” with what they have; creatively speaking? I was reminded this past weekend how foolish that assumption is. What a great band! The instrumentalists were highly competent in their art and did a very effective job in leading the congregation to worship.

Occasionally I experience churches that have exorbitant budgets allowing for the hiring of multiple staff members to fill every conceivable position within the worship staff. From musicians to technicians and all points of leadership, these folks are employed and given all kinds of time (not to mention equipment, money, etc.) to prepare for the Sunday (or Friday or Saturday) service each week. What a contrast to those on a more modest budget who have to work with volunteers and squeeze in hours late at night or whenever they can.

I am not suggesting that either is wrong. If they are truly using the resources God has blessed them with as wise stewards then there is no problem at all. What I am suggesting is that you don’t necessarily need to look outside of your own congregation and hire “artistic talent”. Often these roles can be filled by volunteers who can contribute significantly to the quality of worship that your church brings before God! He has placed amazing talent in every corner—just look around!

Barna on How Technology Impacts Your Church Experience April 28, 2008 | Written by evangelism.net

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An article was released this morning by the Barna Group detailing the use of technology by churches to “influence people’s lives and enliven their church experience.” According to George Barna, “The internet has become one of the pivotal communications and community-building tools of our lifetime. Churches are well-advised to have an intelligent and foresighted Internet strategy in order to facilitate meaningful ministry.” The survey touched on eight technologies and applications and the percentages of churches that have implemented the use of these emerging tools. Today let’s look at the first two: large screens and movie clips.

Two-thirds of the churches surveyed by the Barna group now have large screens in their church. The most common use is to project the words to worship songs. I have found that having the words on a screen allows me to raise my head from the dusty hymnal and participate in corporate worship in a new way. For me it is not just about seeing the words on a screen, but also seeing the people in front and to the side of me making a “joyful noise”, as well.

At many mega-churches the screens are used to allow those that are too far away from the stage to look on the screen on the right or left to see the pastor during the sermon. In addition, churches are using screens for announcements before and after the service.

Finally, there are a number of churches that are using the large screens for movie clips during the sermon, Barna’s second area of discussion. I have seen this method used in a number of churches and my concern is that often the medium becomes the message. I have seen pastors do a series on a particular movie, where the movie’s theme or plot becomes the primary focus and then the pastor seeks to find Scripture to support the point of the movie. If movie clips are used, they should support a message that is based upon Scripture and not vice versa. Please, no more exegesis of Forrest Gump – Yes, I have actually seen this done.

Tomorrow, I will discuss Barna’s article further, specifically the new ways that churches are communicating with their church family.