(By Stephen Proctor; www.WorshipVJ.com Check out the notes that go along with this post there.)

…IF your reasons include the following:

• as a substitute for other methods (think about all the senses)
• solely for entertainment (understand that entertainment is not bad itself and CAN be used as a tool when the timing/context is right)
• visual media is not a crowd-getter or a cure-all
• visual media is not a substitute for preparation
• visual media is not for the personal satisfaction of the visual enthusiast

• to keep the “young people” interested in worship.
• “it’s time to boost our congregational singing.”
• to change with the culture b/c we might lose church members to another church.
• we have to create more powerful worship experiences (visual media won’t create it)
• we want outsiders/visitors to know that we are a first-rate/”cutting edge” church (keeping up with the Joneses)
• Without using the latest technology, we won’t be able to increase the size of our congregation.
• Presentational technologies will allow us to grow and expand. (only the church can do CHURCH. Technology will not secure that a congregation will act as/be the Church.

References:

“Using Visual Aids in a Church” by Earl Waldrup (published 1949) - Amazon.com

BuildingChurchLeaders.com - “building visual media into your ministry”

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www.worshipvj.com

Orange Beach, Alabama; with worship by Kristian Stanfill.  He has a very authentic  heart and was a blessing to work with; I hope to work with him again soon!

It was encouraging to see the student’s response to what God was doing in the camp.  I saw their energy and unrestrained expressions of worship and was humbled and blown away by their faith.  I sometimes wish the adults in a lot of the churches I see could witness it.

A bit of the tech stuff that was interesting:  The church had (3) single-chip DLP projectors hitting a curved white cyc above the stage.  I simply plugged up my TripleHead2Go and PVP and ran with it.

The projectors were not edge-blended, had a little overlap, and were not morphed onto the curved fabric.  Now, before we all freak out and say how terrible that sounds…do you REALLY think that the students worshiping cared that it had the color of  single-chip DLP technology?  Or that is wasn’t “perfectly blended”?  Do you think they even noticed? Yes, bring on the whole “we’re all about doing it with excellence” saying.  That’s cool, I’m all about that too.  But sometimes we need to not let the idea of “perfection” prevent us from doing something at all, because we’ll never be perfect, nor do anything perfect.  There is a balance between the two extremes, yes, and I think this church found it…perfectly.  (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Hopefully this is encouraging to some of you who want to do something like this and think you have to spend $1029301840 to get it. You don’t.

Now, as far as the CONTENT that you project on the screen??  That’s another conversation.

Check out the rest of the pictures HERE.

(Shout out to www.awakeimages.com)

Recently I was in Toccoa, Georgia; with Aaron Keyes leading worship for Camp Impact.

Aaron is not only a musician and band leader, he is a true worship leader.  He is truly authentic and I was so blessed to be able to work with him.  There was also a great team of leaders at the camp helping make this experience real and lasting for the students that attended.  Check out the rest of the pictures HERE.

I’m super excited  about the  Gurus of Tech conference coming up in a couple of weeks in Louisville.   Stephen Proctor and I will be leading a class/discussion on visual worship, specifically on the heart and philosophy on how to use visual media for God’s glory within a worship setting.  We’ll touch lightly on the technical tools we use, but because it’s a conference for more of the tech people, we’re really excited to be able to focus on the heart of the matter, and WHY we’re doing what we’re doing.

Please come join us!  It’s free and it’s a GREAT way to network and meet people with similar passions, skills, frustrations and dreams.

I recently travelled down again to Kingwood Bible Church just outside Houston, Texas to finalize their Environmental Projection system.  Shepherd Multimedia installed the system, and I came in to provide training on the philosophy and heart behind using the new visual tool, as well as on ProVideoPlayer.  I ran through some sample content I had from  Awake Images to demonstrate what textures, colors, and themes worked well in their room.  We were all very pleased with the result.  I hope you find the pictures encouraging if you have a room similar to Kingwood Bible’s.

I wanted to highlight a company that just stands out to me in the church world of A/V design and integration.  Church Solutions Group are the ones who implemented the Environmental Projection system at Houston’s First Baptist Church, as well as much more during the church’s remodel.

They have a great team that dives into the church’s core, learn what the heart is, and implement the church’s vision .  They are so much more than just a design-build company.  There is heart and direction behind each decision, and leadership and training all along the way.  Just wanted to give a shout-out to a company I view as a great asset to the Church!  I’ll be doing more company highlights as time goes on, and wanted to start with them.

Check out the CSG blog HERE.

PLEASE watch this video interview of my good friend Stephen Proctor and “Biscuet“.  Biscuet lives in China, and is a visual worshiper.  Take  a few minutes to listen how he describes how the worshipers in China don’t have any of the lights or the projection or the media or the sound system…they just WORSHIP.  It’s incredibly humbly and encouraging.  (If you want to cheat, skip to minute 15 of the full-length video for what I’m talking about)

Hearing what ‘Biscuet’ has to say almost frustrates me to a point of leaving the US, moving overseas, and helping the global church dive into visual worship using technology.

Why?  Because I feel like a lot of churches in America are just “missing it”.

I feel like us that are in American churches are stuck and stale…and trying to us all this production technology to try and ‘fix’ it…I feel that we have put the icing before the cake, and in some cases, just have the sprinkles on the icing…and no cake at all.  Hearing that interview about how the the Chinese Christians worship, and how they don’t have any production technology but STILL fall down before God and worship makes me realize that they are focusing on what needs to be focused on FIRST.

It’s like they GET IT. They GET what is means to worship our God authentically, holistically, and without the use of “attention grabbing devices”.  They don’t need it.  Now, what if they had the chance to experience visual worship using technology??  (done well of course)

I have no idea.

What if they were so in tune with what worship was REALLY all about, that they realized they didn’t WANT it?  Hmm.  Now I know that a lot of American churches “GET IT” too, but in general, I just see how more churches in the rest of the world don’t have ANY production technology, but are WAY more authentic in their worship than western churches are who have a million dollars worth of technology.

There is so much to discuss here; I know I’m leaving out a lot of the conversation.  But I am literally frustrated right now.

For the next 7 weeks; I’ll be traveling around the southeast US running lighting and projection for various summer camps.  When able, I’ll be blogging about the events.

For three of those weeks I will be on Jekyll Island, Georgia; where during the day I’ll hang out on the beach reading Using Visual Aids in a Church, published 1949. Myself along with Stephen Proctor (www.worshipVJ.com) will be blogging about the book as we go through it.

For the ECHO Conference this year on July 29-31; I along with Stephen Proctor and Nate Griffin will be leading two back-to-back breakout sessions about visual worship and the Church. Our breakout will be on Wednesday afternoon (July 29); 3pm-4:50pm.

I want as many of you to come as possible. Consulting churches one-on-one about visual worship is a blessing, but the fellowship and connections that happen during the course of ECHO is invaluable. The second part of the Visual Worship breakout is setup so you can learn from not only us, but the other breakout attendees as well. Stephen and Nate and I wanted to create a community of church leaders and visual worshipers within our breakout that far outlast the conference.

I know the financial costs of getting to a conference can add up quickly, so I want to offer those of you who come to the breakout a discount on my consulting and design services.

Follow these step:

1. Use the code “camron” for $50 off your registration price for ECHO

(http://www.echoconference.com/registration)

2. Come to the Visual Worship breakouts on Wednesday.

3. At anytime during the Conference, come find me and sign up for an on-site Design Session at your church.

(http://visualworshiper.com/services.html)

…and you will receive:

· 10% discount on your on-site Design Session

· An exclusive content kit from Awake Images containing Volume 1, as well as a coupon for 50% off another Volume - limited quantities available.

Remember; you have to do those three steps to get the goodies!

I hope that blesses you and your team if you interested in coming to ECHO. Myself, along with Stephen and Nate, want to be a blessing and resource to the Church, and we want to build strong and lasting relationships with you throughout the conference.

Ok. Watch this: http://www.spotlesslight.com/spotlesslights/

Technology that tracks a subject and only projects on that subject, without spillover*.  (They put the asterisk on their site, so I figured I should to.)

Woohoo!  So this is visual pixel mapping…live and dynamic.  Think about this for Environmental Projection.