What Would You Miss?
8 Comments Published by Camron Ware - Visual Worshiper February 6th, 2009 in Tech Gear, Visual WorshipI would like to go into a church using some (or all) types of technology/media (IMAG, dynamic/theatrical lighting, video loops/countdowns/announcements, audio systems..etc.) and just start turning it off.
What would happen if we took away/turned off one type of technology that we use during worship, and didn’t use it for a month?
What would we miss? Would we miss anything at all?
Just curious what would happen…might put things into perspective.
The digital projector and compute that displays slides because I don’t know all the words to the songs
man.
good question.
I would miss sound probably.
Compelling thought- though I think the person that would miss out the most is the volunteer that no longer has a role in the church for that weekend or the ability to practice their gifting in a state of worship
@Stephen; wow…great comment.
Seems to me that we would most miss the technology that helps us see and hear the message. Maybe not so much BETTER, but maybe at ALL. (PA system in a large room)
And, given that most of that practical technology has to be there anyway, we get to use it to be creative and bring glory to God.
Camron, i would consider you a great friend even if you had no passion for any of “this”…but i thank God for putting you in my path and for the heart that He’s given you for true unadulterated pure worship.
i don’t mean to boast here. i boast only in the Cross and what He’s done in me and through me. and He’s allowed me to travel to hundreds of churches across this world and to see some pretty amazing thing. and I can honestly tell you that from my perspective, it would be a very healthy thing for all churches to once in a while practice turning everything off. yes, even lyrics on the screen. We have developed an unhealthy dependence on technology, and now we act like we have to have it to ‘enhance our worship’. i’m not saying that it doesn’t enhance worship, i know that it can when USED PROPERLY and TASTEFULLY. But so many times we don’t approach technology with that perspective. I either see churches use it half-heartedly and without excellence and the end result is horrible, cheesy and distracting in my opinion. on the flip side, i see churches go the other extreme and place way too much attention on the creative and “innovation” and it comes across as a big show, in my honest opinion.
i have been guilty of both, by the way.
so i think it would be really healthy for the leadership, volunteers & congregation to go through the tension and awkwardness of not using technology for a month or two. I promise you it will be weird and chaotic in the beginning. but like a things new and different, you will strangely get used to it.
What about the lyrics and being able to follow? Is the point of worship to be able to follow along with the words to every song? what if you just let it wash over you? what if you entered into dialogue with God during the music instead of singing every single lyric? Sticking with familiar songs will help in this tension.
What about sound? Wouldn’t it be beautiful if there was an acoustic worship service, and if you were in a large room, songs started from the front rows (where they could hear the worship leader’s voice on stage) and then the anthem just grew louder & louder!
What about the volunteer? There are many more ways to serve each sunday than hitting the spacebar, running lights, or pushing faders. It would be good for volunteers to simply engage with their congregation in worship…and enter into conversation and dialogue with others in the community that Sunday. I have a sneaking suspicion that sometimes we let our “gifts” define us…and pigeon-hole us…and we find our identity in what we do instead of finding our identity in Christ and in the Church Family He’s placed us in.
I promise you this TENSION will sharpen you, cause you to reevaluate your current surroundings and possibly even redefine the way you look at worship. You will find God in this tension in a new and beautifully messed up way. And that tension will enhance your worship way more than a motion background ever could.
and this is coming from a VJ by the way…this is my fulltime job & passion.
I will leave you with this. Look at Matt Redman’s church Soul Survivor. Mike Pilavachi saw that “worship” was getting out of hand…and it was being defined by “singing the songs”. So he pulled the plug. and the church went a season without singing ANYTHING during WORSHIP. The result was a stronger Church and a shifting in what true worship was supposed to be.
and then Redman wrote “the Heart of Worship” coming out of this season of silence. A song that could be one of the most powerful songs of our time.
what a testimony.
Remember…God isn’t found in the fire, the quake or the wind. He is found in the still small whisper of a voice. So go for it…embrace the visual silence.
@Proctor;
Wow…again bro, you put words to what my heart was trying to say. Thanks for that.