Tim Adams offers projection advice:

More and more churches are moving towards using projected content of some kind in their services and this post is aimed at heading off the purchasing of the wrong projector for your specific application. Below, I’ve assembled my top 5 questions to ask when considering a new projector.

1. What size screen do we need?

The basic rule of thumb is to measure the distance from the screen to the location of the viewer who will be seated the furthest away from the screen and take 1/6th of that measurement. For example, if the distance is 60 feet, then the minimum height should be 10 feet. Keep in mind that this is a general rule of thumb; do the calculation, but measure it out on your wall with painters tape and eyeball it, show it to people and get their input as it allows for other perspectives and more buy in and support.

2. Do we have space for a projector and screen?

If you don’t have the wall space for a screen of adequate size, then a good alternative is a large flat screen TV. There are many considerations to take into account before purchasing a flat screen TV, but just know that it could be the better solution.

3. What kind of content will the screen be used for?

The answer to this question will also answer what resolution your projector and source must be, how large your screen must be for a pleasant viewing experience for everyone, and how large an investment the church will actually be making.

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Tony Morgan visits a dated, traditional ministry:

It’s hard to believe, but it was over ten years ago. Our family was out of town. While we were away, we went to a service at a church that was very different than our church. We had three kids at the time. All three were under the age of ten.

Our kids were used to ministry environments with lots of energy, today’s music, video, relevant teaching and lots and lots of new people (including many of their friends). So, needless to say, I was very interested to see how they would respond to this experience.

The church we visited had been around for over 100 years. You could tell that at one time the church was very vibrant with many young families. By the time we visited, though, there were very few people our age. The facility was dated. The music was very traditional. And the message was boring for my kids…and for me.

Like I said, this was ten years ago. My son, Jacob, was only six at the time. As we were walking out of the church together after the service, Jacob tugged on my sleeve to get my attention. Then he quietly said what everyone else in the family was thinking, “Dad, this church is never going to grow.”

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Kerry Bural explains how his church creatively brainstorms:

At Resonate Church, there’s a method to our creative and strategic madness.

And today we’re giving you an exclusive peek at a Resonate secret weapon for fostering strategic, creative, and team collaboration. Think of it as a behind-the-scenes tour of our top-secret branding, marketing and communications laboratory.

Just don’t touch anything. Really.

One of our favorite tools for helping organizations resonate is the humble whiteboard. I’m sure you are using one in your office, but are you using it to its full potential?

To help you rock it on your whiteboard, here are four secret tips you can use at your next creative or strategy meeting:

1. Chase and explore all ideas—especially outrageous ones! When we work with visionary leaders, we try to keep a keen ear on their passions and desires for their brand. That means in initial creative strategy sessions, we resist the urge to play gatekeeper with ideas and information.

A whiteboard can be an invaluable tool during initial meetings because we are able to chase ideas together. The entire team can visualize ideas that soar or fall flat at the same time.

So keep all ideas on the table—especially the crazy ones.

2. Don’t erase anything. We mean it! Ok, at least don’t erase it until you’ve finished with the session. Check out this snapshot from a recent client whiteboard session.

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Rob Rash explains that your congregation is the choir.

In a recent post I brought up the idea, that regardless of whether or not your church has an official choir, your church does have a choir. The people that make up your congregation, are in fact a choir.

The biggest reason I find that this matters, is because it can change the overall mentality of the church. We teach and implore our churches to sing and to participate in our worship time and time again yet as we look out, we’ll find that not everyone is engaging.

I think it’s important to understand that, although not everyone is a singer, we are still commanded to make a ‘joyful noise.’ 50 years ago, when the primary means of musical worship was to sing in four part harmony, almost everyone joined in regardless of whether or not they could sing or read musical notation. I remember growing up in a church that did this.

Hymns, Four Part Harmony, and Modern Choruses

But as modern worship has worked it’s way into the way we do church these days, many choirs have been put on the shelf. And to complicate matters, some folks have completely stopped singing. I believe this is directly related to praise charts, repeatable choruses, and projection screens.

We no longer require or expect our people to follow musical notation in worship.

Now I don’t consider this a bad thing necessarily, but it does directly relate to how we lead and teach our churches to worship.

So with that in mind, I’d like to share a few ways to have a ‘Church as a Choir’ mentality and how that will help your overall leadership and pastoring in worship.

 1) Participation is the Goal

If we are not getting our church to participate and join in with us as we worship, then we’re merely another form of entertainment. Are we here to entertain our church or to create and craft opportunities for them to join us. Participation is the goal.

2) A Singing Church is an Encouraging Church

The scriptures are littered with verses about singing new songs and hymns and spiritual songs and it’s evident that this is an important part of the church, however, it’s not for the mere sake of singing. Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us that our time together is for encouraging one another in faith. And Colossians 3:16 couldn’t be anymore clear,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

When we sing spiritual songs we are reminding ourselves and those around us about the gospel truth.

3) Teaching is a Must

One thing we must never presume, is that our people will know how to respond in worship. I find that teaching them often, in fact weekly, about how and why we worship the way we do is vitally important. One great question to consider is, if you imagine that you’re leading worship for new guests, how would that affect how you lead and teach?

Don’t take for granted your church or their understanding of how they should be participating. If we can take on the ‘Church as our Choir’ mentality, we may just see a freedom in our services that we have previously been missing. If we can shift our thinking from one of performance and move to one of service, both we and our churches will be better off.

Elevation Church pastor Steven Furtick has been in the news lately, and especially last week, when a Charlotte, NC, TV station did an expose on their “spontaneous baptisms.” Also brought to light was their curious children’s Sunday School coloring book featuring an image of Furtick with some cult-like propaganda.

Charlotte pastor Steven Furtick and his Elevation Church are making waves this week as more is revealed about Elevation’s odd fixation on their “Lead Pastor” as well as some of the questionable practices of the church, including “spontaneous baptism.” Indeed, many people are sounding the alarm and calling Pastor Furtick a “cult-leader in the making,” though Elevation Church describes him as a visionary they need to unequivocally support.

Reformation 21’s Todd Pruitt and Matthew Paul Turner both share a page from Elevation’s Sunday school coloring book that’s been circulating around. The image depicts the Elevation congregation looking up at Furtick in the pulpit. The text reads, “We are united under the visionary,” and “Elevation Church is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven. We will protect our Unity in Supporting His Vision.”

Of this, Matthew Paul Turner writes, “While the grownups are listening to Pastor Steven preach, the little ones are in Sunday school learning about “unity.” I actually cringed when I saw this. Not even the fundamentalist church I was raised in featured coloring pictures of our pastor. There’s nothing good or holy or trustworthy about this kind of b.s. It’s dangerous religion. It’s the kind of evangelical brainwashing that all of us should be calling out. This should make us angry. Because its wrong. And because it’s not Christianity.”

Several bloggers are also sharing this info-graphic produced by Elevation Church that includes the following statements:

1. We serve a Lead Pastor who seeks and hears from God.
3. We serve a Lead Pastor we can trust.
7. We serve a Lead Pastor who pours into us spiritually and professionally.
16. We serve a Lead Pastor who goes first.

Pruitt writes, “This is frightening stuff. We have a Lord who came not to be served but to serve (Matt 20:28). And yet at Elevation it is plain that “Pastor Steven” is the boss who expects to be served…I have not read language like that since the last thing I read about North Korea. Why would a church allow such cult-like manipulation?”

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