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This past Sunday, I had the privilege of visiting Church of the Highlands for one of their many incredible weekend services. If there was one word that I could use to describe their approach to ministry, it would definitely be excellence.  It was almost dumbfounding to see the level of attention that their staff and volunteers gave to making every single detail radiate quality. Needless to say, I took a few notes. Here’s a quick snapshot that I grabbed with my phone, but it comes nowhere close to portraying the wow-factor that came with stepping foot inside the auditorium.

Highlands-Pic_Thumb

There’s no question that COTH’s excellence rolled right over into their weekend media, as well. I was on the lookout for any budget-friendly techniques that I would be able to take home and apply in our church. I ended up picking up an idea from a very unexpected area, though. In between their first and second songs, while their campus pastor took the platform to welcome the congregation, I noticed that their motion background transitioned into a still graphic version of the same background. This immediately caught my attention because it did a fantastic job of adjusting the tone of the stage to better accommodate speaking rather than music. (Motion without music quickly becomes distracting rather than beneficial. Using a still image leads the crowd’s eyes to the talent.)

Later in the service, I noticed that they would use this technique anytime that their worship leader exhorted (especially in the transitions between songs). Since my media team has been simply fading to our church logo during these moments for years, I was a little surprised by this method, but I quickly became a fan. I’m looking forward to trying it out this Sunday!

***Note: It’s important to point out that they did not merely press the pause button on the motion causing an abrupt halt. Instead, they faded (5 sec) into a still version of the same motion. This made for a smooth transition that was practically unnoticeable to the crowd.

Have you ever tried this method? Why not give it a try this weekend?

Kendall Conner

What do you get when you combine production, design, and communications together with a passion for the Church? It turns out, this is the precise formula to make up Kendall Conner. For over 20 years, this Christ-led creative has been bridging the gap between media and ministry. In addition to serving as the creative pastor in his local church, he is the Chief of Operations for Church Motion Graphics, a ministry-focused design studio that serves thousands of houses of worship around the globe. Kendall specializes in equipping church media leaders and volunteers to utilize creativity in their services to share the hope of Jesus.

5 Comments

  • David says:

    Thanks for this post Kendall, always great to see what other churches are doing out there. At my smaller church we’re just getting Pro Presenter and the ability to use motion backgrounds. I don’t think I’ve convinced our programming team to use them during regular services (currently we are all stills), but I like how this post helps me think through what a moving or still background would be saying to the audience.

    • Kendall Conner says:

      How have you liked ProPresenter, David? If I can make a suggestion for motions – start slow. It’s going to be a very noticeable change at first, so it’s easier for a congregation to adjust to motions with a slower speed.

  • J Noles says:

    Hey Kendall,

    I’m just wondering what has been your experience since using this method? We use ProPresenter at my church with some motion backgrounds for worship and I’ve noticed that it does get distracting many times if someone is speaking. I don’t think it’d be very difficult at all to incorporate this into our repertoire if it does have a positive effect.

    • Kendall Conner says:

      This has proved to be extremely beneficial. It’s easy to implement and makes a big difference.

  • Dale Bradford says:

    Although we use the motion backgrounds for our worship we usually transition with our worship pastor finishing the song and praying for the teaching pastor and the message. I’ve actually gone with moving from the motion backgrounds fading into a blackout on all the screens for the prayer it seems to help focus it on the prayer instead of the distracting motion. Seems to work well but I like this suggestion as well.

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