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It would seem out of place today to have the praise band strike the first notes of the chorus while everyone reaches for the hymnal, hurriedly flipping pages to find the lyrics. Instead, our eyes scan the room for the video screen on which the words will appear, smoothly transitioning from one verse to the next. As the media-saturated culture bombards us, more churchgoers display an interesting trait: Rather than seeking escape and quiet communion with God in our sanctuaries, we bring heightened expectations for the media experience in our worship.

The presentation software available to worship leaders today keeps this factor in mind as it strives to make the experience more professional with each new release. Surveying the landscape during the past year (see "Worship Presentation Software" in the Sep/Oct 2007 issue of Your Church magazine) we find the changes to the majority of the available packages to be refinements rather than revolutions.

Among recent industry developments:

1. Achieving compatibility with Windows Vista and the associated display hardware was a major requirement met by vendors this year;
   
   
2. Updates to accommodate PowerPoint 2007 files were also key requirements;
   
   
3. Other product developments of note:
   
   

MediaShout introduced Express, a lower-demand, entry-level version of its software similar to SongShow Plus' basic version. Express lowers the computer hardware requirements by a generation or two, allowing a church to use an older machine it already owns. All the necessary tools to display lyrics, announcements, and play sound and video in a worship presentation are included. At a discount price of $249, the features that have been left out may not even be missed. For example, the Bible collection includes the essentials only: King James Version, New International Version, The Message, and Reina-Valera translations, compared to the 54 included with MediaShout V3. Express also provides fewer slide transitions and included song lyrics than SongShow Plus.

The Mac user often finds limited selection in this software category. ProPresenter 3 (renewedvision.com, $399 - $799 site license) has generated some attention during the past year, winning awards and improving its compatibility across the Mac hardware line. As expected by the Mac user, the video output supports different levels of definition up to the latest and most-refined, high-definition output devices.

Experienced presenters will have no problem understanding the user interface and the process of building a presentation. All the usual, expected features are present in the package, including live camera support, scripture lookup from a variety of Bibles, and support for the inclusion of DVD clips to supplement the pastor's sermon. All in all, this looks like a good addition to the Macintosh user's choices.

Pros:

1. High-quality video support as expected by the Mac community
2. Site licensing available
   
   

Cons:

1. Macintosh only
   
   

Hymnastics 3 by Gilead Software (gileadsoftware.com) is unique among the other programs in its narrow focus on the hymnal rather than current-day praise choruses. Hymnastics offers more than just the presentation tools of its competitors by including devotional functions for the worship leader, providing additional information about the hymn or its author. To gain this ability however, you must purchase a module ($69) in addition to the presentation module ($89), which piggybacks on the basic Hymnastics module ($59). The authors may want to reconsider this packaging in light of their all-in-one competition.

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