Candid Cameras
Photo and video booths are not just for malls or wedding receptions. Gracespring Bible Church in Richland, Michigan, placed one in their concourse to record people's stories.
"Live testimonies in the services are always risky," notes Destry Kiser, director of communications. "And when recordings turn into big video productions, it cuts down on the spontaneity and open sharing."
Built by their facilities manager, the single button operation is powered by a Mac mini and incorporates a monitor, microphone, and a webcam. Utilizing Photo Booth software, the ease of operation allows anyone at anytime to slip in and share.
"We get some good raw footage," Kiser says, "and occasionally use that testimony as part of a sermon. A lot of the time kids use it for fun but still we use that footage as preservice loop or countdown before service. That was often a favorite. The pastor also suggests different topics or things to share in the booth so we can get footage on a particular topic." He has enjoyed seeing people share who would not feel comfortable speaking in the worship services. "Video is powerful," he said. "It gives you more control than a live testimony. It also removes the fear of public speaking."
Please Take Out Your Phones
Most preachers put their phone on silent when delivering the sermon and ask congregants to do the same. Mike Morris of Cornerstone Community Church in Galax, Virginia, turns his on. He has learned the value of having real-time feedback during sermons that's more than just a hearty "Amen."
After observing SMS interaction at a Catalyst Conference a few years ago, Morris took the idea home and began using text polling as part of his weekly sermons.
Today he continues to use interactive texting to conduct surveys or share trivia while people enter the worship space or to receive questions or responses as he speaks. He then incorporates the information into the sermon or at a separate Q&A time following the message.
Morris has used Poll Everywhere, software that is free for smaller audiences, along with YouVersion Live and Twitter to gather feedback during messages.
"We quickly realized the importance of engaging our congregation," said Morris. "We provide guest internet access to our congregation, encouraging them to follow along with our online sermon outline and take notes on their mobile devices. As a small rural church, we even developed a mobile app to help everyone connect to our church. People learn better in an interactive setting."
Tailgate Church
In a college town (Milton, WV), Pastor Will Basham sees few things as culturally relevant as a good ol' tailgate party.
"When we planted New Heights Church in 2012," said Pastor Will, "we wanted to be relevant to our culture here in WV … to reach the religious lost where we were. We wanted to reach rednecks."
In multisite rented facilities, the church has limited opportunities to be together at one time and in one place. With no church basement to hold a potluck, the church took their party to a local parking lot.
The summer Sunday evening event includes pickups and classic cars, grilling, free food, local college bands playing off flatbed trailers, and inflatables for the children. Pastor Will set up a pulpit and preached from the back of his '98 Dodge pickup. Parked next to it was the executive pastor's Chevy, which had the bed filled with water for baptisms.
"In West Virginia, many people are far from Christ, though they were raised in religious culture. Tailgate Church came out of an idea to reach out to the pickup truck culture here. Probably a majority of the men in our church have pickup trucks, and a lot of the men we want to reach with the gospel idolize their trucks."
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