We use media because we believe that it can help us communicate better and deepen our worship experiences. When we celebrate in worship, we can use bright, energetic motions, stills, and worship intros. When we want to drive home a point and anchor it in the experiences of our people, we use a relevant and powerful illustration.
But how can we use media as we enter the Lenten season, a time of more somber reflection? For those honoring Lent over the coming weeks, here are a few tips that we recommend:
Switch to Stills
If your church uses a lot of motion backgrounds during your regular worship services, why not try giving up motions and make the switch to stills? A subtle change like this can drastically alter the atmosphere in worship, and lend itself toward times of reflection. These are some of our favorites.
Subtle, Slow-Moving Motions
Not ready to make that kind of change? Try using some slower moving motions where the action in the background is more subtle. Keeping with the theme of Lent, most of our choices are on the darker side, though darkness is not as important as subtlety. You can find some of our top picks here.
Visual Silence
Use a lot of media during the year? Maybe the best thing you can do to explore the season of Lent visually is practice visual silence. What is visual silence? Silence is the absence of noise, and visual silence is the absence of visual noise. If you use fast-paced or colorful motions and stills normally, sometimes the biggest impact visually comes from taking visuals out of the equation entirely. I do this some throughout the year – at first the congregation wonders what happened to the background, but then they realize that it’s not about the background. It’s about what they’re singing, and, more importantly, who they’re singing to. Try tossing in a song or two in your set with a solid black background.
Get more ideas and some great seasonal media at our Easter Store.
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