Every church has its own unique qualities or personality. You know the congregation better than anybody. You know that there are certain things that will work while other things will not be received. That is why Paul said that there are many parts to one body. As a pastor, you communicate to your congregation constantly throughout the week before you even get to Sunday. It is your calling to know the pulse of the group. You know how and where they need to be challenged or encouraged and what message they need to hear. Videos can be used to enhance this uniqueness, and can be used in a variety of different settings and groups to serve many different purposes.
Advertisement
Today there are video illustrations available for a multitude of topics, ranging from marriage to Jesus’ teachings, from the Holy Spirit to stewardship to cults. Working with hundreds of churches every week, I see one of the most effective ways ministers use videos is to support a theme or provide an illustration.
Karen Donovan and her husband, Pastor Joe, lead the people at West Bay Community Church, a new church with a small but growing congregation in Largo, Florida. “We use videos to reach as many people as we can in every way we can,” says Karen. “Some of the videos have incredible production values yet others may have a more homemade look. I use them both. Different situations require a different approach.”
Pastor Rick Rocco of Frontline Christian Church, a new non-denominational church plant in Hamden, Connecticut explains, “I didn't realize that when I stumbled across that first downloadable short video, my entire ministry would change. I run two separate types of services, one family worship service on Sunday and one Emerging Church on Monday night . . . We use videos for both. My congregation is excited and is retaining more of the Word because of video tools.”
Here are more examples: The video Rush, by Golden Lamb is a fast paced vignette documenting a businessman’s busy schedule from dawn to dusk. It poses the question: is the rush worth it? A parenting video called Fatherhood by Stewart Redwine takes a humorous look at how parents can make mountains out of mole hills in their children’s lives. And, in an artistic interpretation called The Stations, Ghislaine Howard's paintings cause us to do more than wait. Her stark images will help your congregation enter into the reality and the horror of Christ's agony.
In addition to supporting sermon themes and illustrations, videos can be used to show a compelling testimony, add humor, or as a closer.
“With the advent of video in mainstream church ministry, we have seen a dramatic increase in our sermon effectiveness as well as the tremendous impact that a carefully crafted video illustration or video vignette brings to the service setting,” says Pastor Steve Mohr, who leads a postmodern church of more than 350 in the Assemblies of God denomination in rural Seattle. “We use [video] materials for a welcome/greeting transition; humorous interludes, as well as serious media to set up the message or to enhance a point of the message.”