Thinking about Technology

This post is for thinking about the practicality of using technology in the sermon. The comments on the previous post were mostly about the need to use concrete imagery in our preaching, be that through video, story-telling, or low-tech visuals.

As a follow-up post, I think that it's fitting to get some concrete examples for how fellow preachers have used technology in their preaching, what worked and what didn't.

For my last chapel message, I used more technology than I generally do, with a film clip from A Christmas Story to begin and PowerPoint throughout. The reason I used the film clip was because it was a pretty heavy sermon and I wanted to start light (the image of Scut Farkus with his yellow eyes) -- and because the clip narrated itself (it didn't need any set-up)

The reason I used PowerPoint is because I was using a lot of text (including some quotes), and I wanted to move through them pretty quickly. Also, the stage had two enormous projection screens, and I needed something up there (else it would look pretty stark). All in all, I was really pleased with how it worked. The tech crew did a great job following along with me (here's a lesson: give the tech crew as much help as you can -- they had both my script with notations as well as a print-out of the slides).

What are your stories?

Preaching and Video Technology

Gary Zustiak sent me the following link, it's an interview with 3 different preachers on their use of technology and the impact technology (specifically video technology) has had on the preaching task. Pretty helpful with regard to the issues involved at various types of churches (from North Point Community to a Mennonite church in AZ)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2007/003/1.28.html

Here are some of my thoughts with regard to the use (and perhaps over-use) of video tech in preaching:

First, I think part of the reason video has taken off is because, in general, we are poor story-tellers. It's easier for us to put the DVD in and press "play" than to shape our story-telling in a way that is compelling for our audience to hear. I was thinking about this as I watched football this past Sunday afternoon, wondering where all the good play-by-play announcers went. The days of Pat Summerall, Keith Jackson, Dick Enberg, and Vin Scully are over, it seems. Those guys could really turn a phrase and describe the action in a concrete and colorful way, and you could listen to them for hours.

We need to work on our attention to detail in our story-telling, being more concrete in our descriptions and particular when it comes to our rhythm and pacing. I would rather listen to a good story-teller than watch a film clip in a sermon (and I'm a cinema-lover!)

Second, practicality shapes what we do to a large degree. This past Sunday, we had a long-time church member give a testimony via video. The reason she didn't do it live is because we have 6 services that meet 4 different hours (2 hours have 2 simultaneous services in different parts of the building) -- and logistics demanded that we have the testimony on the video screen. But something got lost, at least for me. There's a big difference between seeing someone stand up before God's community and nervously talk about how God is leading them rather seeing a professionally-done video with edits and different camera angles.

If Marshall McLuhan is right, and our methods carry with them implicit messages, this is definitely a conversation worth having.

"I Proclaim"

This blog is a place for the preaching faculty of Ozark Christian to post interesting our thoughts on preaching, articles and books we've read, and sermons we've heard. I'm hoping for a number of contributors, so that there's at least a couple new items each week.

The goal is to be a place where our current students and alumni, and anyone interested in preaching can find encouragement from fellow strugglers and ideas to ponder as we all grow in the awesome privilege of proclaiming the Word of God.