Sunday night wrapped up the final of the five-part series The Bible on the History Channel. It’s been an interesting ride the past few weeks. I didn’t know much about the series before about a month prior to the start of the series. We promoted it at Journey and even hosted live discussions and commentary on our Facebook and Twitter profiles.

One thing that stood out, especially at the beginning of the series, was how much they left out. Jon Acuff’s tweet during the episode a couple of weeks ago hit the nail on the head:

If #TheBible had every scene that folks on Twitter were complaining they left out, that show would be approximately 78 years long.

— Jon Acuff (@JonAcuff) March 25, 2013

It’s true that for them to include all of the pages of scripture, the Bible would have been a multi-season series – lots and lots of hours. There were also some details that were off, such as the name of the king during Daniel and the lion’s den, and Paul not being referred to as “Saul” before his conversion (though I suspect that was to avoid confusion and simplify the story).

But there were some things that I was very happy to see – for instance, I was very pleased in the final episode to see the Lord’s Supper referred to several times after Jesus and to see baptism portrayed in a variety of ways from sprinkling to full immersion – and that adults and children were baptised.

In my mind, it seems like the team behind The Bible can look at their work as a success. I purchased the series on Blu-ray and noticed when I watched one of the disks the note at the beginning of each episode, which I hadn’t paid attention to before stating that they desired to stay true to the spirit of the book [the Bible].

From that perspective, I think in many ways they did. They portrayed the story of God’s people and His Son. While there were things that were left out that make us Christians cry for more or want to sit back and nit-pick (mostly to show off our wealth of Bible trivia knowledge), if you look at it through the eyes of someone who doesn’t have a relationship with Christ, they kept just enough to introduce Jesus without beating them over the head with Scripture.

Plus, as we held our discussions online during the show, even seasoned Christians were asking questions, which forced me to dig deeper into the Bible to look for the answers – even if it was to try to find something they missed, it got me into the Bible, which is always a win in my book.

So, the question we’re left with now that it’s all over is… Now What?

What do we do with this series now that it’s over? Here’s a few suggestions:

1. Pray for those who were responsible for it and involved in its production. For those who were just actors looking for their next role, I hope and pray that their experience would lead them to know more about the people they were portraying and the story they were part of. For Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, I pray that they’re not finished – that the success of The Bible leads to more projects of similar caliber and scope so that more people will continue to be exposed to Jesus and hopefully be lead to learn more about Him and put their faith in Him.

2. Use it as a tool. This series will be aired again. And again. And again. It aired in five two-hour episodes the first time, but it’s designed to be ten one-hour episodes. Watch for it to be on again and encourage people to watch it. Talk about it – and not just to point out its flaws. One thing that we need to remember is that even though it’s not perfect, it contains the Word of God, which Isaiah 55:11 reminds us:

God’s Word won’t return empty or void, but it will accomplish its purpose. Add to that the wide audience it had and chances are good that many of the people you run into will have watched at least a portion of it. What a great opportunity to start a conversation about faith with those around us! And while the show had its shortcomings it’s worth remembering that the book is always better than the movie, and The Bible is no exception. (Don’t lead with that line though or you’ll just come off as a dorky Christian…)

3. Don’t forget about it. I don’t know about you, but I can have a really short attention-span at times. It’s easy to be excited about something one day and then forget it ever existed the next. We’ve been given a tremendous gift in this series. Reality is, none of us could have produced anything close to this on our own. This is an epic work in the true sense of the word. As such, we need to keep this resource close at hand and come back to it often. I’m already thinking that clips may get used in sermons and Bible studies down the road and that it could be a great way to introduce people to the Bible, especially those who have never cracked one open.

Let’s hope that the impact of The Bible goes well beyond these five Sunday nights and creates a desire in the hearts of many to see what the story behind the show is all about and that they might be introduced to the real Jesus, their Lord and Savior.

What did you think? Share your thoughts on the series in the comments below.

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There have been several reasons for that.

Most recently, my baby sister got married and, being the first wedding in the family, it was naturally the event of the century. Maybe even the millennium  (Sorry if you have any events planned in the next 90 or so years, but look at it this way, at least the pressure’s off you for a while.) With family spread all across the country, it made it even more of an event because everyone was home at the same time and this time, it wasn’t because someone had died.

But the bigger reason is that things are changing for me at Journey and I’m embarking on a new chapter in ministry. Last summer, Pastor Bob stepped down as lead pastor. In the months that followed, there were lots of questions as to the direction that Journey would go and what our next steps would be. We weren’t financially in a position to call a new pastor but we also couldn’t just wait.

Our District Office had approached me about considering a new program through our seminaries called the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program. It’s designed for churches in our situation who would have difficulty finding a pastor but have an individual they would like to raise up to be their pastor. After much deliberation, prayer and discussion, the people of Journey decided in January that the SMP program was the way they wanted to go.

Since then, things have rapidly picked up steam. I’ve been preaching twice a month since last fall – something I hadn’t done regularly before. And I’m beginning the preparations for starting the program which begins in September. It’s a total of six years that I’ll be going, but I’ll finish with my Masters of Divinity degree and be a full pastor in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. There’s lots to do to get ready – entrance exams to study for and take (the study guide for one of them is 40 pages – just the study guide!) and paperwork and portfolios to assemble. It’s a good thing that September is a ways away so I’ve got time to prepare!

My goal is that once I get past the preparation phase (hopefully by May) I’ll be able to get back into the rhythm of blogging on a more regular basis. Until then, they may be a little spotty at times. But once the program gets going, I hope to use my blog as a way to process some of what I’m learning and apply it to the areas of worship and ministry in the church.

Thanks for being on the journey with me! I joked at the beginning about there being just 5 readers of my blog, but in actuality (according to Google Feedburner) there’s around 50 or so regular readers. Some of you I know, others I don’t. When I write, I really do think about those of you I know and what you might take from what I write here. If you’re a reader but you’ve never commented or engaged, I’d love to get to know you! Reading your comments and feedback have always been the highlight of putting these thoughts together!

I’d really appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I get ready for this new chapter and my next step in my relationship with Christ.

The post What’s Going On? appeared first on MatthewStarner.com.

Palm Sunday Resources

Songs:
One traditional aspect that is often observed in churches throughout the season of Lent and Holy Week is the omission of “Alleluia/Hallelujah” in the service, as a way to underscore the solemness of the season. If you plan to do that, it would be wise to use it as a brief teaching moment as many may not even notice if you avoid it without explanation.

Modern Songs

There haven’t been many modern worship songs written specifically for Palm Sunday, but songs around the theme of Praise, Adoration, and Glory are especially appropriate.

• Hosanna by Hillsong
• Hosanna (Praise is Rising) by Paul Baloche

Classic Songs

• All Glory, Laud and Honor
• Hosanna, Loud Hosanna

Maundy Thursday Resources

The church I’m at now doesn’t have worship on Maundy Thursday, mostly because we rent space and it presents a challenge having worship two days in a row. However, I grew up with worship on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

It’s traditional to do Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as one worship service, with the invocation on Thursday and benediction on Friday. It can help people to see them as a larger event.

Typical themes for Maundy Thursday are (1) the institution of the Lord’s Supper, (2) the “New Command” (“…love one another”), from where we get the name Maundy – from Mandate, or (3) the washing of the disciple’s feet.

Also common on Maundy Thursday is the stripping of the altar, when all the cloths, candles and other adornments are removed to symbolize the humiliation of Christ. Oftentimes this is done while someone reads a Psalm such as 22, 51 or 88 quietly.

Songs:

While there aren’t many songs written specifically for Maundy Thursday, songs centering on servant-hood or communion are appropriate.

• Jesus Messiah by Chris Tomlin
• Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord
• Here I Am to Worship by Tim Hughes
• Go to Dark Gethsemane

Good Friday Resources

Good Friday is a favorite of mine, especially in a modern church setting because it’s so different from what we’re used to. Good Friday is very somber in tone, usually incorporates lots of scripture and ritual and is much darker than our typical worship services.

There are many different ways to approach Good Friday: There’s the classic 7 Words, looking at the seven things Jesus said on Good Friday; you can focus on the various elements like the cross, the crown of thorns, the whip, the nails, etc.; or the traditional Tenebrae service of darkness.

Confession of Sins:
It’s very appropriate on Good Friday to recognize the reason for the day in the first place – our own sinfulness. Speaking a confession of sins together helps to impress on each one of us our sinfulness and need for a savior.

While there are many different Confession of Sins that could be used, reading together a Psalm like Psalm 51 can add new meaning to those familiar words.

Songs: 

Modern Songs:

• Beautiful the Blood by Steve Fee
• Bless the Lord by Jeff Deyo
• How Deep the Father’s Love for Us by Stuart Townsend
• Jesus Paid it All by Kristian Stanfill
• Lead Me to the Cross by Hillsong
• Love is Here by Tenth Avenue North
• Majesty (Here I Am) by Delirious
• Pieces by Red
• The Stand by Hillsong
• The Wonderful Cross by Chris Tomlin
• You Are My King by Brian Doerksen

Classic Songs:

• O Sacred Head Now Wounded
• When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
• In the Cross of Christ I Glory
• What Wondrous Love is This
• Were You There?
• Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted
• Chief of Sinners Though I Be

What do you use?

What resources do you use? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The post Modern Worship Resources: Holy Week appeared first on MatthewStarner.com.

I had a request from a friend who is doing slides at his church asking for some guidelines and examples of how we do our slides. I looked around for some articles to send him and, finding none that were quite how we do it, figured I’d write him one. This one’s for you, Nathan!

Let me start off by saying that the reason that I couldn’t find an existing article that laid out how our slides are put together is not because we’re the only ones doing it right, but because every church is going to do it a little differently and that’s OK!

Generally speaking, if the lyrics are readable, easy to follow and look good to your eye, then they’re probably already pretty good. But these steps may make them even better. 

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to use two different songs as examples: the hymn A Mighty Fortress, and Mighty to Save.

Step One: Find your font.

While I’ve seen some churches with great design staff successfully pull off using a different font for every song (or every line), most of the time it just looks tacky and is hard to follow. One good, sans serif font will work great. We use Helvetica. Arial or Futura would be fine too. Above all, it should be easily readable. And for heaven’s sake NO COMIC SANS. Or Papyrus, for that matter.

Also, stick to one size between all of your slides. It’s hard on the eyes when one slide had giant text and the next you need to break out a magnifying glass. While I’ve seen different theories on what is the ideal font size (such as taking the age of your oldest attenders and dividing it in half – i.e. if your oldest are around eighty, your font should be no smaller than 40) it’s just easier to find a font size that you can read comfortably from the seats farthest away from the screen.

Step Two: Break Up the Lyrics. 

Some songs make this really easy, others are tricky.

The temptation with hymns is to fit all of one verse on a slide. Sometimes that works but the majority of the time there’s just too many and it makes it hard for your eye to track from line to line when there’s 12 lines on a slide.

This is the opposite of a good slide.

First, the lyrics aren’t laid out in a way that helps the singer follow along. Most of the time, it helps to have one musical phrase per line so the person singing has an idea of where to breathe or hold out a note. If you don’t know where the phrases are, listen to the recording and start a new line when the singer makes a longer pause or takes a breath.

Second, there are too lines. My rule of thumb is no more than 5 lines per slide. 4 or less would be ideal. Give the lyrics space to breath and not take up the entire screen. (Disclaimer: this is a rule that can be broken from time to time depending on the song. If there’s six lines to a verse and it just doesn’t work musically to split them into two slides of 3 lines or one with 2 and one with 4, then you may have to do six. Just make it the exception and not the norm.)

Ah, now we’re getting better! The phrases are obvious and there’s room for the text to breathe!

Step Three: Style your lyrics.

This will differ depending on your church. At Journey, we style our text by removing punctuation from the end of the line. The phrases are evident by the formatting, so commas, periods and semicolons just clutter the slide. Punctuation in the middle of a line, however can be helpful if there’s a slight pause or if there are repetitive words in a phrase. (Such as “holy, holy, holy”).

We also remove most of the capitalization. We capitalize all the names and references to God (including pronouns). I’ve see churches that ONLY capitalize God’s names, meaning they don’t capitalize “I” when it refers to the singer. Usually that’s to make a point, that we’re less important than God, but it can really look like an error to most people. We still capitalize “I.”

Also, I prefer the text to be centered both vertically and horizontally. To me, it makes a cleaner look and it’s easier to follow.

Along with the technical style, add a light shadow to the text and a thin outline as well. This guards against a light spot in the background washing out the text. Also, stick to just one color of font. White text on a dark background is easy on the eyes and looks great too.

Step Four: Selecting Backgrounds

Again, this will vary wildly from one church to another. When I was at a more traditional church, I often took my own pictures of the many stained glass windows in the church from different angles, often focusing in on just a pane or two, and used them as the backgrounds so they fit in with the style of the service.

I’ve read articles of people advocating the use of just a solid color like black or blue as a background, which would make them definitely easy to read, but lacking in the visual engagement department.

We use mostly abstract colors and we use video loops instead of images. (Something that’s not easily done with entry-level programs like PowerPoint.)  Whatever you put behind your text, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Simple is [usually] better. Too busy or intricate and people will look past the lyrics to what’s behind. Keep it tasteful and simple. 
• Create a flow. We use abstract color loops for our backgrounds (such as this or this) but we don’t jump from one color to the next all willy-nilly. Try to match the color to the feel of the song and flow from one color to the next. For instance, we might start with bright orange/yellow for the first couple songs, then transition to green as it begins to slow down. Make your backgrounds intentional, not just filling space.
• Match the tempo of the loop to the song. If you’re using video loops, that is.
• Change it up. 

We also have a rule that we don’t use the typical pictures people for some reason associate with worship: pictures of a person standing in a field or on a cliff with their arms up in the air. Seriously, who does that?!

Sources for worship graphics

For free graphics, Google image search is your best friend. Keep them high quality and simple. For paid pictures or motion loops, we get ours from WorshipHouseMedia.com. There’s always new stuff being added and their prices are reasonable. There are other subscription services out there, but I’ve found that it’s better to just purchase the ones you need from Worship House Media. Besides, pretty much all the subscription ones and more can usually be found there.

Now we’re there! You may notice that I’ve also added a very light outline and shadow to the text. I do this on every slide so that it pops off the background.

Hopefully you found this helpful! If you have other thoughts or your church does it different for some reason, share it in the comments below!

The post Designing Worship Slides appeared first on MatthewStarner.com.

**We’re studying the book, “The Worship Architect” by Constance Cherry together. If you missed a section or are reading this months after it originally happened, please join in the conversation anyway!**

We’re discussing chapter 4 this time which is all about the first “load-bearing wall” (what the author calls the various components of worship): The Gathering. As with the other chapters there are some questions she asks to get you thinking before starting the chapter that are worth discussing:

1. Think about a time when you attended an event (church or otherwise) to which you did not feel welcomed. What caused you to feel that way?
2. Think about a time when you attended an event (church or otherwise) to which you really felt welcomed. What made the difference?
3. How long does it usually take for you to feel comfortable in a group of strangers?

The gathering is what we usually do at the beginning of worship. The author defines the purpose of the gathering as:

(1) to unite our spirits in God’s presence and (2) to prepare us to hear the Word of God.

When you look at your past worship services, has this been the focus of the Gathering portion of your worship service? What do you do to fulfill that purpose or what could you do differently to fulfill that purpose better?

The last part of the chapter was definitely my favorite. There’s so many ideas and things to try in the gathering part that she lists out. Anything there that stood out to you that you’d like to try in your worship sometime?

Share your thoughts below! Don’t be shy – join in the conversation!

Check out other parts of our discussion here.

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