I’ve been exploring how visualists like myself can support worship in a more deep and authentic way over the last year or so. I’ve mostly been watching, listening, and thinking about it. Read on for some background and a free, downloadable preview!

One of my roles at the Palau Association has been to support artists like Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher, and Delirious with with lyric overlays (over live camera footage) during our festival concerts. The process is usually last-minute, ad-hoc, and limited by the technology that’s in the video truck. I also have worked with artists like Fernando Ortega and other worship leaders during some of our smaller events, where I control the entire screen (no live footage).

These experiences have been thrilling, terrifying, and challenging professionally. I’ve also felt drawn to see how things could be improved. I see very little high-quality media being used in most churches (with some exceptions - usually the big-budget megachurches). Why should the big guys get all the fun?

Can visuals, used wisely, amplify acapella worship experiences, beyond what we’ve been doing? I’d like to find out.

The tools are improving somewhat. The setup is quickly distilling down to a laptop, projector, quality craftsmanship, good planning and some specialized software. I’m experimenting with some software that will let me easily format lyrics, find and cue them hyper-fast, and seamlessly composite lyrics over high-quality videos, stills, or animations. More on that later - suffice it to say I’m convinced enough that I’ve decided to develop some of my own backgrounds for use in worship.

Here’s the first in a series that I’ll try to post, as time allows. Click to see the full movie (QuickTime 7 or WMP 10 required; 18mb).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.

The background came from one of Steven Schleicher’s free backgrounds; other layers and elements were used in our recent Nashville Festival. It’s designed to loop seamlessly and be dark enough for white text. The font is Caecelia LT Black from Linotype. Yes, the drop shadow will be live over the background - more on that later…

Want to use one of my backgrounds in a worship setting? You’re welcome to - but please send me a note and let me know you’re using it, or post a comment here in the thread. I thought about this question a lot, and decided in the end that helping elevate the quality of worship in the Church - for free - is more important than some token fee or a commercial logo in the corner. I may not post everything; some media I don’t have full rights to (even though I manipulate them) and will only be used directly by me.

I would also really, really love to hear any ideas on how to elevate and amplify worship experiences in your church. If you have a request, and it’s a great idea that can be used by one of my events, let me know, and we’ll share it with the Kingdom together.

Posted in Worship Media