Powerpoint in Churches

[Stan]

Thought on using powerpoint in churches,

does it

add?

subtract?

distract?

[doug yowell]

It all depends on how it's used and whether or not the spelling is accurate. Is that Stanta or Santa?

[Nan]

In response to Stan's questions I would add one

Or has it become so much the norm that we wonder what that particular

church or speaker is lacking if powerpoints are not used?

[Twilight]

Powerful when done well. :-)

[Gerr]

Thought on using powerpoint in churches,

does it

add?

subtract?

distract?

Yes.

[Liz]

Completely useless for the blind.

[phkrause]

Our Pastor use's it all the time. His name is Don Pate.

Done very well. We have early worship and the noon time worship. I don't go to the 12 o'clock worship hour so am not sure if he uses it there but he does use it for early worship, all I can say I love it. He also has 2 meetings on wednesday which he calls recalibration, one at 10 am and one at 7 pm I believe, have not gone to these either. Some members like his approach others don't.

[Gail]

Completely useless for the blind.

Although good if one is hearing impaired!

[Bravus]

I may have mentioned here before that someone told me ages ago that singing from PowerPoint was a 'celebration church' plot to get hymn books out of people's hands so they would be free to clap.

[Liz]

Originally Posted By: Liz

Completely useless for the blind.

Although good if one is hearing impaired!

Good point.

[cricket]

The use of PowerPoint is for the lazy. Both for the speaker and the hearer. Without PowerPoint, people either had to have the Bible memorized, or would actually have to look up the verses being used (and with that, they could see the context as it was in their hands). Without PowerPoint, people would hold the hymnals in their hands, thumb through its pages and see other hymns that were similar. Before PowerPoint the people HAD to be engaged in the service. They had to make "all the magic" on their own--and not rely on modern conveniences.

Make it interesting one day--kill the power at 11:15. See what happens!

[Bravus]

I think you're a bit too sweeping, cricket. It *can* be used that way, but needn't. I liked the person who just said 'Yes' to Stan(ta)'s questions, in both directions, because I think PowerPoint can do all those things.

I do tend to have Views on this both through having been involved in a number of churches where it was used well, and a few where it was used poorly, and also because I served on the media team at Red Willow SDA church in Edmonton, where it was done *really* well.

The usual things about PowerPoint apply for speakers: don't put the text of your talk on the slides, don't read from the slides, or read from notes the same words as the slide. The slides *can* be used to enhance the presentation with images and other media, but that takes work and art and understanding.

Same with songs, can be used poorly or well. My main issue there is that when people don't put in enough work, the integration between the PowerPoint team and the worship team can mean there is just an inevitable and boring procession of 6-7 songs in a row. IMO that's not a worship service...

The church I was at last week did PowerPoint really badly: basically they just had one computer driving one screen, so between songs it dropped back to the desktop of the computer and the operator scrabbled around among 20 or so songs, all open on the desktop, to find the next one. If something repeated they had to scroll back through the song to find that section. It was very distracting.

At Red Willow we had multiple screens and could transition seamlessly, and we prepared with the worship team ahead of time so that repeated sections were repeated in the PowerPoint and we could just continue forward. We had a trained team of very good operators who advanced the slides manually with close to perfect timing for the singing congregation. Likewise, the team offered technical support to speakers and ensured everything went smoothly.

That took some investment in the technology on the part of the church, but mostly it took commitment. We need to do technology in worship 'as unto the Lord' (because it is), and accept nothing but the best from ourselves. We should be able to be *more* polished than professionals, because we're doing it out of love. If it's patchy and dodgy and unprofessional that's a poor effort, in my opinion.

[Stan]

thought I might say something

If Martin Luther King jr, one of my heros when it comes to preaching, had used powerpoint for "I have a dream" it would have been, in my humble opinion, a let down

If Winston Churchill would have used powerpoint, same thing.

Powerful content can sometimes be destroyed by distractions by other media

Sometimes teaching moments NEEDS powerpoint.

If you listen to Wintney Phipps.... WOW... his content is such that he has no need to powerpoint to convey his message.

Ted Wilson conveyed his "BE PROUD OF OUR NAME" message without needing powerpoint.

Few of the most powerful messages I have heard needed visuals.

Content is still KING.

[Neil D]

Of course, when the computer or equipment goes on the fritz, or if you have someone training and no back up, then your presentation can be just as big a let down as it would have been a plus.....It happened to my church as it presented the Revelation seminars....

I guess it's all in the presentation of the speaker.....

[Bravus]

Anyone who has worked with technology ought to know you need multiple backups. That's part of that work I talked about.

I agree with Stan's points on powerful speeches and speakers.

What I should also have said is that PowerPoint is one tool I'm the toolbox. Avoid using it automatically for everything, and use it well for the things it does well.

[Bravus]

I quite like Prezi.com for talks. It's a free online (but downloadable for use on non-connected computers) presentation solution that is much less linear and boring than PowerPoint. Here's one I prepared earlier: http://prezi.com/rmaiv9pflrqa/school-of-ed-oct-09/

I have definitely preached without PowerPoint, and even when using it we had pew Bibles and asked people to look up the texts.

[Jeannieb43]

You need multiple backups -- and rehearsals.

My son is on the praise team at his church in Paradise, CA. The praise team rehearses the whole service on Friday night, along with the musicians and the video people.

It takes work!

[lazarus]

I think to say it's a tool is about right. With any tool there are times when it will do the job. There are other times when it would be a hindrance. I use it when it fits the sermon I'm preaching. If I'm doing a series it's great to enhance the theme visually. If I'm telling a story as an illustration it's great to focus the attention. If I'm preaching a narrative it's often best to let the words you speak paint the pictures. I use it most when I'm in teaching mode which is more often than not. I always try to remember that there are many who learn and understand more through the visual word rather than just the spoken word.

Having said that the most powerful experiences I have had in preaching have been extemporaneously with Bible in hand.

Do people still actually still use PowerPoint theses days? It feels like a first generation cell phone when I use it.

[james423]

I use it to write electronic textbooks for my classes and used it this past May for an end-of-the-year video "yearbook" presentation. I just finished using it to illustrate (with notes and music) the role that music played in American History.

And so on.

[phkrause]

I use it to write electronic textbooks for my classes and used it this past May for an end-of-the-year video "yearbook" presentation. I just finished using it to illustrate (with notes and music) the role that music played in American History.

And so on.

Cool!