A large number of churches use simple forms of media during a service. For example, a screen may display song lyrics or biblical passages that are covered during a sermon. Other opportunities for churches to use media include welcome videos, PowerPoint presentations of sermons, and images and videos on a church’s website and social media networks.
Having a media ministry also helps a church create and communicate its identity. Branding, which is commonly used in business, can seem out of place to churches. However, in his book “Branding Faith,” Phil Cooke explains “branding is simply the art of surrounding a product, organization, or person with a powerful and compelling story.” Churches can adopt and embrace these concepts to make an impact.
Media ministry looks at ways to leverage media to engage the congregation. In addition to a screen being used for textual support with songs and biblical passages, it can display graphics for announcements before the service begins. The screen can also integrate video for sermon illustrations, video clips from movies, personal stories of faith and demonstrations of how church giving is impacting ministries within the community and beyond.
Benefits of Media Ministry
ShareFaith Magazine explains that church media is a useful tool for most churches today. It points out three benefits for media ministry.
- Church media helps to emphasize the Gospel. Pastors use their voice, body language and sometimes stage design to emphasize their message. Media further enhances and emphasizes the message by introducing another level of communication. By receiving a message in more than one way, the congregation can better remember it.
- Church media connects with people in a language that is understandable and familiar. According to ShareFaith Magazine, “Our cultural collective communication style now favors mediums that include screens, motion, and color. That’s neither bad nor good … [integrating media] is simply using a culturally relevant form of communication.”
- Church media enables a wider breadth of communication. Media can offer a richer level of experience and communication for the audience. For instance, when a teacher uses visual aids in Sunday school, the teacher “is communicating a Bible story that suggests real people, in real life, with real bodies that we can recognize,” according to ShareFaith Magazine.