“Everyone agrees that [video announcements] has gotten stale, but it’s hard to put a finger on why. Lots of reasons have been suggested, but I think that it has simply run its course - it’s time for VA to just go away.”

“We need to find creative ways to communicate our announcements, or CCF quickly becomes a monologue.”

This let to us talking about the merits and problems with video-based announcing…

(from Bryan)I think video announcements are the only way to really go about it… That’s the only method I’ve seen besides having pastors do it. I know [my home church] did video announcements ( pre-recorded ).
 

And that got me thinking even more about the topic. But first some background…
Video announcements is a church fad that became widespread around 2004. In a lot of ways, it replaced the printed church bulletin as the socially acceptable way of disseminating church information (notice the italics). The logic is that young people are into TV, so if you make your announcements look cool they will pay attention. And that is where I find the flaw.

Young people today are NOT into television the way the church thinks they are. Weird graphics and catchy editing lost its novelty years ago, and media saturation has dulled all of our senses towards the novelty of TV at church. On top of that, Christianity seems to be around 10-15 years behind popular culture. For example, MTV became a hit in the ’80s, and Carmen became a hit in the ’90s. The sound of grunge pop and puck pop peaked in the early ’90s, and Hillsong United became an American hit after 2003.

Based on this trend, I would say that the perception that video announcements is the latest, greatest way to communicate is probably about 10 years too late. Too many churches are investing valuable equipment money and volunteer hours in a production cycle that really doesn’t do that effective of a job. Out of all the things worth putting production resources into, is a hip-sounding voiceover about a church potluck really the best place to be investing?

That is why CCF has leaned towards LIVE video announcements - something that is far less ubiquitous and cliché. I like it because it kills two birds: announcements, and communicating community. A pre-recorded announcement is just a face on a cheap commercial. On the other hand, our VA segments are an actual part of the church service. You can see the people through the window, the audience can interact and respond to the performance, and you can go and talk to the talent right after they come down the stairs.

But here is the real kicker: I have heard several Pastors (including ours) vent about how much they hate doing announcements. They say it is a drag on the meeting, and nobody listens anyway. I think this is probably true, and I don’t think video announcements do the job any better. The difference is that when a pre-recorded voice gives the announcements rather than a person on the platform, the person leading the meeting doesn’t feel personally insecure about themselves. (See where I am going with this?) Video announcements is not really connecting with young people any better than any of the old methods. It is just making the person doing the announcements feel less insecure because their face is not on the line in front of a large crowd.

So is video announcements the only way to do it? I don’t think it is. I think that a more holistic approach is better, utilizing the web (for everything), printed materials (for most things), and video production (for a few things). No single medium can effectively communicate all content to all people. That is why relying on video announcements as a sole way of getting the word out is as shortsighted as relying on the old church bulletin in days gone by.

Who will become the next generation of leaders in the local church?

Any ideas?

At 12:48 this morning, our new Walmart fog machine had been running for around 10 minutes near the front of the stage when the smoke detectors were tripped. All the alarms went off, the fire department was called, and I immediately regretted ever trying this whole smoke machine scheme.

The good news is that it made our decision easy: we’re going with the dry ice option. And the smoke machine is going back to Walmart. Or in the trash - I can’t decide.

We still need to design the rig to keep the water hot and replace the dry ice without disturbing the service. But I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

Our design for last year’s “sea” was a two foot space behind the lower stage platform filled with dry ice smoke. It was wide enough to allow lots of people to approach it at once, and deep enough that once your paper landed in the pit, it was visiually GONE.  It looked so cool.

But there were some technical problems. For one, the dry ice was expensive. Second, we had to keep refilling the skillets with the water in them to keep the fog consistent. After all, if the fog goes away, you see the bottom of the pit. And that is no way to cast your sins at the foot of the cross.

So this year, we are trying something different. We bought an off-the-shelf fog machine from Walmart (which ironically cost less than the dry ice from last year), and are going to try funneling the nozzle into a chilling apparatus that will make the fog hug the ground.

Wish us luck.

…half of all WSU applications are submitted in January.
…the other half are submitted almost exclusively in November and December.
…the most popular day of the week to submit a WSU admissions application? Sunday. (23%) 

(data gleaned from Enrollment Management reporting)

Does this matter to campus ministries?  You bet.  Does it matter enough to make us change anything?  We’ll see. At the very least, every campus ministry, church, and Bible study in the area should see October 31st as the deadline for getting their websites respectable.

5. Experimented with glycol and water on my stove, trying to figure out the best way to make a fog machine. It was way more fun than it sounds!

4. Watched a fascinating video on the basics of string theory.

3. Repaired and rebuilt our homemade camera jib.

2. Spent the afternoon working on production projects with my friend Bryan.

1. Played with my son in the living room, and read him his favorite Bible stories.

http://www.buildingchurchleaders.com/articles/2006/060403.html

Some highlights:

on the value of staff volunteers…

“Volunteers need and deserve to be given competent leadership, sensitive shepherding, ongoing development, training, and tools to do their job. They’re supposed to be nurtured and coached by the staff into their full-redemptive potential. That’s going to require some staff. At Willow, we give some of our high capacity volunteers their own office, their own phone, and computer. They come to staff meetings. They don’t get a paycheck for it, but we certainly give them the tools and the equipment that they need to do what God has called them to do. They do an enormous amount of work for us. But they really aren’t free.”

on finding a good fit…

“In some dysfunctional church environments, a pastor will stand up and say, “Let’s talk about commitment. Let’s talk about keeping your word. Let’s talk about loyalty.” And the volunteer is thinking, “I am committed, I’m loyal, I’m faithful. I might just be in the wrong role.” In healthy, high-functioning churches, staff and volunteers stay in a consistent dialogue about how it’s going with the volunteer and whether the work still seems like a good fit.”

on the benefits of encouraging people to serve…

“Volunteerism done right will grow people’s faith, deepen their trust, stretch their skills, enrich their relationships, increase their joy, and last, but hardly least, it will set them up for the commendation every sincere Christ follower wants to hear at the end of their time here on planet Earth: “Well done, son. Well done, daughter. You loved me, you served people, you used your gifts, you made a difference in this fallen world. Way to go!” Is there anything better than that?”

Thank you from Adam Ratliff