Film in Worship for an “Optics-Driven” World
Our God is a creating and creative God. As one of His creatures made in His image, we too are creative beings. We don’t create out of nothing as God did “in the beginning,” but instead create different forms of art using the things that God created. Each of these art forms can be employed as a part of our corporate worship times. Artistic media such as music, drama, painting, or dance, can all be utilized to glorify God and lead our people to do the same. In addition to these, another art form has risen to prominence in recent years. The use and popularity of film and video play an important part of our lives. Social media apps (like Instagram and Snapchat, among others), on-demand television programming, as well as independent and major studio film production have pushed the medium of video storytelling to the forefront of art in our culture. In the modern, “optics-driven” world in which we live, we as worship leaders can and should make use of this important art as we tell the life-changing story of the Gospel.
As we observe the world around us, we can’t help but notice the prevalence of film in our everyday lives. From 15 second films (like television commercials or pop-up ads) to epic multi-million dollar motion pictures, everywhere we turn someone is telling us a story. A company wants us to know the story of their product so we’ll purchase it. A filmmaker wants us to know the story of another person’s life in hopes of changing our perspective on the world and the people in it. Our friends and social media connections want us to see the story of what’s happening in their lives at any given moment. The college football video department produces content each week to get us excited for our team’s game and to convince recruits that their school is the best one for them to choose. Even Disney theme parks have added video elements to their already rich and immersive storytelling.
So what are we as the church doing to incorporate film into our storytelling each week? After all, we are commanded to go and proclaim the greatest story of all — the life-changing story of the Gospel!
Why should we use film or video in our corporate times together? Film fits into the principles of worship design by revealing aspects of God’s character in unique ways, as well as by proclaiming His Word and purpose in a visual medium. Several verses from scripture remind us that what people see matters as much as what they hear.
· “Taste and see that the Lord is good…” Psalm 34:8a HCSB
· “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3 HCSB
· “…Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 HCSB
(Not to mention all of the individuals throughout Scripture who were healed from their blindness so they could see!)
There are a number of ways to incorporate film and video into our weekly worship gatherings. They can be used to show testimonies, especially when length of time is a consideration, as videos can be trimmed and edited to fit a certain time frame. These videos can be testimonies before a baptism or to highlight God’s transforming power in certain areas of our lives. Videos can also be used to promote upcoming events or spotlight particular ministries. A powerful way to use film is as illustrations for the pastor’s sermon or to help our congregation visualize the many rich stories from scripture.
Film can be a great way to reach those in our congregations who are visual rather than auditory learners. Large portions of our worship services are taken up by listening — to the pastor’s sermon, to prayers, and to the choir or soloist. When these listening elements are supplemented by film or video, the visual learners become more engaged in the service, and we’ve reached more than just the auditory learners in our church.
These uses are not just positive enhancements to the worship services themselves. Each of these methods of implementation can also serve as helpful evangelistic tools for use outside our corporate services as the congregation shares them via social media or other user-uploaded content websites (i.e. YouTube, Vimeo, etc.).
As with any medium, there are some things to steer clear of so that the art is a positive addition to the service and not a distraction. Avoid out of date visual effects. Things like picture-in-picture, highly animated scene transitions, and bad chromakey (“green screen”) effects can be fun to use, but they can greatly detract from the telling of your story. Also, be careful not to give in to the temptation to overuse special effects. Dynamic effects are great if you’re telling the latest Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy story, but they can easily take away from the message of the story you want to tell within a worship service.
A wealth of resources can be found online and used well in our corporate worship gatherings. However, what if we were to produce our own content featuring our people instead of stock footage of random individuals to whom we have no connection? Why not use talented artists from within the church? Check out the Instagram stories of your church members and see who has a talent for telling a story beyond just “posting pics.” Then enlist their help in telling the stories you want to tell. You can even combine different art forms and use actors and actresses from within your congregation in the films you produce. They can use their gifts to help tell the stories of scripture and bring them to life in a way that speaks to the broad spectrum of people in your church.
As worship pastors, we are called to the important task of curating the art within our churches, nurturing the artists that God has placed in our paths, and helping provide good content for our church family to see, look at, remember, and share with the lost world that God has sent them to reach. Let’s do so prayerfully, carefully, and creatively as we worship the Lord with all of the various art forms around us.
