Insights March 26, 2020

If you have limited experience recording video preaching and worship, here are some pointers from one pastor after his first week:

• If your camera is too close, you can create a 3D effect with hand gestures as you point to your audience through the camera. I observed that on a zoom meeting today and it was a bit distracting.
  • Make sure you maintain eye contact with the camera.
  • Guard against verbal pauses—they will be magnified.
  • Watch your lighting or you might need to borrow some of your wife’s makeup so you don’t end up with too much “holy glow.
  • Stay upbeat when you do announcements and any stewardship emphases you use.
  • Be very practical and foundational in the messages you share—a great opportunity to do a “Vince Lombardi” series on the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. Lombardi is famous for focusing on the fundamental skills needed to win at the professional level.
  • Don’t go over the top on the COVID-19 theme.
• Rural areas and even some urban contexts are having on-line challenges due to the increased number of churches posting services on-line. You might have to decrease the quality (file size) of your transmissions to minimize buffering.
•  Be careful that you don’t end up with information overload as you look for “best practices” on how to respond. Collect good ideas and keep them in a “crock pot” until you can prayerfully figure out which ones will work best for you. Remember, you can’t do all of them.
• But definitely don’t do the opposite and just sit around and wait for things to get back to “normal.” Too many churches are still waiting for the 1950s to return.