Wow, this is so important to our church right now. We've recently started a third service that is more of an outreach. We use intelligent lighting which allows us to create lighting scenes/moods for our music, message etc... 2 of the 3 services are simultaneous and a preaching minister that does one, then off to the other. The worship leaders in both venues and MC in one service have in-ear monitors. Messages can be sent to them from tech guys.

However, one of the most valuable tools we have right now is a web based, subscription software called Planning Center Online. It's specifically for churches and worship services. It's great for planning your services. We are able to put approximate times for songs and other elements and able to see what is needed to make sure the roaming preacher gets from place to the other on time. It also streamlines scheduling/reminders for singers, tech people etc, as well as having the ability to load a database of MP3s and PDF's of all of your music. There is also a "Live" feature so that the simultaneous services can click through their own service as elements happen and the other service does the same. There are two windows with this activity so that tech people etc...can see the progress of the other service. There is even a built in instant messaging system so they can chat. It has been a PHENOMENAL resource for us.

www.planningcenteronline.com

We're Mac based, so Pro Presenter is the only way to go. I would to Pro over EasyWorship, MediaShout and definitely PowertPoint ANY day of the week.

Technology is a tremendous aid at our church. We had 220 people join our church last year and over 100 baptisms. Sure, that is a work of God, but the resources we use allows us to offer excellent presentations in a reliable way. The focus is Jesus, no doubt. But technology helps our audience see/hear and experience that message in a more relevant way.

technology can be a good thing but it can also be distracting when it doesn't work right. And then the focus is off the message and onto the fact that the service is not going so smoothly. This can happen during worship but also during the preaching too if the preacher uses slides, powerpoint, etc.

tim magill
kansas city, ks