2013 in Christian Media

Need resources or ideas for you ministry production. Look no further.

Christian media is growing but is still a very niche topic online. The Internet has a vast array of information but its limitations can be felt when you search “Christian Media” in Google. Maybe I should try using Bing cause I’ve tried this search query over the last few years but still come up with only trifling results. I have been satisfied on some of the results and I will use the rest of this blog post to share them with you.

The first thing I notice is that churches have been building up vigorous media resources on their sites. A couple of them have sermon teaser videos and also allow you to download sermon notes. Thanks to a twitter post, I found this example saddleback link. Of course, I envisioned more than this, but this is a good start in the right direction.

This picture shows one of Saddleback’s hosts describing what’s about to happen at an Aids 2012 event. Along with this Saddleback media section another great site I found was LifeChurch.tv and Mark Driscoll’s church Mars Hill Church.

Websites:

Here are some other great websites I found this year.

Phil Cooke - a blog featuring some tips on Christian media.

THiNKmediaTV A Youtube channel offering video production, musician, artist, branding, new media communications and marketing social media videos tips.

Bling Blog - This is the blog of LiveChurch.TV's media team. One of the most versatile church media teams in the United States. 

Church Social Media - A church social media blog.

Grove Theater at Faith Village - This is a curated collection of videos featuring music, humor, inspiration, training, causes and more.

Church Media Design - Tips, tricks, and how to for the Church media designer.

Christian Media - A channel on Vimeo Dedicated to Christian videos

Worship House Media - Seven Books Everyone in Church Media... - Worship House Media and this link to what books you should read in church media.

Church Staffing - Jobs in church media (I was very excited to find this since I will soon be graduating [fingers crossed].)

Church Motion Graphics - A site dedicated to building Church Media Graphics.

Sticky Jesus - 8 ways to use... I liked this post in regards to Christian media and the title of the site is catchy.

Twitter:

You should consider using Twitter if you work or you're pursing a job in church media. Here are some companies and people who tweet about media in ministry. I took time to review the frequency and the subject matter of their post and you should consider following them.

@ChurchProdMag – Church Production Mag – Educational ideas and tweets for

churches covering audio, video, lighting and production technologies.

@mediastry – Mediastry Providing a platform for both streaming AND delivery of online video, for churches and ministries.

@think_intl – THiNK International – This twitter feed has the goal in mind of training the next generation of leaders & creatives.

@socmediachurch – Social Media Church – Social media ideas for churches through conversations with church leaders.

@churchtechstuff - Church Tech Stuff - This is a website dedicated to providing churches with resources and information to better use media and tech in their context. 

@cmsucks – ChurchMarketingSucks ­–Frustrate, educate & motivate the church to communicate the truth of Jesus Christ.

@michaelhyatt – Michael Hyatt – Discuses blogging and Podcasting advice.

@j_cordell – Jonathan Cordell – A local media editor here in Jacksonville, Florida.

@churchinsight Neat ideas for church websites and media.

@kpmiracle Kenny Miracle – Director of Film Dept & Lead Editor.

Conferences:

Echo Hub Conference - July 24 - 26 - Dallas - A conference for church communicators who are artist, geeks and storytellers (church media). I just found out about this conference a day before I picked my vacations and I am going.


AVL Expo - February 22 - Right outside Austin - (Audio Video Light) Church media

If you know of any other good examples that missed the list please post it in the comments or let me know!

A year without TV

Last year at this time I became very disappointed with the current state of television. I find it idiotic how network’s run shows into the ground just because the ratings are high. I find that TV shows today are full of lackluster and sensationalism.

I refuse to watch American Idol no matter how many people said how great it was. I decided that the last episode I would ever watch was the one when Kelly Clarkson won ­– You know, the first season.

Around the same time last year I embarked on a new journey into the land of Twitter. You may laugh but I have read some of the most exquisite articles on there and have met some amazing people. I think of Twitter as a public forum for A la Carte news.

 I follow things like art, media and a church media director in the local area. I love being updated on the latest from pastors like Mark Driscoll and John Piper and finding things on niche subjects like church media. Which is unmistakably hard to find elsewhere.

I’ve also become more of a bookworm or I guess you would call it magazine worm or magazine bug… or whatever. I like riding my bike to the library and gazing through their endless supply of magazines and books. I learned that I’m a connoisseur of entrepreneur startups. I have been reading articles from the likes of Forbes, The INC and Harvard Business Journal.

A year has gone by and I haven’t missed TV. The only time I saw it was maybe a few glances in a sports bar or when my roommates watch it. I also never got into web TV if your wondering, I have only been to Hulu once and I don’t subscribe to Netflix. I didn’t play games either, guess it was a year without games too. I went to the theatres once but it was for a local film festival showing local videos. I try to restrict my movie watching to Documentaries, Art House, Christian and educational/tutorial movies. 

I’m actually glad I stopped watching TV. I’ve spent more time in the word and reading in general without it. I don’t know how people make time for shows like Lost and 24 that have indefinite seasons. It was an experience and now I’m ready to make it year two.

The prodigal son... Why I chose to come back home.

I was enjoying life and going to two churches. In the morning, I volunteered for River City Church running cameras and at night I enjoyed the companionship of my friends at Ocean City Church.

That all changed one Sunday night when, Derek, the pastor of Ocean City Church said he was changing his service time to mornings. He said more people go to church on Sunday mornings cause that’s what they are use to. Parents with children want to use Sunday nights to spend time with their family. He said he had been praying about this for a long time and this is what God was telling him to do.

Derek said, “I know some of y’all are double dipping and have a morning church or maybe you run cameras somewhere else and come here, but I’m sorry this has to be done.” My friends turned around and smirked as they looked at me when he said this cause they knew exactly who he was referring to – me. 

After this I was torn between two churches. I couldn’t decide whether to part ways with my camera job or leave my friends. Derek was our young adults pastor for years and when he left River City Church to lead Ocean City Church he took my age group with him. Most my friends left RCC including my friends who moved to Boston. The camera job was getting harder to do with classes and work. I also had to work cameras and lights at the same time, which became very cumbersome.

Here is a photo of Ustream broadcasting the service.

I resigned from RCC after this but instead of going to OCC I decided to try other places. I tried several churches and met some wonderful people but I still missed home at RCC. The other churches possessed a lot a great qualities but it was not the same. I missed doing cameras.

My good friend Alex told me that I should not have left cause I was leaving my ministry as a cameraman. But I needed a sabbatical. I found a new Sunday night church, Campus to City – Wesley Foundation, I met tons of great people. I’m planning to go to both RCC and CCW. In January, I have decided to go to Passion 2013 with the latter church. I regained my status as cameraman and I have already started by doing services. Here is a photo of Ustream broadcasting the service.

A few weeks ago I stepped in River City Church for the first time in months. I felt like the prodigal son returning home again… It felt good to be home.

Working on a live set of a commercial… My second Internship.

What was once just a 1’ X 1’ image of a light fixture in my television production textbook (barely legible photograph, albeit) is now an Arri 300 Watt Tungsten Fresnel hanging from my hand and being prepped for a live set for a company called Applebox Productions. Which is located on Haines St. in Jacksonville, Florida.

Left with the choice of taking another history class or interning, I chose interning. Most people don’t intern until their senior of college when it’s required. And some who don’t have it as a requirement and are stagnate and never intern. Which is a fatal mistake in the land of communications.

When Mitt Romney and the other republicans were fighting for his spot this spring at a convention hosted by the University of North Florida campus. I was giving the opportunity to speak to a correspondent in the CNN van. She said internships are key to getting jobs like this. After this I decided that I wanted to have an internship at least once a semester. I have come close to fulfilling this goal.

This is where Mrs. Robertson falls into place. She helped me get my internship with Osprey TV and Osprey Radio and said I was able to take a final internship with her. Providentially, my mentor told me he was leaving town but knew someone I could intern for. He said a buddy of his, Andrew Howell, went to our church and owned a lighting and grip company called Applebox and that he could get me inI was stoked and surprised.

It’s amazing how I could go to a church for two years and not know that someone in the film production industry went there. I called Andrew the next day, filled out some paperwork from Mrs. Roberson and the Applebox internship was set in stone.

This is an Applebox it is commonly used in filming for wedging, siting equipment on uneven terrain and occasionally used as a chair. Courtesy of Portable Work Bench.

This is Applebox production. Its name actually stems from the name of the physical box. It’s a production company for North Florida film and video production services. Courtesy of Street View by Google Maps. The grass has been mowed since this picture was taken.

Within the first week of interning at Applebox I went to a real film gig. It was a going to be a nationwide released commercial for an E3 spark plug. The commercial's plot was about how one spark plug is better than the leading alternative brands. On set, I got to erect and take down grip equipment as well as set down furniture pads for ground level camera angles. This was one of the best experiences I had at Applebox.

Here is a photo from the set of the commercial and here is a link to the commercial on Vimeo

Throughout the semester I learned how to build up camera cranes and repair lights. Some days it was over 100 degrees in the building and there were no fans… It was actually hotter than my other job at UPS. Somedays at Applebox there was a lot of work but it was well worth it… and I always remember this verse.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. - Colossians 3:23 - King James Version