Blog – Page 3 – Motion Worship – Video Loops, Countdowns, & Moving Backgrounds for the Christian Church

How To Schedule Your Week as a Senior Pastor

As a senior pastor, your work schedule is unlike most. While you might enjoy more flexibility in your calendar and diversity in your to-do’s than a typical 9-5 gig, you also face unique challenges and uncharacteristic demands. Creating a schedule that allows for deep productivity, meaningful pastoring, and sufficient rest is a puzzle that takes trial and error to figure out. While everyone is di...

Effects & Color Filters | ProPresenter in 5 Minutes

This “ProPresenter in 5-minutes” series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn about the ProPresenter interface, how to customize slides, build a library of songs, compile a full church service, and tons more! In this specific video tutorial, Chris ...

Preparing for Easter Services as a Worship Pastor

Easter is a great day for celebration in the church! It’s also a great day for a gallon of coffee, nerves, anxiety, and stress... If you’re a worship pastor of course. We kid, but if you are a worship pastor, you can probably relate on some level. The only reason those of us in the church get stressed about Easter is because we recognize how important of a holiday it is. There’s going to ...

How To Handle Criticism as a Lead Pastor

As a senior pastor or someone in any leadership position, criticism is inevitable. That, of course, doesn’t mean it stings any less. For most of us, our first reaction to complaints and critiques is defensiveness. Especially when the criticism feels harsh, personal, or unfair, it can be tempting to take a “haters gonna hate” mentality and harden ourselves to it. And while it’s true that so...

How to Prioritize Your To-Do List as a Church Admin

As a church admin, It can be difficult to prioritize tasks when everything feels like the most important, asks come out of nowhere, and your inbox and co-workers won’t quit interrupting. How do you stop letting your to-do list run your life and use it, instead, to set you up for success in the moment and for tomorrow? There are many productivity techniques and different methods that work for...

Talking to Youth Leader Volunteers About Boundaries

Youth ministry is designed to be a safe and nurturing space for students to encounter God, discover themselves, and develop meaningful friendships. These years are formative, the environment is fun, wholesome, and sacred. One of the most important relationships young people have are with trusted, supportive adults. Data from the National Survey of Children’s Health shows that “having one o...

Low Cost Ways to Honor Your Worship Team Members

Churches often work on tight budgets, so it can be difficult to find ways to thank and honor your worship team volunteers. However, there are plenty of low cost, high impact ways to show your appreciation for their hard work and dedication. Let’s take a look at some of the most effective and budget-friendly ways to honor your worship team volunteers. As a quick caveat, most of the suggestions in...

How to Jumpstart a Sermon-Based Small Group Curriculum

As a teaching pastor, creating sermon series that will serve your congregations is an important part of your job description. From finding the right scripture, narrowing in on salient themes, and constructing messages that will build meaningfully week after week, the time and intention that goes into crafting these series shouldn’t have to end after everyone leaves the sanctuary for Sunday brunc...

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Designing Your Youth Ministry Room to Match Your Series

The visual impact of the space your youth ministry meets in can make a subtle, but significant difference in the way your sermon series are received. The lighting, color, and arrangement of your room can be a big piece that influences whether your messages feel introspective or community-minded, energetic or subdued. We want to create atmospheres that are inviting and engaging, and the design of t...

Selecting Appropriate Backgrounds for Worship Songs

When it comes to creating an engaging worship service, visuals are can be an important part of your production. If you're reading this, you probably already using motion backgrounds for your lyrics, or you're considering adding them in. It can be a challenge to find the right motion backgrounds to pair with your lyrics, but if done well, the result can truly be remarkable. Let’s take a look at h...

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Should Your Worship Team Start Using a Click Track?

Every worship pastor wants their band to sound tight, consistent and precise. But how do you get there? The answer might be a click track. So what exactly is a click track and why should your team consider using one? In this post, I’ll discuss the pros and cons of using a click track with your worship team so you can make an informed decision on whether it’s right for your church. Is a Cli...

Creating Sermon Series for a Multi-Generational Audience

As a pastor, one of your primary goals is to engage with your congregation and make sure everyone feels like they are gaining something valuable from attending services. But creating sermon series that appeal to a wide range of ages can be a daunting task. It's easy to slip into creating messages tailored toward the adults in attendance, but how do you create something that engages your youngest m...

How to Plan Your Church Calendar A Year in Advance

New year, new you! Ok, maybe not a completely new you. But January 1st offers a fresh opportunity to set your church calendar up for success in the new year. Building out an entire calendar advance can feel intimidating, but it can help reduce overwhelm and scrambling later on in the year. Looking at your content from a bird’s eye view can also help you avoid obvious holes or redundancies in you...

Worship Pastors: Aligning Your and the Lead Pastor’s Vision

If you're a worship pastor, chances are good that you've had some disagreements with your lead pastor about the vision for worship at your church. Maybe there's been a conflict over the style of music, or the role of technology in worship. Whatever the case may be, it's important to find ways to align your vision with that of your lead pastor. In this blog post, we'll share some tips on how to do ...

How to Motivate and Reward Church Staff Without Promotion Opportunities

The church can be a great place to work when its at its best; the environment is comfortable, the people are friendly, and the mission is meaningful. But for many small to mid-size churches, there often isn’t much “upward mobility” or room for improvement. Most churches have two, maybe three “levels” on their organizational chart. Without room for promotions, it can be tricky to make sta...

Debriefing Church Events and Services for Maximum Impact

As a church, it’s important to have an active calendar of events and services. Whether it’s a holiday celebration, community outreach program, or weekly sermon series, churches are continually innovating ways to reach their communities with the gospel. But what happens when the big event is over? How do you ensure that your next event will be even more successful than the last? The answer lies...

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How To Run Successful Church Staff Meetings

Most of us have experienced staff meetings, for better or worse. Standing meetings have the potential to be your staff’s favorite time of the week, or it can feel like black hole on their schedule every week. Staff meetings don’t have to be torture, but it requires intentionality on the part of the person or persons running the meeting. Here are a few ideas to help you turn your meetings into ...

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How to Reduce Staff and Volunteer Turnover

When you’re trying to develop a solid culture and further the mission of your church, losing staff and volunteers in droves can be Demoralizing. Not only is it frustrating, but it costs you time, money, and productivity that sets everyone back. Before we talk about strategies for retaining and developing your people, it’s important to understand the reasons why people leave in the first pl...

Make Wise Use of Church Meeting Rooms During The Holidays

With all the events happening and groups congregating this time of year, your church building is likely bustling with activity. Of course, we all experience limitations when it comes to space and availability and finding room for everyone can sometimes turn into a bit of a puzzle especially this time of year. If you’re a church admin and struggling with accommodating all the parties, meetup...

5 Meaningful Ways to Appreciate Your Church Volunteers

Volunteers are essential to every church. They invest in our youth, they care for our buildings, and give their time, talents, and dedication to help pull off Sunday after Sunday. These are the people who believe in your church’s mission and create the experiences that help people encounter God’s grace every weekend. For all their hard work, we are always looking for creative and meaningful...