I recently attended a large youth convention with 3000+ plus participants. There were 2 large video screens with unique content and 2 with the same content, usually the lyrics to whatever song was being performed. To the casual viewer, the images on the screen were an important element in assisting the viewer to enter into a state of worship. 

My experience at this youth conference, as a Graphic Designer, was significant to me. I found that the graphics used during the worship time to be nice and simple, but lacking in originality and creativity. In contrast, I was at a similar youth conference a few years ago where the motion graphics were very unique and creative. Rather than relying on simple shapes, colour tones and contrast, the graphics focused on specific themes that related to the lyrics, people, faces, figures, and recognizable icons that related to the theme. This greatly enhanced the worship experience.

Use your motion graphics as a medium to assist your audience to enter into worship. Don’t let the graphics be an after-thought, but use them as part of the message!

 Many people are visually oriented. So I wanted to find a way to help teens learn scripture that goes beyond reading words on a page but explores a visual representation of the meaning in the verse. So each week I take a cool, edgy graphic and add scripture verses over it. I then email this image to a group of youth. A week later we get together and talk about the verse and how it interacted with our lives. During the week, they talk about the verse with their friends, pray about the verse and memorize it. Additionally, they also add this graphic to their Facebook, Myspace, cellphone and computer desktop background. Being in a graphic form allows the verse to travel with them through their various cyberspace and digital homes.

One verse can be very interesting. One verse can make a lot of improvement in our lives. Making scripture communicate visually and across many different platforms makes it even more powerful.

By Calvin Williams

There are many resources available in an easy to use format available in software format.  This doesn’t mean that we are trying to look for an easy way to quickly search through references.  What these resources enable a person to do is to make the most of their time in preparation, by bringing many background resources to give a better understanding of the context of the messages that are being prepared.

Quick Verse Bible Suite 2008

Today’s youth are usually the front-runners in emerging media technology. It is important for adults who work with youth to keep up to speed if they intend to stay relevant.

But what if your adult schedule does not allow you the time stay on top of the ever-changing technology? As an adult youth worker, I have found it difficult to do this in some areas of technology. Some youth that I work with are miles ahead of me in knowledge of media and technology, even though I work part-time as a web designer!
In youth ministry, one of our goals is to empower the youth and help them grow. I have found that this can be accomplished by giving a technologically savvy teen the permission to take charge in some media projects and educate me in the process.

Recently, our youth ministry needed a promotional video created. I could figure out how to create one myself if I read a few tutorials and spent some time looking for the best software and stock footage. But I realized that there is a youth in my program who already knows how to do this. He was more than eager to do this project and I just gave him some direction. A couple days later he proudly showed me the finished work. We then got to work together on some minor edits. The result: a proud teen with his accomplishment and time spent together.