The WHM Blog

I’m always on the lookout for new backgrounds to add to my media library that are “evergreen” – meaning they can be used in a number of services and are not tied to a specific season or style. Our producers are always cranking out these kinds of motion and still backgrounds, so be sure you’re always checking the Just Added sort at WHM.

Here are a few that caught my eye recently, and that I’ll be using at my church in the near future.

Heavenly Particles 03 by Centerline New Media – Really nice depth and movement in this spacey motion. Would be great for songs like Tomlin’s Our God or Paul Baloche’s Hosanna (Praise is Rising) or any song dealing with the majesty of God.

Worn Out Sunshine by Church Motion Graphics – Looking for something that’s bright, but not too bright? You found it. Great for early in the set and pairs well with songs like Forever Reign from Hillsong and Mighty to Save.

Come Alive by Floodgate Productions – The opposite of Worn Out Sunshine, this is great for when you want something dark, but not too dark. I love the idea of light bursting through the darkness. Great for songs like Shout to the Lord and Tomlin’s Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) that shift in energy levels throughout the song.

Roses Orange-Loop by Igniter Media – When you’re looking for something that’s bright and full of life, this is a great choice. Great for songs early in your set like 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) by Matt Redman and Blessed Be Your Name.

Seven Star Mountain 5 by Playback Media – Add a little extra depth to your background with this gorgeous mountain scene. (And No, I did not just pick this because I’m already ready for my trip to the Rockies this summer). I love using nature-themed backgrounds for songs about God’s greatness like How Great Thou Art, How Great is Our God, and Benton Brown’s Everlasting God.

Rainy Night 2 by Graceway Media – I’m a sucker for motions like this. Watching rain fall on the glass at night is something we can all relate to, and using that image in worship draws the congregation into that shared experience. This is great for more reflective songs like The Stand and It is Well.

What are some of your favorite backgrounds, and what songs do you use them with?

I’ve been known to say a couple of contradictory things about leading visual worship:

1. Like a good cat burglar, if a visual worship leader is doing their job, no one will know they’re there.

2. Visual worship will impact people when images are thrown on the screen that subvert their expectations.

It’s hard to subvert an expectation when no one knows you’re there. So how do I reconcile the two?

Last week, at Luminous Project in Nashville, Nate Ragan put it into really simple terms. Paraphrase: “The Visual Worship Leader does two things: Create Environments and Tell Stories. Sometimes they do this at the same time, and sometimes they do the two independently of each other.”

For me, “Creating Environments” is the cat burglar thing. I want to create an environment in the services I’m leading where visuals deepen and enrich worship in ways that, hopefully, go unnoticed by the worshipper. I don’t want their focus to be on what I’m projecting; I want their focus to be on the True Object of their worship.

The “Telling Stories” thing is where I want people to engage with what’s on the screen in such a way that it draws them into a larger story, and gives them new eyes to see God in a fresh way. The images are meant to be noticed, and the worshipper is invited into a new way of seeing and thinking.

I loved the way Nate Ragan and Stephen Proctor did both at Luminous, using some of The Work of the People‘s Visual Liturgies. Here are a few they used:

Telling Stories: Psalm 107 and The Merton Prayer

Creating Environments: Doves Loop and Rejoice Loop-1 (Note: these are longer than 30 seconds, and are meant to have some abstract components).

How do you create environments and tell stories through visual worship?

So you’ve found (or are planning to find) the perfect mini movie to intro your sermon or service the week, honoring moms for all that they do in the lives of children, young and old… BUT, you want to take your Mother’s Day Service to the next level. Take a look at some of our motion backgrounds, splash screens, stills, and countdowns. Here are a few of our favorites:

Motions
A splash screen is a great way to intro your service or transition from element to element. We love Mother’s Day Butterflies by Graceway Media and Mother’s Day Flowers by Life Scribe Media. Splash screens not your thing, but you still want to put something pretty up during worship for all the moms out there? Try Spring Flowers 02 from Centerline New Media.

Countdowns
One of the easiest ways to add a little something special into your service for moms, is a pre-service countdown. We really like Happy Mother’s Day Countdown from Centerline New Media (for something simple), Mother Always Said Countdown by Igniter Media (for something funny and sweet), and Mother’s Day Countdown from Life Scribe Media (for something a little shorter).

Collections
No post from me would be complete without a little love for collections. I love service packs and bundles because they allow you to brand your entire service around a unified theme AND they save you a bundle (get it?) of money. For Mother’s Day, we like Centerline New Media’s Mini-Pack: Mother’s Day Vol. 1, Playback Media’s Mother’s Day Digital Bundle, and Floodgate Productions’ Mother’s Day Watercolor Service Pack.

We’d love to share more of our favorites, but we’d rather point you to our Mother’s Day Store, FILLED with excellent media. You’re sure to find just the right mini movies, countdowns, motions and more for your services this Sunday.

In addition to volunteering on the media team at my local church, I also serve another congregation that is, at times, very different stylistically from my own. One of their requests recently was for some slower, more subtle backgrounds. It’s been a fun challenge to find content that will add depth to worship and enhance the service, but that won’t be visually distracting for a demographic that isn’t as used to flashy or fast-paced media.

Here are some of my favorites (pictured above):

Blue Watercolor Grunge 02 – NewWorshipMedia

Subtle Colors – Igniter Media

Ambient Particles Blue – Life Scribe Media

Simple Circles Purple – Playback Media

New Blue 01 – Centerline New Media

Selah 2 – Dan Stevers

Subtle Mover Shadows – Church Motion Graphics

Holy Presence Gold – OneWay Arts

*Links go to the Motion version of each design, but many have a Still counterpart as well.

There are so many things we can do with our stills and motions to tell a story during worship. A couple of weeks ago, I posted about using darker, slower-moving media to create a more somber/reflective worship environment during Lent and Holy Week (post here).

Something I’ve been experimenting with recently is using themed media to create visual momentum. We have a bunch of collections that are designed with this kind of visual storytelling in mind. As an example, let’s look at Centerline’s Service Pack: Volume 14. The four backgrounds (Motions and Stills available) work particularly well for telling a story of light breaking forth from darkness (or vice versa). Here’s how these can be used:

In A Whole Worship Set - Our band will often start a service with slower, more reflective songs and build toward uptempo, celebratory worship. Starting with a dark background and stepping lighter with each song is a great way to match the direction of the worship team.

During A Single Song - Some worship songs are written to lead from introspection and reflection and move toward celebration and proclamation (think “Beautiful Things” by Gungor and “All the Poor and Powerless” by All Sons and Daughters). As the song moves to a brighter and more hopeful place, use your slides to follow the mood of the song visually.

Just as the worship leader plans a set list around creating an environment for worship, you as a visual worship leader can do the same. Follow the flow of the service (or a single song) and create visual environments to deepen the worship experience.

We use media because we believe that it can help us communicate better and deepen our worship experiences. When we celebrate in worship, we can use bright, energetic motions, stills, and worship intros. When we want to drive home a point and anchor it in the experiences of our people, we use a relevant and powerful illustration.

But how can we use media as we enter the Lenten season, a time of more somber reflection? For those honoring Lent over the coming weeks, here are a few tips that we recommend:

Switch to Stills
If your church uses a lot of motion backgrounds during your regular worship services, why not try giving up motions and make the switch to stills? A subtle change like this can drastically alter the atmosphere in worship, and lend itself toward times of reflection. These are some of our favorites.

Subtle, Slow-Moving Motions
Not ready to make that kind of change? Try using some slower moving motions where the action in the background is more subtle. Keeping with the theme of Lent, most of our choices are on the darker side, though darkness is not as important as subtlety. You can find some of our top picks here.

Visual Silence
Use a lot of media during the year? Maybe the best thing you can do to explore the season of Lent visually is practice visual silence. What is visual silence? Silence is the absence of noise, and visual silence is the absence of visual noise. If you use fast-paced or colorful motions and stills normally, sometimes the biggest impact visually comes from taking visuals out of the equation entirely. I do this some throughout the year – at first the congregation wonders what happened to the background, but then they realize that it’s not about the background. It’s about what they’re singing, and, more importantly, who they’re singing to. Try tossing in a song or two in your set with a solid black background.

Get more ideas and some great seasonal media at our Easter Store.

Working for WorshipHouse, I get to see a lot of beautiful media. It’s one of the best parts of my job.

Recently, while surfing the Church Stage Design Ideas blog, I stumbled across some incredible worship slides from the Stillwater Campus of LifeChurch.tv. I love what they’re doing with lyric slides – what a creative way to use type and space – and I hope you find this as inspirational as I do. (An aside: if you’re unfamiliar with ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com, go check them out and spend an hour or two – or three or four – being inspired.)

Dale and Luke sat down to talk about some of the best selling Christmas Collections!

Advent Candles Theme Pack by Centerline New Media

Motion 6-Pack: Announcements Vol. 3 by Centerline New Media

The Christmas Story Collection by ImageVine

Christmas Manger Collection by Disciple Media

(Background)
Christmas Light Strand by Graceway Media