I started this blog while on Sabbatical, and tried to update about once a week. Since sabbatical ended (September 1st), I’ve had every intention of transforming the blog into a weekly ‘Pastor’s blog’. But despite my intentions, I haven’t updated. So I recently made the decision that updates need to be simpler, maybe text only most of the time. This is the first instance of that kind of update.
One of the things I’ve been wanting to ask is your reaction to the experiments I’ve been doing with preaching. Growing out of the Doctor of Ministry preaching course I took this summer, I’ve made three changes
(1) Moved away from the pulpit. Using a hand held mouse, I am now reading the text off a screen on top of the pulpit, which allows me to move around significantly.
(2) Added video and motion to the graphics. Using ‘MediaShout’ as the presentation program instead of Powerpoint allows me to more easily and smoothly use video in the sermon graphics. I’ve used several kinds of video, from film clips to interviews to simple ‘motionizing’ of still images.
(3) Added ‘illustrative application’ stories to the messages. Many weeks I am using stories that are based on true incidents in the life of our church but which have been modified to be anonymous and to otherwise fit with the text.
So my question is: what do you think? Feel free to comment on any or all of these ‘experiments’. Do these things help the communication?
I look forward to your thoughts.
