Media Tip: Design Blogs

Tip of the Week #4 The best way to find freebies and cool ideas for your church is to read design blogs. You're taking the first step by reading this one right now! Since my blog is relatively new in it's conception, you probably got here from a link I posted on Facebook or through Blogger's most recently updated blog link. That being said, if you are new to design or working with your church's media there are plenty of good websites and blogs out there. It was because of these very blogs that I started mine in the first place. While these blogs may not be geared specifically toward helping church's or church media, they still have a lot of valuable services to provide. My personal favorite is Blog.SpoonGraphics. It is very well designed,...

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Sermon Visuals

Recently, one of my desires has been to take the next step in our church services through sermon visuals. If you recall, this was the tip of the week two weeks ago. I've looked around at various websites observing the "Basic, but Free" on CreationSwap, the "Average, but Cheap" on ShareFaith, and the "Awesome, but Expensive" on Graceway Media. I have to say, Graceway Media highly impresses me. Most of their stuff looks amazing. It's everything the church media guy would hope to be able to do. Well I told myself that I could probably do some of the more basic things that they can and I gave it a whirl. My beginning tests worked out so well that I asked my good friend, missionary Steven Maldoff of Murray River Baptist Church, if he'd like me to...

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Wired Wednesday #3

Here is this week's media inspirational designs. Most of them are downloadable, only the two at the end are screenshots of current church website material. Everything else comes from free download websites. Click the image and it will take you to the place where you can download it. Some of them, like the Jesus one, have multiple files for different page orientations. FYI, I have the Jesus image as my Desktop background on my laptop. I think it's really neat. Anyway, I hope these give you ideas or are useful to you in some way. As a side note, some of these files may not work for you unless you have Photoshop, but most of them are JPGs accessible on any computer.   ...

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Media Tip: Social Media Networks

One of the fastest growing forms of technology in today’s society is social media networks. Websites like Facebook. Twitter, and YouTube are widely used by millions of people. However, good Christian people are divided on the issue of Social Media, and I will discuss these reservations later. It is my opinion that these social networks can be very powerful media tools in a church’s ministry. Social Media Networks can be used to make general announcements to your church members. Do you want to remind everyone that there is a Youth Activity going on tomorrow? Or have you ever forgot to make a particular announcement or part of announcement on Sunday morning? Make it on Facebook and Twitter and everyone who has profile and follows the...

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Big Leaps: Matthew Meals

Media Missions has a ministry locally in Pensacola, Florida but also Internationally in Australia. Through my connections with missionary Steven Maldoff, I design various flyers and bulletins for Murray River Baptist Church of Buronga, NSW, Australia. I called this post a Big Leap because of how far away Australia is spatially, yet we are still able to use our talents to reach people for Jesus. This next month, MRBC will be running a series of events called Matthew Meals. The concept is based upon Luke 5:27-32. Matthew, the tax collector (also called Levi), was called of Jesus to follow Him. Matthew then holds a big feast where he invites all his friends, family, and co-workers to meet Jesus. A Matthew Meal is an evangelistic opportunity for...

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Wired Wednesday #2

I was going to make a Freebie Friday last week, but I decided against it because of how similar it would go with Wired Wednesday. So, instead, I decided to blend freebies into this. Essentially, I will post inspirational media images. Some from church websites and some from media download websites. Those featured images that are free downloads from my sources will be linked to the image so that you can download the high resolution version for yourself. Hence the Freebie aspect. You may also want to bookmark those websites and visit them frequently checking for new free stuff. Click Image for Download This file also contains 3 other slide images for Powerpoint presentations Click Image for Download Click Image...

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Media Tip: Sermon Visuals

Today is the age of technology. Churches need to embrace that technology. It is not a bad thing, and you do not need to compromise your beliefs to do it. Just because you use projector or Powerpoint does not mean that you've become a "contemporary" church in the more charismatic sense of the word. Have you ever been sitting in a service and the preacher said the passage too fast, you missed it, and now you are looking over everybody's shoulder trying to figure out where they are turning to? Sermon visuals a great way to keep the Bible reference visible for anyone who might have missed it. Have you ever listened to a sermon in the morning service and then completely forgot what it was about by the evening service? Don't lie. We've all...

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Wired Wednesday #1

Wired Wednesday will feature 5 images of what churches are using in their media ministries. These are meant to be inspirational, sparking ideas in pastors and church media designers. The inspirational thought may be the design, or it may be the theme featured in the photo. It doesn't really matter how you use it, but the purpose is to give you the idea in the first place.  I saw this one while browsing the web and could only screen shot it so it's hard to read. It says "Christian Atheist: Believing in God, but Living Like He Doesn't Exist" ...

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Media Tip: Event Advertising

Advertise for everything (if you can afford it). Make a flyer, postcard, or bulletin insert for every major event. Events include: revival services, evangelistic events, dramatic productions, youth events, and special services (ie. Easter and Christmas). Bulletin inserts would be the cheapest route. All you need to do is make a half-sheet of paper, list the information for the event, print it two on a page, cut it in half, and put it in the church bulletin. A postcard-size color advertisement would be ideal. It doesn't need to look pretty to accomplish its purpose (informing people of the event), but the nicer it looks the more attractive the event will be. Find someone in your church who is talented with Graphic Design to help...

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Beginning Steps

Taking the next step begins with taking the first. You cannot achieve your goal if you do not begin somewhere. Getting where you want to go means taking one step at a time. God leads us in much the same way. He does not reveal His whole plan for our lives at the very beginning, but guides us as we take each day one step at a time. The only way to get where God wants you to be is to take the first step. Our first step has been with one locally run ministry outreach to the children and teens of Truman Ave., Pensacola. A few months ago I designed a business card for Souled Out Ministries, a group of guys who organized the Bible Club. Their card is shown below. Just this past Saturday, Souled Out Ministries hosted a Basketball Tournament and...

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Taking the Next Step

Media Missions: Taking the Next Step. It is our goal to take the next step in world evangelism through media ministries. It is our desire to use the talents that God has given us for His glory. Media Missions is one of those ways that we can accomplish our goal and desire. This blog seeks to highlight the efforts and work of Media Missions. We will assist the ministries that we come into contact with in the area of media starting with those that are already familiar to us. It is our long-term vision to assist as many ministries as possible through this bl...

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