Not too long ago, I received an email from a Methodist church member who was asking for help in persuading his congregation to move towards "multimedia worship."

He went on to say, “ we are convinced that digital worship is what we need in order to revitalize our church, but we have met a strong opposition from members that feel we are going to ruin their traditional church.”

This church member portrays a bird’s eye view of what is happening in the wider church. Often there are several camps in every church with different ideas on what the church needs to do to solve it’s problems. I would caution anyone if he or she is convinced that multimedia in worship is the solution for increasing membership and revitalizing the church.

When I returned the call to the pastor of that Methodist church, I asked her, “if she or the worship committee has explained to the others, the whys of including visual communication"? As I shared with her the changes in our culture, the importance of using technology for ministry purposes and mission, she realized that she had not been able to verbalize why changes were needed. Therefore, the congregation did not have an understanding of how this could help them be more effective in their mission. She decided to work on an educational process with the congregation.

When one is considering using media & technology in your worship, questions that are important to address are:

1. Will these changes help us to be more successful in communicating the Good News?

2. Will these changes help us to reach out to those in our community more effectively?

3. Will these changes further the spiritual growth of our people and those we want to reach? 

As you consider new directions and pray for God’s guidance, remember this:  truth does not change, the biblical message has not changed, yet, the way we deliver that message must be constantly updated to reach each new generation.

Tim Eason, author of Media Ministry Made Easy, says this: “When the members of your church understand the spiritual motivations about changes in worship, there will be far less fear and objection, fewer misperceptions because the underlying motivations are explained.” (p. 25)