The official start of Fall is just a few days away and I thought it would be appropriate in these days of changing leaves, pumpkin spice, and football to share a few guidelines for using seasonal media. Whether it’s an actual season or a holiday, today’s content producers stay on top of creating new media to use in your services during these times. Here’s a few tips on how to use it all correctly.
DO Use Media That Reflects The Current Season
Each season produces a unique set of feelings and memories for every individual. Motions, countdowns, and stills that depict these seasons bring a warm feeling to your services and remind of the beauty of God’s creation.
DO Show Mini-Movies That Address Holidays
Mini-movies have such a unique way of captivating an audience and presenting a message in a tangible way. By using these videos in holiday services, you can shift the focus of viewers from the commercial side of the occasion to what’s truly important.
DO Mix In Other Media Throughout The Season
While you may have enough media in your collection to stay season-focused for all of your services in that time, it’s still okay to use other content. Mixing in some generic media can keep things fresh.
DON’T Rush Into New Seasons
Just because there’s a new service pack available for the next season doesn’t mean that it’s time to use it yet. Pull out your calendar and plan out your media so that you aren’t putting your congregation into “fast-forward” on Sunday mornings.
DON’T Use Them Obviously Out of Season
Motions with falling snow don’t exactly work well in the summer. This tip seems simple enough, but I’ve seen some of the more subtle seasonal content used at totally wrong times and it just looked silly.
DON’T Feel Pressured To Address Every Holiday
You can find media for pretty much every holiday, but that doesn’t mean that your church has to recognize each of them. They are there to provide options for whatever your church is celebrating—not to set a standard for what you should be doing. No pressure here!
Does your church use seasonal media?? What are some other do’s and don’ts to add to the list?
I love that you have this list that goes outside the day to day and looks at those special points in the year. I would add as the PRIMO point that you need to think about what you are going to do for this holiday BEFORE the holiday is upon us so that you can do it right.