I'm still mulling over this one. Thought provoking. I appreciate Steve's perspective.

Great resource of skits! Thanks for posting this!

"But then what about smaller churches who don't have the resources to do the whole technology/lights/sound worship service? I wouldn't say that they're ineffective at leading people into worship just because they don't have certain equipment. In fact, I know we'd agree that worship is never based on anything other than attributing worth to God (worth-ship)." This is definitely a concern for many smaller churches and something they face not only in regards to their "worship," but in every aspect of their ministry. The example of big lights/sound for worship was meant more to cite an example of how churches are taking that extra step to modernize and not a rule of thumb for how they SHOULD modernize. I've attended many smaller churches who are making as much of an impact in their modern worship with a "smaller venue" setting of acoustic guitars and a three person P&W team. It's definitely more about tone and spirit of worship than flash, boom, bang. I guess it's really more about our attitude towards worship that has been modernized and the technology aspect is more of that attitude's manifestation. The article's basis should have been more about how praise and worship itself is now an integral part of church services and not so much about the WAY it is part of church services. I think that's what is the true modernization...the fact that many services now feature a good 30 - 40 minutes of just all out praising God through music and worship. When that spirit happens everyone wins.

i just promoted it from my site with the sidebar graphic off your site. I would encourage more people to do the same. studentministry101.com

"I think it's important to consider what the big light/sound show communicates to teenagers about worship." It communicates to them in a manner that is relevant and desired by them. There are others who can also worship with the same passion under a totally different look. It is all about your context. I agree that this is a conversation that is still going on today and seems to be really picking back up in a lot of circles. The reason being, so many postmodern millennial's are starting to become youth ministers and desire the acoustic guitar with a small percussion set to their left side and a girl on the right all sitting on stools with minimal light. The setting is changing and the conversation continues...

It looks like it will be a great place for students to get things off their chest. My only fear is that there is no one really there helping them through these things. Great reality check though!

This looks like a great resource or least a good place to have conversation. www.studentministry101.com

Thanks, nikomas21! Me too!

Oh, and on the flip-side, "worship" in many of our churches teaches teens that it is something that's boring and slow. Using lights and big sound systems definitely doesn't communicate that, which is good! So the current/old system of "worship" isn't better or worse than a new system -- they're just different. Sorry if it sounds like I'm arguing or something -- I don't mean to. I'm just thinking this through out loud. Thanks for listening. :-)

But then what about smaller churches who don't have the resources to do the whole technology/lights/sound worship service? I wouldn't say that they're ineffective at leading people into worship just because they don't have certain equipment. In fact, I know we'd agree that worship is never based on anything other than attributing worth to God (worth-ship). I think it's important to consider what the big light/sound show communicates to teenagers about worship. I'm not saying it's wrong to use those things, but it does set a standard and a precedence in their minds as it forms their concept of worship.

It says there are 0 people who share my name. I graduated from Bible college with another Tim Schmoyer, though. Oh well.

That seems like it's a good idea...but it does seem like it's pretty marketing-heavy. IIRC from my college days, the thing about marketing is that statistics say younger audiences do tend to accept more marketing messages (and retain the info in them less). Maybe it'd be a bigger deal to you or I than for them.

It's a good point that the medium is part of the message. That's an old idea (published in 1964 by Marshall McLuhan in a painfully-hard-reading book called Understanding Media), but it's never been as true as it is now with the cultural implications of staying technologically relevant. Just as classrooms are having to keep up with student's tech-ladened lifestyles to maintain their ability to teach kids in a way they can relate to, I think churches need to keep that same relevancy. Since part of being a great worship leader (or any kind of pastor) is following Jesus' example of sharing the message of the Gospel in a way that people can understand, in a way, it IS about competing with the world in the tech genre in the sense that if we as the church allow ourselves to become outdated in our medium (which, as you say correctly, is PART of the message), we will lose some of our capability to meet people where they are.

Agree about the marketing stuff. I guess it doesn't bother me that much though because what is marketed is usually a book/resource that is of value to students. I think the students generally just overlook and ignore it. I like it because it provides some cool content to go along with what we publish.

I disagree. Worship is not about competing "with the high tech offerings of the world." Our presentation of worship in church teaches students a LOT more about it than our words do. The old "methods change but the message stays the same" saying is partially true, but don't forget that the method itself communicates a message, as well, whether we like it or not.

Good article, but I disagree with one little sentence saying that our worship services are beefing up the lights, sounds and video to stay in competition with the world. Maybe it's not that the church is competing but that it too appreciates quality. Maybe the church is winning talented people who are just now finding out why they were given these creative gifts. Maybe we're not just competing; maybe we're providing more people the opportunity to be the body.

I never knew about this. Cool resource! Thanks for posting it. However, I'm not sure I'd use it just because it has the marketing stuff in it. Kids hate it when they're being marketed to (and I do, too) and they're pretty smart on picking up on it no matter how we disguise it.

Yeah, my wife made me start after we got married. ;-)

by the "LOL" I can tell you deodorize too!

I watched LifeChurch.tv's recent video message called "Hostage" that addressed confessing to God for forgiveness and confessing to others for healing (James 5:16). Pretty heavy (and convicting) stuff.

Wow, I really have no idea what to say to that blog post. lol

depends how much sleep you got the night before :) (I will admit that if I had to pick, I'd choose jr highers that early in the morning over high schoolers)

...although, honestly there's nothing more fun than Jr. High boys at 5 AM!!

This movie looks pretty fantastic. Can't wait to see it.

It is certainly a palm-based solution and will not work with the 700W. Sorry.