iMag or no iMag? First off, for you non-techies [lol], iMag stands for “image magnification.” That’s the live video that is projected onto the screens at many churches. The purpose, in short is to zoom in on the action or the speaker, primarily to capture facial expressions and body language [which are a big deal in interpersonal communication of any sort].
My opinion? I think it is non-essential, but nice to have. It really does make a positive difference if you can see the passion or intensity in someone’s eyes as they are preaching a sermon or leading a song. I know some churches use iMag for the message, but don’t for the worship section – this is many times to avoid being accused of putting on a show or pumping the egos of worship leaders. A brief rabbit trail… quite frankly, I think if there’s an ego issue like that with the team, it needs to be addressed directly and forcefully, not handled passively through “sending a message” by limiting iMag…
Used correctly, live video really does add a great creative option for the church. BTW, the church in the photo is the awesome folks at Eastside Christian in Anaheim, CA.
iMag can help your communicators to do their jobs more effectively.
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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