A week or two ago, I stumbled across an article entitled We Are the JumboTron Generation and it got me to thinking. The post contends that how we watch sports live has changed, due in part to giant video boards and the media overload we experience at games now. The JumboTron is a staple of modern professional sports venues and even most of the major college venues as well. I am sure there are plenty of ritzy high schools that might have them too. The problem stems from the change that they have inspired in our culture.
Before Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, the JumboTron encouraged attention-getting but ultimately ephemeral little performance pieces from fans in the stands. On the JumboTron, people cheered for racing dots; on the JumboTron, people danced the chicken dance; on the JumboTron, people proposed marriage.
The need to be noticed is not a new thing, and we live in a culture that seems to obsess over fame and notoriety. Even blogging might be thrown into that mix, but we can have that discussion in the comments or some other time, I want to talk about the effects of this in the church.
According to the article, the first JumboTron was installed in 1980, which isn’t that long ago really. It touched off a keeping up with the Joneses style competition that is still going strong. As the screens grew in size and complexity it was only a matter of time before they became the attraction.
It wasn’t long before the New York Times ran a story with the headline, “For Some Ball Parks, Entertainment, Not Tradition, is Trend.” The JumboTron, the story said, “keeps patrons enraptured …”
How does this translate to church? Well, lots of churches have projectors and screens now. In a way, we have our own little JumboTron type of contraption right there. We can put the announcements on the screen and project the words for the songs and maybe show a video for the song that is being done as the special music that day. We get clips of missionaries for Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon to play for the congregation so they can see the need. If the pastor is really hip, he might try to show a media clip or two to supplement or reinforce his sermon. We have begun to entertain and maybe we didn’t even notice it happening. I am not saying that this is all bad I admit that I have one that I can use at our little church, although it gets very limited use indeed; but we might need to ask ourselves some hard questions about what this means for how we worship.
When Jerry Jones built that monstrous new stadium in Texas, he put in a big screen to beat all big screens and bragged that it was the “centerpiece” of the whole place. Think about that for a minute. This is a football stadium where people pay good money for the chance to see the teams play live on the field and yet people in the stands are so overwhelmed by the video board that the game itself is almost an afterthought. They even have an outside area with another big screen that they sell tickets for the privilege of watching for people willing to fork over money to watch TV outside. I think it is extremely possible that we are unintentionally doing the same thing in many of our churches without even realizing it. Are we coordinating a show each week for people to come and enjoy rather than inviting them to be a participant in real life itself?
It seems to me that many churches have become more personality driven as a result of this “show” mentality. This was mentioned in the discussion about Joel Osteen recently, but he isn’t the only one we can point to for this trend. There are some churches today where the pastor only appears on a screen because he isn’t even in the same town. I am tempted to put the word church in quotes in that statement, just because I think it betrays the very idea of what a church should be at its core, relational. A pastor in Washington state with a congregation in a theater in Arizona or the like is just a video professor or lecturer.
I watched a discussion a few months back with Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald as they made good humored pokes at Mark Dever for being a old fogey(I can’t remember the specific terms they used so I am paraphrasing here) for just holding services in one location. You can watch the discussion yourself if you want. While I could probably spawn another couple of posts with my opinions from this short video, I want to stay on target here. And let me add this, I am not against technology, but if technology destroys the humanity of the gospel or distracts us from the human element, then it has overstepped its usefulness and is now a hindrance.
So what do you think? Is the church in danger of going down the same path as the JumboTron generation? Are we catering to entertainment or personality rather than substance or reality? Is church becoming a spectator sport rather than a place for participation?
There’s a balance here, I guess. Technology and all of that can have a positive effect, but it can also dominate and distract.
I think there is a genuine danger in what you are talking about. Good post.
It’s all about use and choices.
We’ve gone around several times about Pipe Organs. I have contended that there are high end keyboards, when combined with a well designed sound system, that will recreate the sound and feel of the pipe organ for literally a small percentage of the cost of a real pipe organ without the yearly upkeep costs to keep it working. There are people here that think getting rid of a pipe organ is borderline heresy. It’s about how you want to spend your money there.
I think putting the words to hymns and choruses is a good thing. Can someone tell me how looking down at a hymnal printed forty years ago is better?
The use of media elements in a worship has a good place is done with excellence and restraint. It’s easy to go overboard and its easy to excuse inferior quality work because of the intent. The church needs to know what is good work, what is bad work, and why it should be discriminating.
A video announcement loop before and after a worship service takes the awkward announcements section of a worship service out of the worship service, allowing for either an extended worship session, smoother transitions, or an extended sermon.
Heck, even the style of bulletin is media. Do you go for the tri-fold four/five color bulletin or do you do a shorter, more concise single sheet that is usually black and white? The black/white style of bulletin handout will literally save upwards of $40k a year in printing costs. Where do you spend your money?
How your stage is set is media. Do you want a large pulpit? Lecturn? Chair and table? No pulpit at all?
Do you have a choir? or just a praise team? Or just the music pastor and some musicians? Do you use iWorship with the click track for some visual elements during worship? Or do you put words? Or do you show the band with the words in the bottom third?
Lighting can be important. Too many yellow lights and everyone looks sick which can be distracting. Too many reds and everyone looks flush or angry which can be distracting. Too many blues and everything goes dark. Plus, the color lights with the color of the outfits can screw things up too. Green lights + Red Choir robes = every is wearing brown.
Sound is important. Do you have the piano and organ out front? Are the voices balanced? Is the music pastor out front? Do you hear more drums? Guitars? These are all distinct choices to make.
Are you recording your services? Do you use a multi-camera shoot? Do you run a post mix? Do you lay a separate audio track?
How far out to you pre-plan your worship services? Days out? night before? a week? a month? six months?
Do you intentionally pick certain topics for certain times of the year? Are you already working on those?
Media done with excellence and no one notices it. Media done poorly, and everyone’s up in arms.
Can someone tell me how looking down at a hymnal printed forty years ago is better?
Well if you know how to read music and since I’ve never seen notes on a big screen…you can harmonize the songs by looking at the hymnal… 🙂
Okay, you win.
I stand corrected.
Though I would like to add that I personally think that reading music and harmonizing ought to be prerequisites to actually hold the hymnal…
🙂
Some of us have been taught to improvise harmonies without music. There goes that objection 😉
I mean, really, the issue is this. How much media does it take to turn participants into consumers?
I’ve heard from some musicians that hymnals can actually help teach people to read music. My contention was that corporate worship was not music lesson time. My observation is that people tend to worship more as a corporate body when they have their heads out of the hymnals. Its a blessing to look around and be encouraged by the presence of Christ in the song of His collective people as they heed the words freed from reading the music.
I think the point may be the tendency to let style overwhelm substance, and to allow entertainment to replace worship.
I was just pointing out what all can constitute media choices within the worship service.
Most people don’t realize that it’s a conscious choice to use words on a screen rather than an old hymnal. Someone made that choice…
I would be the first to admit that a church can get carried away with technology.
However, whenever we talk about technology, we fail to discuss the ineptitude that many churches have when it comes to adequately using, embracing, and paying for technology.
I think that is just as bad because if we’re going to make stewardship of money an issue over on another thread, then it is just as pertinent on this thread.
Bill,
You make plenty of valid points and actually interpreted this thread from a totally different angle than I ever contemplated when I was writing it. I am a total tech geek sort of pastor. And I took video and radio classes in college and even worked in radio for a time (if it paid better I might still be there). I love media of all sorts.
I think part of this is about a “keeping up with the Jones’ element” in our mentality as a culture and how that translates to church. I think it is good to ask if we are doing things because everyone else is or if we are doing them with some purpose in mind that is biblical and furthers our Kingdom mission.
In all candor, I wrote and rewrote this post several times and was thinking about tweaking it again today while I was on the road before I realized it had been released into the wild. 🙂
I think we need to let technology have its full meaning in this discussion. Using a projector and screen is no more technological than using a paper bulletin. It might be more technologically advanced, but not more inherently technological. Both are the result of man crafting tools from the earth to suit his purposes.
A hymnal was a pretty nifty piece of technology to those unaccustomed to the printing press. And a projector is a pretty nifty piece of technology for those used to books. We have a way of calling chronological snobbery traditional or conservative when really it might just be snobbery.
Why are you giving Jerry Jones a hard time about his giant vidgieo screen at the death star, you know little Danny snider and his redskins won’t be able to compete until he gets his own vidgieo screen that’s at least as big
On a side note, the times I have been out there, I had to force myself to watch the game on the field and only watch the screen for replays – believe it or not it took discipline!
Now to return from Jerry Jones speak to the real discussion
Never mind the Redskins, how long before the Yankees do it?
Ack—can’t help it, was nice to Dave’s viewpoint on another post—must logoff and regain self-control.
Doug
In full disclosure, I am a Cowboys fan since childhood, so I wasn’t ripping on Jerry Jones in particular. I have been in stadiums with really big screens as well and I am surprised by how quickly the packaged display of events distracted me from the real game that was going on in front of me. That was part of the inspiration for this post. I wondered if we aren’t creating distractions in church that make us lose focus on the real deal in our midst.
Jeff,
Concerning your point of the church being relational, I believe it needs to be as well. However, I do struggle with what best facilitates that kind of relating going on.
I think the big screen can be a problem, but then I also think the problem may be even “bigger” than this. Let me give you one example.
In a traditional service, if a time of “greeting one another” is allowed, then someone might want to call that “fellowship” time.
Now, let’s think about the implication(s) of that. If a 3 minute segment of the 60 minute service is “fellowship time”, then what does that make the rest of the 57 minutes?
I lean towards the idea that church should be something like the mutual indwelling between the Father and the Son as portrayed in John’s gospel.
And if this is so, then how does a traditional or mega church service facilitate that happening? I don’t know.
Is this kind of thing only supposed to happen in “small groups” and not when the congregation as a whole assembles?
I think part of my struggle is how to both honor the preaching/teaching of the word and experience genuine fellowship as well.
Well, I would like to point out that there are churches that handle the Sunday School as in home small groups that meet throughout the week which allows people to meet when its both convenient and comfortable in smaller groups to study.
What they do by moving the Sunday School out of the Sunday morning schedule is open the doors to the building thirty minutes to an hour before services and have coffee and beverages for members to enjoy and they mingle and visit with each other before they go into the worship service. In some churches, even donuts are provided.
However, this is seeker sensitive and therefore a heretical practice.
Okay, maybe that last sentence was a little much.
But, it’s something that people do point to when they want to criticize contemporary churches.
Bill,
But this kind of gets back to my question above concerning small groups and the entire congregation.
What is it about “services” that puts a halt to fellowship, if you will?
Benji, I think the issue is we try to do too much sometimes. If by fellowship we mean mutual joy in the gospel shared by all present, then fellowship is possible in a large gathering for worship. If by fellowship, we mean mutual ministry and confession of sin and all the one-another texts, then that worship gatherings aren’t the place.
I think there is a place for both in Scripture. Some want to be efficient and figure out how to pack the one another texts into a Sunday morning context (and fail). Others want to strip away all large gatherings and call three believers at McDonald’s having church. It think both are necessary and expected in Scripture.
Benji,
Could it be that we have overscripted the worship service to the point that we have programmed not one, not two, but at least three generations that this is how Sunday morning worship is done?
My church that I grew up back in the eighties literally does the same worship service format today.
I would submit that maybe we ought to start looking at the worship service format as a guide, rather than the template. It would seem to me that by being willing to adjust various elements of the service could open up fellowship.
Then again, we also have three generations that don’t know how to fellowship without food.
Bill,
This is something that I was definitely thinking about as I wrote this. Has our need to “put on a show” distracted us from what our real purpose of having a corporate worship service is all about? When you started talking about all the media elements above, I was tempted to despair a bit inside. Is that really the kind of things we want to take front and center when we are coming together to worship God?
I don’t think that is a new thing at all, judging from the NT.
While a church should be a place where Christians can fellowship with each other, corporate worship requires a particular manifestation of this while requiring the absence of others. Let me explain:
Corporate worship should not be social hour. This is one reason Paul told women to be quiet in church. They tended to get relational at the expense of the corporate focus. It’s hard to preach when everyone is chatting with each other.
On the other hand, preaching is a necessary part of the worship and fellowship of a church. The pulpit brings a congregation onto the same page. This is where preaching exceeds teaching and even singing. Preaching informs the expectations of the entire congregation. Teaching individual Sunday School classes or Wednesday evening classes or small groups is wonderful. But that teaching doesn’t blanket the whole congregation like the preaching of the pastor or pastoral staff. And if there are multiple services, I believe it is best that the same essential sermon be preached at all services on a given weekend. This time is critical for a congregation and it requires that the individual social aspects of the fellowship be suspended momentarily so that it can happen.
I have a friend who is a member at a very small rural church. High attendance is around 25 people. They have a time of corporate worship and preaching. Afterward, when the pastor has left to preach at another church, they all go into a time of teaching that my friend leads. This is more social and interactive, but the preaching is still recognized as essential.
Just a few weeks ago here in Orlando a local megachurch (we have several) bought the jumbotron from the Orlando Magic (NBA) arena for $13,500. Granted, it was a bargain, but…
Anyway, here’s the story: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-orlando-magic-arena-auction-20110212,0,182810.story
I guess the real irony is that as more megachurches go into foreclosure the world will be buying stuff at those sales. (I don’t know what to call them…”fire” sales? “going out of business” sales?)
Anthony,
In fairness to the church, they were buying the thing to use in their school gymnasium. I had horrific visions of an actual jumbotron in the church itself.
Jeff, thanks for making the distinction for folks; I should’ve done that. Still, does the gym really need a jumbotron screen? I may be going out on a judgmental limb here, but I wonder what their missions budget is if the gym budget has at least $13,500. It seemed like overkill, especially when the church “plans to use one or two of the large screens…in the gym. The rest of the contraption will be sold or recycled”. I freely admit I am 110% ignorant of what it is to manage a church budget, but to me it is still excess. Why by a Rolls-Royce (even on deep discount) when a Toyota will work just as well?
It seems to me that conversations like this can go in this direction:
[traditional] supporter: The mega church does this, this, and this that is wrong.
[Mega] supporter: The traditional church does that, that, and that too…just in different forms.
However, if both the traditional and the mega are engaged in things that aren’t good (but just look different depending on whether you are at a traditional or mega service), then I don’t see how this kind of conversation gets anywhere towards helping anybody…if it stops here and goes no further.
And this patterns after those who argue over music styles during these same worship services…
Benji,
What do you expect to see when you describe fellowship within a worship service?
Let me hear your ideas because that may help steer the discussion…
I’m in media, so clearly all my answers are going to be tempered Pro-Media and leaning very contemporary.
Hey Bill,
If you look back up at my first comment to Jeff, I think I communicated that I did not have all of the answers.
I think it is good to hear the thoughts of others and possibly gain insights that one lacks.
And I think you might agree with me that the kind of conversation I mentioned above could be a broken record that happens over and over again.
And if so, then I think that if someone could move the conversation beyond that point, then that might be a benefit to someone like me (who has communicated that he does not have all the answers).
I just found this article browsing around on Google Blogs. I handle the marketing for a company (www.visibledisplay.com) that rents Jumbotrons, although technically they are called “LED Screens” as the term Jumbotron has been genericized.
I have found that these screens are becoming increasingly popular with churches, and many are repeat clients. I think this is all inevitable and while I can see your point that it turns church into more of a spectator sport, I believe adding compelling visual media can really make the message more effective.
Although, I guess you could call me a little biased 😉
Cheers,
Mark
I fully agree, Mark.
I think the trick is to let the media serve the message and not to let the media overwhelm it or become it.