Ginghamsburg Church is located in Tipp City, OH—a small town about 70 miles north of Cincinnati and 70 miles west of Columbus—but the church’s reach extends much further. A few years ago, Lead Pastor Mike Slaughter was reading the newspaper when he saw an advertisement for a sedan next to an article about the situation in the Sudan. His eyes were drawn to the sedan first, and he couldn’t help but feel convicted.
Soon Slaughter and Ginghamsburg Church were involved in doing what they could to provide relief for the incredible suffering in the Sudan. The church founded The Sudan Project and decided to focus their relief efforts in three areas: agriculture, child projection, and clean water. Using media to communicate their vision, the team took an offering that Christmas to fund relief efforts and raised $300,000. The next Christmas, The Sudan Project raised more than $500,000. For Christmas 2006, the church raised $1 million. In 2007, the goal was set for $1.5 million (fundraising results were not available as of press time).
The success of Ginghamsburg Church’s efforts through The Sudan Project is an example of the amazing things that can happen when passionate people use media and technology to communicate a powerful message. Here are some thoughts on the use of media and technology at Ginghamsburg Church from a few of those involved in the church’s creative process.
Mike Slaughter, Lead Pastor
COLLIDE: What is your Communication philosophy on the use of media and technology in the Church?
MIKE SLAUGHTER: I wrote a book back in the ‘90s called Out On The Edge: A Wake-Up Call For Church Leaders On the Edge Of The Media Reformation. I saw what the printing press was to the Protestant Reformation—Luther grabbed this technology and used it to make people Biblically literate. And so what happened was obviously the printing press ushered in the age of literacy, and before that, the Church was a visual Church through art, tapestry, and stained glass. The Church was multi-sensory with everything from incense to tactile icons.
And then it became a literate Church. What Luther did is move the Church from image to print, but he was able to grab that technology and use it to help people become literate. Luther was right there on the edge of technology.
It wasn’t unlike the way Jesus never spoke without a parable—a way to illustrate. So I really believe that media in the Church is a way to reclaim some of the multi-sensory experience of the early Church. Like where Jesus said, “Well, look at that farmer over there. Look at that fig tree over there,” or “Look at the birds in the air or the lilies of the field.” So he was always using pictures. And media is a way to picture.
Now in the same sense, I believe it’s important to not use media to distract from connecting to God or worshipping God, but to help purely connect us through stories and pictures. So it’s easy sometimes, especially in the initial stages of a church getting into media, to do what I call “being cute” instead of being prophetic. You know, trying to replicate what Disney or Pixar would do.
And so we use media—we use it with the Sudan to engage people’s hearts and passions in the story of God and the mission of God.
COLLIDE: Tell us about The Sudan Project and the different ways in which media and technology have been used to further the project.
SLAUGHTER: When people see the difference they’re making—first we could show the need, but now we can show the impact of their sacrifice—it makes a difference. Stories in segments are captivating. You can see all those segments on our website, www.thesudanproject.org.
Dan Bracken, Digital Artist
COLLIDE: What is the creative process at Ginghamsburg Church like?
DAN BRACKEN: Wow, there are so many people involved in it that it could seriously be a book, but here’s an overview: We have four creative departments—worship, print, web, and student ministry. For worship, the basic flow begins Wednesday morning. We meet together as a design team—digital artist, video producer, creative director, head pastor, teaching pastor, student intern, music director, venue worship leader, and venue coordinator—and the first thing we do is discuss the pros and cons of the previous weekend. Then, we begin designing the next weekend.
Whoever is delivering the message presents his notes, and then the team goes from there. Music people brainstorm music that will fit the message, I brainstorm a creative look to match the message, our video guys think up video ideas, we all give feedback to whoever is delivering the message, and we think of a flow for worship.
On Friday, the team meets again for a final draft of the message, and to tie up any loose ends, and to contribute any last minute ideas. We have from Wednesday to Saturday afternoon to get everything done, but even during the course of the weekend we’re always tweaking things for maximum effectiveness. We like to be as professional as we can because every piece we create has life after our on-campus worship celebrations.
Kim Miller, Creative Director
COLLIDE: In what different ways is Ginghamsburg Church using media and technology?
KIM MILLER: Ginghamsburg Church was one of the first churches in the country to incorporate media into their worship environment, and we have embraced the role of teaching churches about media through our conferences, website, and creative resources.
We are a mission-driven church, and most often we seek to lift up the various outreach and mission happenings in the lives of our people. Our media pieces include digital storytelling/testimonies, on-the-street interviews, mission highlights, video clips, inspirational artistic representations during music and prayer, ambient motions, ads, and our signature message graphics that enhance and illustrate our weekend messages.
Each week, our Cyberministry Team posts the worship message as streaming video and as a podcast, as well as our graphics, at www.ginghamsburg.org.
COLLIDE: As Creative Director, what is your role in making those things happen?
MILLER: I have led the worship design team at Ginghamsburg for 11 years. We put together creative concepts based on the weekend message our pastor is working on, and then strategize ways to bring these concepts to life on the screen. My own gifts are visual and conceptual—pushing our teams toward excellence in the professional representation of powerfully meaningful messages.
Visit Ginghamsburg Church online at www.ginghamsburg.org.