“My Purpose is to Serve the Church.”
Hi everyone! Welcome to motionworship.com. You know, a lot of people who start their own business will refer to themselves as “we” throughout their documentation (i.e. here at motionworship.com, we seek to….). But, to be honest, there’s no we. It’s just me. Well, me and my wonderful wife Shannon and our 2 awesome kids, Ethan and Naomi! We live in Champlin, MN – Shannon is an RN working in womens health and pediatrics. As for me – aside from devoting time to this business, I also work part time in graphics and multimedia for a real estate business, TheMLSonline.com. So yeah if you need to buy or sell a house, or you visit North Memorial hospital, you may bump into us ;).
PLEASE – if you have a moment – visit the following website. This is my greatest passion!! Click here – native missions – AFRICA FOR JESUS
ALSO take a minute to check out my band (its a Minnesota Worship Band) simply called “Josiah Smith Band.” We specialize in pop/rock/urban worship, creating original worship music for the church as well as doing worship conferences and worship services all over Minnesota and beyond!
Here’s the short version: This site is dedicated to producing the most creative and inspirational worship backgrounds possible with what I have, and providing them to the church at a very low cost. As a result of this business flourishing, I have recently begun taking a small salary and quit working 2 days a week in order to give more attention to it. The vast majority of income is still reinvested in the business and given to the poor. For questions check out the F.A.Q. below.
Now the long version:
I began leading worship musically, producing worship services, and designing worship multimedia in 2001. Back then, I remember my church was on the cutting edge, producing custom images to be displayed behind every song. I put hours into photoshopping images together that fit the lyrics. It was great. Then, in 2005, I was introduced to Media Shout, and everything changed. At the time there simply weren’t many resources out there. Mostly clouds, nature and light rays. So after many weeks of prayer i decided to start producing video backgrounds for our church as well as anyone else across the planet who discovered my resources.
Throughout the millenia, lovers of God have sought to produce art for Him. From the lavish temple of Solomon to the great Cathedrals of Europe, from the songs of David to the works of Michelangelo, artists have used a wide variety of mediums in which to express artwork for their King. A new canvas has emerged – the screen. And so, in the spirit of these unparalleled artisans, I put forth my greatest efforts to digitally produce moving images that will inspire and motivate congregations to thank and worship their God in awe. This is the task of any church multimedia producer – and here are the challenges that go with it.
Multimedia has no place in a worship service if its intent is to be cool and trendy – it does not exist to impress, to show off, or to emulate another church’s service. It exists from the designer’s perspective as worship of God, as crafting the greatest artwork for his service. And it exists from the worshiper’s perspective to draw one’s thoughts toward the thoughts of Christ.
We must never streamline multimedia and produce repetitive, uninspired art. This is the temptation i face on a daily basis – to take the simple path and crank out “art” to meet the demand. Yet our faith has so much depth and history – search the scriptures, there is no shortage of symbols which we can capture to express our faith.
Of course, there’s a deeper problem behind this, and that is the dark shadow of greed and sloth. Anyone who streamlines artwork is trampling on the sovereignty of God. You would never design thoughtless material for a high-powered, reputable business. Why would you do such a thing for God? (Malachi 1:8) Not only do you care for him infinitely more, but he is your judge. As for greed, 1 Timothy 6:5 has a strict warning for those of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. Enough said.
Note: I’ve created a method by which you can comment on my backgrounds and articles. I’m a fool if I believe I can’t learn from the encouragement or criticism of others, and I strongly desire your feedback to improve the site and for my own accountability. You have a voice on this website – use it!
Okay, I’ll get down from my soapbox now and let you enjoy the rest of the site. Here’s a helpful F.A.Q.
F.A.Q.
How much is a membership?
A membership costs $50 per year, starting at the time of the subscription. IT WILL AUTO-RENEW unless canceled – you should receive a notice a few days before it renews.
How does it work?
Once you register and pay you get download access to all the site content. You can literally register, then go and download all the videos on the site immediately. No other fees and free monthly updates.
How often do you update?
I add new backgrounds every week or so. It just depends on what the business needs that week. I currently work at home Mondays and Fridays. Regardless, you’re getting a huge number of motion backgrounds right from the start.
What download formats do you offer?
My videos are all available in 480p SD resolution; all videos created in 2010 and later are available in 720p HD resolution. Registered members can download all of the following: WMV, suggested for windows users, MP4, suggested for MAC users, and then I also offer MPG1 format which isn’t as high of quality but guaranteed to work on all systems and software.
Will your backgrounds work with my presentation software?
My backgrounds work with just about every presentation sofware -
Media Shout
ProPresenter
Liveworship
Easy Worship
Sunday Plus
Song Show Plus
and many, many, many more…
Why is a membership so expensive?
What? Really? If i’m not mistaken it should be the cheapest thing out there. I mean, if you do the math, the backgrounds are about 23 cents each!
Okay, then, why is a membership so cheap?
My purpose is to serve the church. I’m not trying to live off this income, although recently it has replaced some of my income because i wanted to give more time to the business. I know that smaller congregations who desire to use multimedia in their services simply don’t have the budget to keep buying DVDs and online downloads (especially at $7-15 a shot!). So my hope is this site will be a valuable resource that is affordable for congregations, and still be able to cover my expenses and give money to the poor. Furthermore, as a worship leader, I use these backgrounds to enhance worship at conferences and church services – so I’m quite happy to share with anyone who finds them useful to this end.
So where does all the money go?
Well that’s all changed recently, due to my taking a salary and putting more work into this business. I have to evaluate this year and see how it breaks down. Regardless, the amount i’m giving to the poor, including missionary sponsorship, will only go up.
What if I forget my login/password?
Click on the white “account” link in the upper right hand corner of this page. There’s a place to request a lost password, with an option to enter your email to retrieve it.
What if I forget the email I signed up with?
You can email me with your information – I’ll search the database for your login/email.
How do I cancel?
Click on the white “account” link in the upper right hand corner of this page. Cancellation is under the “Your Payment History” tab.
40 Comments (Newest at Bottom)
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May 6th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Hi Josiah, greetings from Ireland. Just a quick question for you. Is there unlimited downloads from Motionworship? For example if I download something and need to come back a little later to get the same thing is that ok or it it a one time download? Thanks for your time. Regards, David Spain
May 7th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Yes, David, you can download as many and as often as you want.
May 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I don’t have or can’t find the link for the subscriptions to download videos with my new member ship. Can you email the link?
May 20th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
hello – just go ahead and start downloading – it will ask for your login info
June 6th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Josiah, I am downloading on my computer, dragging to a memory stick. Then downloading from memory stick to church computer. My computer is a dell desktop computer and the church’s is a dell laptop.Both are using xp and mediashout 3. I can not get your backgrounds to play on the church computer. Any idea what the problem might be? Thanks Lionel
June 11th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
hey everybody! i’m handling tech issues through email – so feel free to email me :)
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
You say in the F.A.Qs that you add new backgrounds monthly but I haven’t seen anything new since May (only 1 background)…it is July now. Will you have some new content soon?
July 7th, 2008 at 7:28 am
sorry – i’ve gotten several requests to put together longplays and countdowns from each category and I had some technical issues to work out. I will be uploading those over the next week.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:42 am
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
September 1st, 2008 at 10:45 am
Josiah,
I’m enjoying my membership… but know what i’d LOVE? A background w/a dove that flies (if that makes sense).
Thanks,
Shelley
September 7th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Hi, i wanna know how to use this motionworship for church presentation
thanks alot
September 13th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
What a way to make use of your creative talents for ministry. Just beautiful work that uplifts a service. My church has no budget but you’ve made it inexpensive enough that I can gift a subscription to them. Thank you and blessings on your work and ministry.
Warm regards,
Aprille
September 21st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I love using your backgrounds. Would it be possible to make one of a potter. We sing a song about us being clay and God is the potter who moulds us. It would be great to have a background to match. Thanks
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Can I use with Power Point?
October 26th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
power point does not support motion backgrounds – but you can puchase a plugin called powerplugs
November 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Will the video backgrounds work with windows movie maker?
November 19th, 2008 at 9:42 am
yep they do work with movie maker
November 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Are your backgrounds compatable with ProPresenter?
November 27th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
yep – they work with ProPresenter
December 3rd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I love these backgrounds! They have enhanced the visual effects of our worship service so nicely!
One I have wanted to find to use for scriptures is an open bible zoomed in to show the book – so if scriptures are in Mark – the background would be Mark – I see this with a candle or lantern burning off to one side – It would be so cool-
Anyway LOVE your work if you have time and interest I would love to see what you come up with along this ideal!
December 5th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
hey Josiah!
Thanks so much for your work and the very cheap price for unlimited downloads! We needed a Bethlehem star to use during our Christmas musical and yours is PERFECT!
Thank you
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
We use your backgrounds at church quite frequently. I’m so appreciative of the content, quality, and pricing. Everyone should take advantage of this.
Thanks
February 9th, 2009 at 6:53 am
I’m a dummy. I’ve got the backgrounds into Easy Worship but when I put lyrics on them they show just as a still background….no movement. what am I doing wrong?
thanks
February 16th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Hi Joshia,
Thankyou so much for your amazing ministry here it is such a blessing to be able to access this quality of presentations for the amazing price,
Also i am looking to start to create my own backgrounds just wondering what software you use?
Blessing Pat
February 18th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Hi Josiah.. I was just browsing for free video loops for church.. and came across with loads of sites with membership fees or even paying 6$ for 1 video loop which I found to be quite expensive, and I hoped I could get a site that could offer unlimited video loops which are worship-related. Thanks to your site. I haven’t subscribed yet, but I want to suggest it to our church to finance the subscription fee. God bless you and your ministry. :)
March 15th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Hi Josiah! I was wondering if imovie will support your backgrounds. If so, what is the best way to import them? I have quicktime pro and quicktime MPEG2 and I am still unable to import them into imovie. Any thoughts? Thanks.
April 10th, 2009 at 5:46 am
do you now if your backgrounds work with pro presenter?
April 10th, 2009 at 8:29 am
absolutely yes
June 7th, 2009 at 8:54 am
hey josiah! just wondering when we can see some new backgrounds being uploaded?
September 19th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I came across your site and would like to know if
you can put the words to a song on these backgrounds, very interested in this. Thanks
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:59 am
Hi there-
We just purchased a membership last week, and want to say thanks for offering these resources so cheaply. I see no difference between the things you offer, and those that cost up to $10 each! Keep up the fantastic work!
-Jessica
September 25th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I want to subscribe using our church credit card which is not a PayPal account. Also, the church does not want to automatically renew for subsequent years. How would you want us to proceed? Thank you.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
We’re using Easy Worship 2007.
MPG2 motion backgrounds don’t work on our sacturary computer but do on my laptop.
MPG 1 does work.
Do you have a thought on why that might be?
November 16th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Typically if you can’t play mpeg2 backgrounds its because you do not have a DVD codec installed on the PC
January 13th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Do these backgrounds work with pro-presenter? I can’t find the Many More…
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Yes, the backgrounds work with Pro Presenter
February 9th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Can I send you a money order? I don’t have a credit card or bank account.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
sure – i can set up a subscription manually if you send me a check
June 21st, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I know nature images are not your favorite, but do you have any of trillium? We don’t have trillium in Montana but a church member from Wisconsin has expressed a desire to have this as a motion graphic.
Thanks for your efforts to make quality visuals at a reasonable price.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
Ask them how they feel about Favre coming to the Vikings. ;) I haven’t yet filmed any trillium, but if i see some I’ll snag it for you.