Blog – Motion Worship – Video Loops, Countdowns, & Moving Backgrounds for the Christian Church

5 Tips to Make Your Production Better Today

As creatives, we're always on a journey to make the things we're working on better. God is glorified when we use our gifts, talents, and skills to reflect his glory and declare his goodness. In today's creative landscape, however, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of improving. The connectedness that the internet affords us gives us access to countless massive churches and creative ...

Preparing for Easter Services as a Worship Pastor

Easter is a great day for celebration in the church! It’s also a great day for a gallon of coffee, nerves, anxiety, and stress... If you’re a worship pastor of course. We kid, but if you are a worship pastor, you can probably relate on some level. The only reason those of us in the church get stressed about Easter is because we recognize how important of a holiday it is. There’s going to ...

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Designing Your Youth Ministry Room to Match Your Series

The visual impact of the space your youth ministry meets in can make a subtle, but significant difference in the way your sermon series are received. The lighting, color, and arrangement of your room can be a big piece that influences whether your messages feel introspective or community-minded, energetic or subdued. We want to create atmospheres that are inviting and engaging, and the design of t...

Selecting Appropriate Backgrounds for Worship Songs

When it comes to creating an engaging worship service, visuals are can be an important part of your production. If you're reading this, you probably already using motion backgrounds for your lyrics, or you're considering adding them in. It can be a challenge to find the right motion backgrounds to pair with your lyrics, but if done well, the result can truly be remarkable. Let’s take a look at h...

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Should Your Worship Team Start Using a Click Track?

Every worship pastor wants their band to sound tight, consistent and precise. But how do you get there? The answer might be a click track. So what exactly is a click track and why should your team consider using one? In this post, I’ll discuss the pros and cons of using a click track with your worship team so you can make an informed decision on whether it’s right for your church. Is a Cli...

When Should You Start Planning Your Christmas Church Services?

What if I told you that it’s possible to relax during the week leading up to Christmas, even as a senior pastor, worship pastor, or tech director? I know, I know, sounds crazy, right? While December 22nd is traditionally reserved for crippling anxiety and last-minute service planning, I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to be prepared and give yourself space to soak in the holiness of th...

When Someone Says The Music Is Too Loud

If your church plays modern, pop/rock style worship songs, you’ve likely heard this complaint: “The music is too loud”. For those of us who are musicians and tech team members, this can be frustrating feedback. You’ve put hours into preparing the service and the environment, and instead of focusing on the impact the service is having, you’re staring down what can feel like an endless st...

Tips for Elevating Your Youth Ministry’s Set Design

Stage design is a powerful tool for creating atmosphere and setting the tone for your youth to connect with God and each other. When done well, set and stage design has the ability to elevate the impact of what you are sharing from the stage. When done poorly or without much consideration, it has the potential to distract and take away from your overall message. Most youth ministries have littl...

Hire or Contract? Sound Professional Edition

Most churches find it important to have someone available to run sound for rehearsals and services. While some are lucky enough to have a sound-board-savvy volunteer on the roster, most of us find that hiring a professional either to be on staff or contracting week to week can be a simple way to elevate production quality. When it comes to contracting or hiring, how do you know which route is b...

Guide Track Tutorial | Ableton in 5 Minutes

Download your free guide cue samples here! This "Ableton in 5 minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, we'll cover how to use vocal ...

How Often Should a Church Change its Set Design?

Lighting and stage design are some of the most visible elements of church service production. When done well, it has the unique ability to elevate the impact of the content you are presenting from the stage, whether it’s a song, a video clip, or a sermon. On the other hand, when done poorly, it has the potential to distract and take away from your overall message. So, how often should you upd...

Advanced Click Tracks for Worship | Ableton in 5 Minutes

This "Ableton in 5-minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, we'll cover some more advanced methods of customizing click tracks for your...

Building Basic Click Tracks for Worship | Ableton in 5 Minutes

This "Ableton in 5 minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, Chris will walk you through the most basic method of setting up click track...

How to Keep Church Media Up to Date and Relevant

Churches change incredibly fast. The type and style of music, the lighting setups of all the major “big” churches who set the pace for mainstream church culture, and the type of media we use on our screens. Any of us who’ve worked behind the scenes in some capacity have all seen the phases of development from a creative standpoint. Old CCM and choral music to modern day worship, nature-ba...

Tips for Making a Fall-Themed Church Stage Design

Fall is around the corner already! Between fall kickoff, youth events, the start of small groups, and all other activities your church may be vamping up, fall can be a really busy season for most ministries. The “back-to-school” mentality gets kids excited, which can also give parents a bit more headspace to get involved in church activities. With all that said, you want your fall church se...

Tips for Getting a Professional Mix at Small Churches

I’m continuously surprised by how many FOH engineers I’ve met at churches that show no interest in improving or caring about the sound on a Sunday morning. They just want to make sure everything is on, pull up their presets, and purely play a game of damage control if necessary. But there’s clearly no drive to really focus on getting their mixes sounding professional and trying to strive for...

Tips for Buying & Tuning Church Drums on a Budget

Drums are incredibly expensive. I know because I’m a drummer. And I have a drum gear hoarding problem... But buying drums on a budget is a bit different than other instruments. With a guitar, bass, or keyboard, you have to buy one at it’s list price and that’s what it costs – you have the instrument. With drums, it’s much easier to mix together snares with different drum kits, cymbals...

Four Tips for Elevating Production Quality Right Now

When it comes to tightening up production quality on Sundays, a few tweaks can go a long way. Often, it’s not about adding more, but about making sure that what you already have is clean, consistent, and ready to go come the weekend. Here are four tips you can apply right now to tighten up your production quality week after week: Slide to the Right For most small to mid-sized churches, ...

Church Decisions: Trading the Projector for an LED Screen

LED screens vs. Projectors: How do they compare? Technology can make or break a weekend experience. If your church is like most, you depend on quality images and visuals that are consistent and engaging. LED screens are pricey, but deliver dividends upon dividends over projectors when it comes to image quality and lifespan. If your church is considering making the leap from projectors to an LED...

Making Livestream Church Services Look Professional

Church service livestreaming has certainly gotten popular since the pandemic hit. While it’s a step in the right direction, it’s been a huge stressor for several churches across the nation. Making livestream church services look professional is tough. There are so many factors that contribute to the look of your services online - lighting, cameras, lenses, number and angle of shots, and the...