Houses of Worship are experiencing a shift in worship technology methodology. Having originally used hymnals for lyrics, the church has used the overhead projector for the past three decades, and is now seeing the video projection system as a viable alternative.

The benefits of transparency overhead projection are obvious. Instead being locked into a set of worship material determined by someone in another city, the local church was free to introduce new material into the worship experience. Noses were no longer buried in hymnals and the sanctuary took on a refreshing ambiance of eye contact. And, of course there were economic benefits, with the elimination of the hymnal and the ability to spontaneously introduce a recently written song. Many churches have sprouted up with only a preacher, handful of songs and overhead projector, often operating in borrowed spaces such as gymnasiums and college campus chapels.

A Paradigm Shift

The Video Document Camera provides the quickest transition from the overhead projector to the video projection system (shown: Elmo EV-500 video doc camera)

A similar shift is happening today from the overhead projector to the video projection system. Instead of the lyrics projected on only one screen as in the overhead projector model, identical video projection images can be numerous to accommodate church size, scaleable to church growth. And the same system can be used to project any computer and television image. All this comes with a price tag a bit higher than the overhead transparency projector, but the video projector is as important to the church of 21st century as the overhead projector was to the church of the mid 1970's.

With the transparency projector, transparencies are projected with an optical light amplification system to result in a single image, that must be a certain distance from the screen in order project a given size image. A church that had a low ceiling and a large congregation required two overhead projectors and two (often unsynchronized) operators, moving and changing transparencies.

With the video projection system, the lyrics from a single source can be distributed electronically to a single video projector or array of projectors and televisions. Only one operator is required as a minimum to result in one or many images. The source of the image can be located in the back of the sanctuary, onstage, or on the front pew. The source of the projected image varies by congregations but is either the video document camera or computer.

The Video Document Camera as Source

In the video document camera-as-source scenario, the lyrics can still originate on transparencies, but a video camera converts the optical image to an electronic image, which is then distributed to a projector or projectors, and peripheral devices. The video document camera provides the smoothest transition from the overhead projector to the video projection system, as existing transparency archives can still be used. And the document camera can also be used to show an actual Bible as it is being read from, newspaper articles that relate to the sermon topic, color photographs and illustrations, and small objects such as a coin. The downside is that the filing of transparencies is and will always be an organizational chore that is clumsy at best.

The Computer as Source

In the computer-as-source scenario, computer software provides the ability to archive and call up worship song lyrics in random order from a hard drive or network. Software can be purchased with a database of song lyrics, or lyrics can be keyed in to the computer. Filing lyrics is much easier with the computer, and the Music Minister is able to compose lyrics on his/her home or office computer and then load the new lyrics on to the worship computer, without the need to generate an overhead transparency. The downside is that computers can sometimes freeze, although the meantime-between-failure has increased significantly in the age of the Pentium computer. The computer-as-source scenario requires, at minimum, a skilled computer operator, and preferably, a second computer and operator. The second computer serves as operational redundancy and the ability to change song lyrics with quick fluidity by switching between computers. Of course, in addition to song lyrics, a computer can be used to play video clips, display web sites, scanned photographs, and Bible scripture.

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