Why use visual imagery in worship?

We live in a world of visual metaphor. But this is nothing new. Jesus knew the power of visual metaphor and constantly used it to express the gospel. The parables are more than simple stories; they are pictures set in history, expounding powerfully on the realities of the Kingdom of Heaven . Their language paints images that we can clearly see, even when looking back through the long lens of history. When you listen to the story of the prodigal and his journey back to the father, do you not see the fear in his eyes as he trudges the path to his father's door? Do you not envision the father's arms stretched wide to greet him? And in those images can you not feel the wonder of love and grace?

The power of image in worship is clearly demonstrated in Isaiah's encounter with God in his famous vision. He states, "I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple." From that statement he goes on to describe the details of the setting and, being overcome by the sight, responds, "Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips." What Isaiah saw affected him to the deepest part of his being.

God is spirit, and yet, he has chosen throughout history to communicate with man in visual form. Whether as a pillar of fire in the wilderness, or as a man stretched to the sky on a wooden cross, we behold his glory, and are never the same for it.

How should we use visual images? The image of God is all around us. He has seen all he has made and declared it very good. Paul reminds us that God's invisible qualities are clearly seen from what he has made. And while we must never worship the image, it is clear that the image serves as a metaphor to draw us to worship.

In one sense, our use of image is much like our use of music. It can teach, it can stir emotion, it can plant memory. Yet in another sense, image is very different. Music, other than when presented as performance, draws the worshipper to participation. The worshipper becomes a part of the worship through music.

Visual aspects of worship tend to evoke reflection, not participation. Therefore they function best when they support the act of worship, never taking center stage. This is why the subtle use of visual metaphor can be so effective. In many cases, the viewer need not be focused on the image; in fact, the image many times need not be focused. It merely needs to suggest a feeling, or a concept, and let the worshipper draw sustenance from it

To accomplish this, it is best to use images that do not contain overly dense amounts of information. Such images tend to draw us to analyses rather than interpretation. They tend to make us feel controlled or manipulated, certainly things to avoid when leading people to true worship.

Celebrating worship through the visual arts requires much more thought than simply projecting beautiful or "cool" images up onto a screen. Having worked in the visual arts for more than 35 years, and having recently begun to develop imagery to support worship, I have begun to see the power of maintaining an interpretive thread in a series of images. Weaving such a thread through a service can create a powerful range of emotion and idea that will allow the worshipper to draw meaning from the experience.

This thread can be executed through a consistent use of shape, color, texture or placement. It should never look forced or contrived, but subtle. On such a thread can be hung a variety of visual metaphors, presenting various shades of theme. If used effectively, all elements of the service will flow together visually, underscoring both music and spoken word. In effect, it will become a metaphor of divine love, never seeking to over-power or draw attention to itself, but rather to lift the worshipper to God.

Greg Davis serves on the staff of Orangewood Presbyterian Church in Orlando .

Sidebar
Ten Worship Presentation Tips

1. Create images to fit theme.

2. Stay on theme through entire service.

3. Limit your color palette.

4. Apply principles of figure and ground.

5. Use light text over dark backgrounds.

6. Limit choice of fonts.

7. Simple transitions are less distracting.

8. Be consistent with punctuation and capitalization.

9. Proofread and then proofread again.

10. Never let the screen go to black.

Product Roundup

Digital Juice Jump Backs
Digital Juice's pioneering Jump Backs background animations library now has over 1,200 animations spanning 28 volumes. The soft look of Jump Backs 28: Subtle Impact II makes them ideal for productions where you need a professional touch that is not distracting. The animations are universally compatible with almost all editing and presentation applications and use the popular cross-platform QuickTime file format. The free Juicer utility can convert these files into many other formats as well and DVD-video versions are included, which is great for live video mixing or analog tape systems. As with all Digital Juice media (music, video and images), you can preview every single animation in their online Gallery, so you always know exactly what you are getting before you buy.
www.digitaljuice.com

MediaShout7
Media used to proclaim life's most important message should be as compelling as the message itself.  MediaShout 7 is the simplest, most powerful presentation tool available.  The dual-screen design allows you to create, modify and preview your presentation at any time, even while your program is underway.  Display song lyrics, Bible verses or text with full audio and video integration to enhance your worship or teaching experience.  The new version 3.0 adds to MediaShout's extensive feature set. Among the new capabilities are Bible "keyword" search, a new user interface, live video feed, video transitions and selectable in/out points for DVD playback.  Included are more than 50 Bible translations.
www.mediashout.com

Presentation Manager by Creative Lifestyles
Presentation Manager by Creative Lifestyles is a leading multimedia projection software package. The Standard package comes complete with a huge database of images and songs, the ability to project text over video files or a live feed, video tutorials to make learning the software a breeze, PowerPoint integration with thumbnailed preview, a song importer for CCLI SongSelect online, and dual display interface, ideal for prepared or spontaneous worship. The Professional package comes with background and image editing tools; triple display capabilities, allowing two projectors to be controlled separately from one computer; and Pocket PC compatibility, so presentations can be controlled remotely. Don't conform your worship to your software; use software that conforms to your worship.
www.creativelifestyles.com