Long before film clips, video backgrounds and animated message points, churches used another form of motion media in worship: the candle.

Few people would consider it so, but in the essentials, a candle sure acts like media. It illuminates the message – literally. It can act as a visual illustration of love, hope, faith and a dozen other things we talk about in church. And its dancing flame can be an effective focal point for meditation. I suspect you use digital media in your ministry for these same purposes:

illumination: When you display words that support what’s spoken from the platform, you’re helping to shine more light on the message. The spoken word is playing the lead role; your media is there merely to support it. If it upstages the lead – through unnecessary animation, distracting effects, typos or hard-to-read text – it’s like a sputtering, smoking, stinky candle. Snuff it out.

illustration: In this role the media gets to take the lead, drawing attention to itself for a moment or two, to convey an idea that’s better expressed visually. This is where digital media can outshine older forms of visual illustration, from stained glass to paintings and sculptures to the candle itself. Each of these physical forms expresses a finite number of ideas. When you paint illustrations on a digital canvas, you’re limited only by your creativity.

meditation: The candle has much to teach us here. Its flame is alive, with a gentle, limited range of motion that subtly draws our attention away from other things. Its transparency allows us to push the focus through the flame to what’s beyond. And its translucence prevents our being distracted by the details. Video images can do these things too. Flowing water, shimmering leaves and “amber waves of grain” are just a few examples of images that share some of these qualities. But the original is tough to beat: A loop of a burning candle is still my favorite.

One of the most powerful things you can do with a candle is blow it out. It symbolizes the end of one thing ... so that something else can begin. And I think, too, that there are times when extinguishing the display screen can be just as powerful. Doing so just might draw attention to that other powerful media in the room: a real candle.

– Todd Temple, president, MediaComplete Corporation