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The scaffolding is returned, the ladders put away, and the new video projection system is now complete. After a few favorite old clips, the question of what to put on the screen every Sunday looms over the church like a giant blue-screen flashing "invalid input." Designing a comprehensive and touching video presentation for opening Sunday is one thing—making it happen every week is quite another.

From song lyrics to sermon notes, activity announcements to baptismal photos, video systems have become an integral part of church life. But without a versatile presentation software program, the task of turning one more PowerPoint slide show into a work of art becomes a journey inside an Escher print. While PowerPoint can be used effectively in the church, specific programs geared toward the worship environment allow for seamless flow and a smoother learning curve. Good presentations are made, not born, so here are some creative steps toward building a visual production with impact.

The first rule of visual display is readability—the text must be legible. While elaborate fonts may appear elegant when viewed on a fifteen-inch computer monitor, they usually lose edging when observed on a projected image from a distance. Arial and Times New Roman, though, are not the only good choices for clear text. Several pleasing fonts with high readability indices are available in standard word processing programs. The key is to try several fonts with the same text on a single slide and compare their legibility.

Another projected text issue is dot crawl. When a video system cannot resolve the edges of a letter, irregular patterns emerge and appear to "crawl" across the words. Adding a shadow and removing italics often reduce the effect of dot crawl.

Font size is a double-edged sword. On one hand, increasing the size of the text improves readability and lowers the screen size needed for an audience. On the other hand, large fonts require numerous slides to convey very little information, while the oversized text implies the congregants need a "large print" version in order to see. For song lyrics, the standard approach is to display only half of the verse or chorus on each slide.

Backgrounds can make or break a presentation. The ubiquitous dark blue PowerPoint background is now taboo, as is any background that involves intricate detail or overzealous movement. Song backgrounds should reinforce the lyrics' theme without overstating the obvious.

For example, instead of portraying a cross behind, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," a photo of the Earth hanging in space can showcase the unique position God casts on humanity without simply restating the song's lyrics. Similarly, a sermon on the miracle at Cana could have a static image of a bride and groom as the background for the story of water into wine. This particular wedding metaphor also avoids any controversy with images of wine bottles within the church.

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