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When people visit our church for conferences or services, they frequently find me after the service to ask technical questions about what kind of production equipment we use. More often than not, they eventually ask this question: "What software do you use for the graphics?" I really don't like giving an answer to this. Not because it's a bad question, but because I know that they won't be satisfied with my answer. They look at me with such anticipation, and are likely already waging bets inside their minds about whether we use ProPresenter, MediaShout, Prologue Sunday Plus, or some other expensive program. The simple fact is that it's none of those programs. It's not expensive, and it's a program you've probably owned for years: Microsoft's PowerPoint. In fact, we use PowerPoint most of the time, and I've become quite a "PowerPoint advocate".

The question of what software you should use in your worship services is beside the point. The real question to ask is this: "Visually, what are my church's capabilities?" This question goes way beyond software specifications to the heart of your staff and volunteer team. What kind of artists and talent do you have executing the visual aspects of your service each week?

If your answer is, "It's just me and I get by," then why do you need fancy software anyway? Most likely, "expertise in visual arts" is not the first line on your job description, so stick with what you know. Purchasing a program with higher-end features may end up burdening you with pressure to learn things at which you may not be gifted. At the same time, you may find that creating worship graphics can be very "life-giving"—not a "task" to be checked off, but a way for you to lead worship visually in a way few people are able to. If you do find yourself pulling off service after service single-handedly, let me encourage you: for your own physical and spiritual health, and the health of your church, find others to come alongside and help you. It's not good for anyone to work alone.

If your answer is that you have several volunteers or staff members who rotate responsibilities, then find out what each member is passionate about doing and creating, and begin to find ways to allow those passions to impact the worship service. Don't feel pressure to have video regularly if God has given you photographers. Moving images aren't necessarily better than still images. Honor God with the resources he's given you: That includes people. Definitely buy software with room to grow and develop, but not if that means added pressure to perform and neglect the gifts you already have.

If you're blessed with intermediate-to-expert level artists who are devoted full-time to designing and producing your visuals, then PowerPoint can still be an option. It probably won't be the only thing you use each week, but it's definitely a tool to always have on hand. It's been fun for me to find ways to do things with PowerPoint that it's technically "not supposed to" be able to do, even though I may have programs specifically designed for what I want to accomplish. I still find PowerPoint to be capable software. Over the next few sections, I'll share some of the "tips and tricks" I've learned over the years that will expand your view of what PowerPoint can do.

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