When Church Stage Design and Worship Presentation Software Merge

There are many ways for churches to be creative with their worship presentation software and stage design. You can freshen up your worship presentations by simply thinking about how you could make them work more cohesively with your church stage design. One of the fun things about working with the church production team is getting to speak into the look and feel of the entire worship space in the rooms you use for worship gatherings.

Have you ever been to a worship service and struggled to read the words on the screen because they are too small or not bright enough? You were probably trying to join in the songs but if it was hard to read the lyrics, you may have been more easily distracted. Maybe the lighting was too bright or there was someone standing in front of the screens on the stage. There are many things that can distract people from worshiping when it comes to visual media for church and stage design. The good news is, this is a simple fix. It just takes a little time and consideration from the leadership and the church media team.

How you design your worship presentation software presentations and build out your stage design greatly affects the experience your congregation has, from when they walk into the room to when they settle in and enter into the worship setting. They will subconsciously notice even small decisions like lighting from the first moment they enter into your worship space. Especially in this day and age with live streaming, it’s very important to plan and create a look and feel that’s welcoming, inviting, and that encourages worship participation. You can use stage design and church presentations that complement each other to do this.

A few quick changes and creative ideas can make a huge difference, after all! So let’s dive into a few simple ways you can make your church stage design and worship media work beautifully together. 

Screens

Let’s start with the screens. Where should you place the screens for worship presentations? The answer depends on the shape of the room and the stage itself, but here’s a few tips to help you decide where to place your screens. If you are working with a big screen like an LED wall, you may want to place the words for the songs, and sermon notes and slides in the middle above the people on the stage.

You see this stage design commonly in many church services. Because people can stand in front of the LED wall without blocking the image or causing a shadow on it like with a projector, it is an advantage of this type of screen to be able to place it behind the immediate viewing area in the middle of the room. While you don’t want to make the screen the focal point like a movie theater, you want to have good sight lines for people in the congregation to be able to engage with lyrics, scripture, and other participatory media content shown by your worship presentation software.

While you can use screens (especially an LED wall type screen) for environmental images to contribute to the look of your stage, just make sure there will be no one standing in front of the parts of the screens you’ll show lyrics on, if the screen is behind the stage. This may be difficult when working in a smaller room, but it is possible with a little creativity. You can also place one screen on each side of the stage (most popular if you have projectors for instance), and this will enable the words to be more visible from multiple angles without being blocked by people on the stage.

If you are working with an oddly shaped room, such as a rectangle or you are setting up the band in the middle of the room, you may want to mount TV screens throughout the room instead. This will enable you to place screens in inconspicuous places that will be easily viewed without being too much of a focal point from what’s going on in the space.

Taking time to think through screen placement is extremely important when working to make your presentation software graphics work beautifully with the stage design. A poorly placed screen can be a major distraction for worshippers. Don’t be afraid to try some things out. Trial and error will help eliminate what doesn’t work and will reveal what does work for your church.

Digital Stage Design

Another great use of worship presentation software and screens specifically, is to supplement your stage design digitally instead of physically. Most of the time it’s as easy as “drag and drop”! Besides the main content like lyrics which may be shown higher up or on the sides of the stage, you could consider adding screens or an LED wall behind the stage that is only for environmental elements. Instead of complicated set designs, with a simple screen behind the stage, you can instantly add beautiful nature scenes, color washes, or abstract designs behind your stage.

Lighting

The next important thing to talk about especially when it comes to reading words on a screen is lighting. One problem many people run into is when the lighting in the room completely washes out what’s on the screens and your congregation can barely read it. The media team could have a perfect color scheme and design for their church presentation, but the lighting is too bright or aimed at the screens and therefore makes it hard to see. 

Lighting doesn’t have to be complicated. It could be as simple as turning off a few rows of overhead lighting near the stage or changing where the spotlights are aimed. If you need light in your worship space that’s softer than fluorescents, but no budget for expensive professional light fixtures, get creative. Even store-bought stand up lamps or vintage Edison bulbs on stands placed around the stage can offer a simple but warm and welcoming look for your worship environment– and make your screens easier to read without all the extra wash from overhead lighting.

One more thing to consider is checking the display settings on your projectors or TV screens. Make sure the settings are configured in a way that makes your text and graphics easy to see and read. Just a few changes can make a huge impact on your worship presentation and stage lighting design.

Change It Up!

One of the best ways to keep things fresh and get the creativity flowing on your production team is to change up the stage completely. This could be for special services such as baptisms, child dedication, communion, or a worship night. Try putting the band in front of the stage on the floor with the congregation for a worship night. This will give you an opportunity to try different lighting and staging ideas with the band in a completely new space in the auditorium. 

Changing things like where people speak and lead from will bring a freshness to what you do in your worship gatherings. Don’t forget to think about the church presentation screens and placement of those when you make big changes. Keep in mind that you may need to try something new or outside of the box. 

Church stage design, lighting, and worship presentation software should all be used in ways to enhance the gathering and not distract. Lights aimed in the wrong places, people standing in front of the lyrics on screens, and unreadable text are huge distractions for your congregation. When church stage design and worship presentation media work beautifully together, you will have a more relaxed and peaceful environment for people to worship in.

Your congregation may not notice as much when things are right, but they will notice when they are wrong or slightly off. So when everyone is enjoying the atmosphere and maybe can’t even put their finger on what’s so good about the way the room feels, you’ll know you did your job correctly!

Take time to work out the details and you will be serving your congregation well. Think about the people who have never walked into a church before. Your hard work will be helping them meet and connect with God and those around them by experiencing the worship gathering in a great environment. Every decision you make creatively will be seen or heard. Encourage your media team to remember these things when they come to serve at church and you will see how much of a difference it makes!