Technology can help your church glorify God--or reduce your worship service to nothing more than entertainment. Here's how to use it wisely.

Increasing numbers of churches today use high-tech tools such as videos and PowerPoint presentations in their worship services. But without wisdom, those tools can turn their services more into entertainment than worship. How can churches use technology to communicate meaning instead of seducing people with special effects? How can technology be adopted to help people connect with God and each other to foster authentic worship? High-Tech Worship? takes a careful look at these issues, giving readers practical guidance on how they can best use the gift of technology in their churches. Both clergy and lay leaders will benefit from its creative suggestions as they seek to integrate technology wisely into their worship services. Written by nationally known communications expert Quentin J. Schultze, High-Tech Worship? addresses an important yet often overlooked issue that affects the quality of worship in every church.

Considers the moral and social costs of today's sophisticated technology, arguing that the benefits of a cyberculture can be better appreciated by refocusing on the traditional Judeo-Christian values of discernment, moderation, wisdom, humility, authenticity, and diversity.

Christianity Today 2023 Book Award Finalist (History & Biography) New forms of worship have transformed the face of the American church over the past fifty years. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, including interviews with dozens of important stakeholders and key players, this volume by two worship experts offers the first comprehensive history of Contemporary Praise & Worship. The authors provide insight into where this phenomenon began and how it reshaped the Protestant church. They also emphasize the span of denominational, regional, and ethnic expressions of contemporary worship.

Over the past two decades, the church has sought to incorporate technology into its worship services in ways that mimic modern society; professional audio consoles, stage lighting, projection screens, and theatrical sets are now customary. Because how people experience sacred space forms their views about it, what technical artists do in practice also shapes the congregation's beliefs about God. This book is the first exegetical discourse aimed at establishing a theology of church technical arts, and examining how a biblically informed theological understanding might help better shape praxis for contemporary church technical artists. The tabernacle construction narrative (Exodus 35:30-36:1), Christ's mediation from within the church (Hebrews 2:12-13), and Paul's exhortation to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16) are viewed in light of current practice to form a portrait of the technical artist, establishing that those who serve their local church through the audio, video, and lighting ministries are "producing worship."

An Essential Guide to Understanding and Leading Worship Worship leaders are adrift in a sea of worship resources, but, incredibly, no single book provides a simple introduction to worship and worship leading. Essential Worship is a concise, easy-to-read primer on the basics of worship theology and practice. Each concept is introduced clearly and concisely. Diagrams, charts, and bulleted lists make the information easy to digest. And preparation and reflection questions help readers apply the material to their own church context. Whether one is a beginner or an experienced worship leader, readers from all traditions will find in this resource a solid foundation for future success. It is particularly well-suited for the first-time worship or praise band leader, as well as for pastors who want to be more intentional about the music in their services.