Greg Atkinson

My collection of 50 Christmas backgrounds for $20 (you do the math) is available at WorshipHouse Media, Meatloaf Media and The Shoutable Store.

Also, I came across 2 new Christmas videos from SermonSpice that didn’t make it in time for my “Christmas Media Review“. Both are humorous and worth checking out. They are the “Christmas Linebacker” and “12 Crazy Days of Christmas“.

BONUS:

In my “Christmas Media Review”, I just listed resources from Christian companies that produce media specifically for churches. To be honest and complete in my coverage of Christmas resources, I must mention the good folks at Digital Juice. I’ve been a fan and user of Digital Juice products for years. Here’s 2 of their products that we’re going to be using at my church this Christmas season:

1. “Editor’s Toolkit 9: Christmas Tools” – $399
2. “Juice Drops 47: Merry Christmas” – $249

*NOTE: Digital Juice is running an amazing special right now. I’d pick 3 products for $99 and get the above mentioned Christmas Juice Drops for FREE!

My friends Len Wilson and Jason Moore of Midnight Oil Productions are continuing their series on “Worship Design Teams That Work” with a new article that looks at some of the problems that keeps teams of good people from taking flight. As the title indicates, “Success Is
In the Details”. Learn more HERE.

Also, have you seen MO’s Christmas Star image tutorial? This free web resource, which is also part of their book “Design Matters: Creating
Powerful Imagery for Worship“, provides source material and a step-by-step instruction manual for creating your very own nativity scene for worship. Check it out HERE.

BONUS:

Have you heard of Google Mobile SMS? It might be worth checking out. Heard of Google docs? I’m starting to try it out. Thoughts?

In my “Christmas Media Review“, I mentioned several resources for those of you that are doing something related to the new nativity movie. WorshipHouse now has made available “The Nativity Collection” that I mentioned in my review. The new collection includes a mini-movie, countdown, 4 motions and 8 stills – all for $25.

IN OTHER NEWS:
The Cowboys release kicker Mike Vanderjagt. Praise God. It drives me crazy to see a kicker miss field goals – it’s their only job. They get paid millions to just kick a ball through the uprights. He was paid way too much to miss. I can go out there and miss for free. If I think about it for too long, I’ll just get all upset. He’s gone and I’m moving on.

FOLLOW UP:
Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to guest speak at Southwestern Seminary – that went great. I had a blast and was humbled and honored to speak at a school with such a rich history of faculty and alumni. The students seemed to enjoy it and were exposed to a lot of media that’s available to the Church. It’s always so much fun to show a video (that I’ve seen hundreds of times) to a group of people that are seeing it for the first time. Three videos stuck out and got the greatest reaction. I’m amazed each time I show them, that they hadn’t seen them before. Here’s the three videos that seemed to stand out as class favorites:

1. “God is God” by City on a Hill Productions – POWERFUL. Get the tissues.
2. “The Gospel According to Blaine” by Igniter Media Group – Classic. This is one of my all-time favs. People love it.
3. “That’s My King!” by Igniter Media Group – Duh! This video is #1 on every website that sells it. I used this video to end my class.

BONUS:

Speaking of Igniter Media Group, I mentioned a while back that they were coming out with a new series called “Bumpers” – well, it’s out and I like it. I really do. This is what I call “Church Media 2.0″ – I’m making that term official with quotation marks and everything. I got my copy of “Bumpers” and immediately began playing with it. Here’s what’s cool: there is a standard option and an advanced option. You can do the simple – an intro video, a still designed for text overlay, and an outro video, all of which combine to form a visually stimulating means of communicating with your crowd OR you can really do some cool stuff with the advanced options. Either way, it looks like you made custom video announcements. Also included is a video tutorial (with the unmistakable voice of one Mr. Trent Armstrong) that will show you how to start using the Bumpers. The style is fresh and sharp. The quality is top notch and most of all, these are usable.

We had a great Thanksgiving. My wife works weekends at a group home for girls. We had several of the girls over to our home for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a special time and humbling to know that it was the best Thanksgiving any of the girls had ever had. The Cowboys continued their win streak, thus adding fuel to the Romo fire. By the way, I just found out that I get to go to the Cowboys/Saints game on December 10. I can’t wait!

Friday and Saturday we got out all our Christmas decorations and began our annual quest to make our home come alive with Christmas lights and stockings. Yes, our tree is up and lit, complete with the angel on top (which I always get to do – though my 4 year old son did kind of help me this year). Sunday we went to our church as a family. I didn’t have to run or play anything, so I got to sit with my wife and just enjoy our time of worship. My highlight was my church’s worship team doing one of my favorite songs for the first time: Revelation Song (which you can hear on my Myspace page by clicking on the song name). My Tuesday night band, i55, gets to do that song often and we love it.

Today, I’m teaching a “Philosophy of Ministry” class at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. I’m looking forward to that. It’s from noon to 2pm – if you’d like to pray for me during that time. Starting in January, I’ll be teaching a worship class at Dallas Theological Seminary each Monday afternoon.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Podcast Episode 3 is now LIVE. In this episode, Anthony and I interview Brad from Church Marketing Sucks. Check it out!

*In related news, Creative Synergy is a featured podcast on PodPoint. Pretty cool!

Happy Thanksgiving! I wish you and yours the very best. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Each Wednesday I write a column for Monday Morning Insight. This week’s article is on volunteer appreciation. I didn’t necessarily set out to write a series, but it kind of ended up like that. I first wrote on the importance of having depth on your team. Then I wrote on how to build depth: recruitment. The latest article is crucial to keeping and maintaining your team. Check it out!

Our friends at Church Marketing Sucks now have t-shirts to help support their ministry. Above is just one design. Click HERE to check them out.

RECALL:
I just updated a Christmas article I wrote 2 years ago. You can read it HERE.

Anyone watch the American Music Awards last night? Any thoughts? They did some pretty cool stuff visually. I especially liked what they did with Snow Patrol. Below are links to new Christmas music for this year. I love finding good modern arrangements of Christmas carols.

Sanctus Real celebrates Christmas with a brand new rendition of “Silent Night.”

Todd Agnew’s album Do You See What I See brings you 11 songs, each from a different perspective of someone involved in the birth of Christ.

Steven Curtis Chapman – All I Really Want For Christmas
A new collection of original and traditional holiday favorites including the title track, “All I Really Want,” the story of a little orphan boy’s one item wish list to Santa, asking not for toys at Christmastime but for a family.

Third Day – Christmas Offerings
Following the latest CD Wherever You Are, Third Day is out with their first Christmas CD. The next installment of the Offerings worship series provides a unique blend of Christmas classics and new songs written by the band.

Unexpected Gifts
This delightful Christmas album includes songs by Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, Avalon, and Rebecca St. James and 2 brand NEW recordings by Sanctus Real and Starfield as well as Shawn McDonald’s “O Holy Night” (never available on CD).

Mercy Me – The Christmas Sessions
One of CCM’s most loved and best selling bands delivers their first Christmas album. Featuring classic titles and contemporary yet recognizable melodies, MercyMe puts their stamp on your Christmas favorites. Includes the songs God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Silent Night, White Christmas and Winter Wonderland.

Leigh Nash – Wishing For This (digital EP)
Leigh Nash’s enchanting voice offers a peaceful escape from the holiday rush with the release of her first holiday EP entitled Wishing For This, now available on iTunes.

BONUS:
For more Christmas worship ideas, read my “December Is What You Make It” article.

Robert Passikoff of Chief Marketer has seven branding and marketing trends for 2007:

1. An ongoing emphasis on “engagement.”
2. More reliance on consumer-generated content.
3. More, more branded entertainment.
4. Media planning will become more “touch point” focused.
5. Using technology and engagement to better communicate with consumer expectations.
6. Expanding the potential of Websites, blogs, and the digital world.
7. Innovation and loyalty will matter more.

Kent from Church Relevance wrote a summary: 

To roughly sum up these trends into four rules, leading edge secular marketers will be focusing on:

1. reaching people on more personal/relevant levels,
2. creating mutual interaction and relationships when possible,
3. integrating their organization’s branding/core values through every touch point they have with people,
4. and using technology and creativity to reach people in more memorable and powerful ways.

The organizations, including churches, that will be able to follow these four rules will be more sought after and preferred over those who don’t.

This just in from Shawn Wood, Communications Pastor at Seacoast Church:

“I wanted to let all my blog friends know about a conference that Seacoast Church has the pleasure of partnering with Community Christian Church, North Coast Church and Leadership Network with. This conference has been a catalyst in the multi-site movement with over 1200 people attending the two earlier additions in Chicago and Charleston. Now we get to spend a few days in San Diego in February. So if you are considering multi-site, are multi-site or just would like to hear one of these guys speak do me a favor.”

• Register today.

MORE THANKSGIVING RESOURCES:

Check out “A Cry of Thanksgiving” from BluefishTV. It’s #1 on their site and as all their videos, it’s only $1.99! While you’re there, also check out “Jars of Clay: The Spirit of Thankfulness“, “What is Thanksgiving?“, “Thanksgiving: It’s More Than Turkey or Football” with both a funny and serious version.

Remember my blog and article on “Saturday Night Panic”? Someone emailed me and asked that I do a follow-up article on how to recruit. I did. You can read it HERE.

One of my favorite bands – MuteMath -was recently on MTV and rocked. They now have their own YouTube page. Check it out HERE. Watch the MTV interview and notice the respect that they get from the MTV hosts. Wow.

If you want to know where to get their new CD, check my favs over to the left.