I have worked in churches of all shapes, sizes, and locations. I've done the small country church thing and the big suburban church thing. When I was at the smaller, country church, one of my feelings about the large suburban churches that I was frankly jealous of was their seemingly unlimited resources. They could afford to do cool computer graphic stuff and videos and all sorts of things that didn't even seem like a possibility for me.
It wasn't until I got to the big suburban church that I learned the true dirty secret of where their unlimited resources came from: the internet. Yup, the same internet that I had at my small, country church was the rich well of computer graphics, videos, and set designs that had seemed so far out of reach to me before. The only difference was that these people knew how to find what they needed on the internet and make it work for their church.
Today, let me give you 4 secrets to mining the vast wealth of internet resources for your church, no matter what your size.
1. Stop reinventing the wheel. For the last 2000ish years, pastors have been preaching sermons. You might think you are coming up with a brand new slant to something from the Bible. You probably aren't. (If you are, you might want to check and make sure it's from the Bible.) Chances are, someone has already done what you are about to do. Google it! Maybe your seminary professors told you that was wrong and you should only do totally original stuff for your sermons and series. But even your original stuff probably isn't original. It's made up of stuff you learned from others and pieced together. I believe the Holy Spirit can inspire you through a Google search. You don't have to take what someone else said or did word for word, and you probably shouldn't, but there are a vast number of resources out there, and to me, it's a waste of your God-given time and energy to recreate something that's already been created.
2. Ask for stuff. One of the greatest lessons I learned working for a larger church that did make some of our own graphics and videos now and then is that these churches are usually incredibly willing to just give their stuff away for free. They created something great, they're done with it now, and they would love to see it still be put to use. If you find that a church did a series that you're going to do, give them a call and see if they have any resources that they would be willing to share. 9 times out of 10, they'll just give you the stuff they have. You just have to call them.
3. Collaborate. If you are reading this, you have access to the internet, meaning you also have access to the other people on the internet. You know, people doing the same stuff you are. Right now I'm collaborating with two other pastors on a Lenten series. We're sharing resources through dropbox. Maybe your church is in the middle of nowhere. If you've got the internet, then you have means to collaborate with other churches. You don't have to do this alone.
4. Share your stuff. When you do come up with something original, share it with others. Add to the beautiful treasure trove that is online sermon material. It's good to be proud and protective of your own intellectual property, but there is also something wonderful about helping reach others beyond your own church with the stuff you have come up with.
What do you think? Do you share and make use of resources from other churches that you find online?
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