What is the purpose of Media Ministry?

Hey Everybody! This is my first post on the Love Media website and I am really excited about the ministry opportunity that we will have on the site. My name is Eric Engle and I love media and student ministry. I really love combining the two! I graduated from a small Christian school (North Greenville University) and after college I moved out to Atlanta, Georgia to work for In Touch Ministries, which is led by Dr. Charles Stanley. I got to do a lot of cool stuff for the ministry and it really allowed me to grow in the context of media ministry. A few years later I moved out to Louisville, Kentucky to pursue a Masters of Divinity and 6 months later, I found myself working for the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. as his radio engineer. Several months later Dr. Mohler chose to switch over to a podcast format and I gained a lot of insight in the world of podcast! I also worked as a Videographer at Southern Seminary, where I shot events, edited and posted for the Seminary's website. I am now currently a member at Highview Baptist Church where I teach 7th grade guys and a part of a church plant out at The University of Louisville. I am now currently employed at a warehouse, where I have had incredible opportunities to share the gospel! I am very thankful for God's provisions and direction in my life and look forward to sharing what I have learned in the field of media ministry. I hope that everything I have to say on this site will be encouraging, helpful and beneficial to your pursuit to an effective, gospel centered media ministry at your own church.

I wanted to blog just briefly about what the purpose of media ministry should be. There are so many elements involved when it comes to media. Everything from camera operating, sound, lights, video and the editing to output process. Oh yes... and then there is rendering. We can't leave that portion out! But with all of this stuff going on, what matters the most is the central point and focus of media ministry. We can put together incredible sermon aids, countdowns to start service and crisp clean audio but if all the work is done for the wrong reasons, we will fail the essential purpose in what media ministry is all about! Don't get me wrong... we should strive for clear and crisp audio, and a clean HD screen picture. Being professional at what you do at your church is essential because we want the message to be clear and consistent for people to hear and see! The point that I am getting at is for every church that has a team set apart for its media ministry, there must be unity! Our goal as a media team at Highview is not to impress people with our gifts but to bring the gospel alive! To aid in bringing the gospel to lost men and women to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! If our central theme and purpose in our media ministry isn't gospel centered then we are simply doing the work for our own glory! So my encouragement in my first blog on this website is.... Make everything you do in media ministry conform to what the gospel IS! I know that this seems like a gimme but we can easily find ourselves consumed in what we are doing when we should always be dwelling on why we are doing.

I hope these words find you challenged and encouraged! I look forward to posting more on this site and hearing from the rest of the guys on ideas and experiences!

Eric