Show us What You're Made Of! - Runners-Up!

As you've heard, the amazing response to the Show Us What You're Made Of! contest left us struggling to make a decision. It was so difficult to pick just one winner that we decided to choose two runner-ups who were too good to leave un-recognized. You've heard about the first winner, but we didn't want to miss the opportunity to share the other two entries:

Door of Hope - Fairbanks, Alaska - Media Director, Tyler Williams

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words. So what is a video worth? Well, I'm not sure about the answer to that one, but I do know that the media guys at Door of Hope have the video announcement thing down to a T. They use small video clips to announce upcoming events, new resources or on-line tools for their congregation, reminders, outreaches, and, well, just about everything! These short clips tell a story of some sort and yet convey the information they need to be communicated, often in a humorous way. Some examples...

ARMY MAN - One video they created is a kids release video that plays at the end of the announcements letting the kids know that they are released to their classes. They also used this as an opportunity to communicate the fact that Jr. High classes were starting back up. This one had us rolling! Watch out for those "crazy-eyed" Jr. High-ers!

JOE'S ANSWER - This video introduced the Weekender, an on-line bulletin featuring news and events within the church community. The video encourages people to check it out on the church website and even shows them a graphic description of exactly how to find it! Joe may be a "nerd" but we think he's cool.

Terrific job, Door of Hope! The videos are great and we know your congregation must truly love them! Keep up the great work!

Epic Church of Sterling Heights, Michigan - Lead Pastor Tim Kade

Life is a Ride. And Epic Church is evidence of that! God placed the vision for this church plant into Tim's heart during the 2004 C3 Conference and the church has grown from there. Epic Church used the Life is a Ride campaign as the official launch for their church in September. They flooded their local area with these eye-catching flyers to draw in the crowds and advertise their upcoming series. 

The video team headed out to their local amusement park to catch some fast-paced footage to use for their website, message intro, and some sermon illustrations. You can feel the spins, drops and turns right in your stomach!

Epic Church kicked off the launch with their band playing Dare You to Move. The video that accompanies the song literally takes us up the long, gradual, anticipatory slope just before that breathtaking drop and proceeds to take you through the whole roller coaster ride in tune with the music.

The amusement park with all of its ups and downs, twists and turns and even the agonizing wait in line was used as the basis of their sermon series:

• Survive the Ups and Downs - Picture of Us and Jesus: He's sitting right beside you as you go through life's peaks and valleys.
• Rise Above Your Fears: The audience gets to witness lead pastor, Tim Kade, conquer one of his lifelong fears - heights. The video crew made him climb on to the Tower of Power sending him shooting straight into the air only to send him dropping right back down just as quickly.
• Let Go of Control: In this sermon illustration, the taping process was unexpectedly interrupted. Instead of letting it hit the "cutting room floor" they used it as an example of the fact that we really aren't in control. God is.
• Anticipate the Thrill: Learn to enjoy the journey, the time between life's highlights. During the song 100 Years they show a moving black and white slide show of life and its different stages...friends, families, graduation, weddings, marriage, pregnancy, and the every-day wonders of the in-betweens.

It was an amazing ride, Epic Church - good job!

Our runners-up will receive the complete DVD set for our upcoming C3 conference. Thank you, again, to everyone who participated in the Show Us What You're Made Of! Contest. We really loved going through all the submissions. Keep that creativity going because we just might do this again!