whoisgrace.com

My wife probably would not approve of me bragging about her in a public space like this, but I'm afraid that there is just no other option. She and Chris Falzone have just completed a major overhaul to Grace Church's website whoisgrace.com. I am absolutely in love with the redesign. It is sleek, sharp, and sexy (can a church website be sexy?). Great job, guys. It looks fantastic.

One of the things I am most excited about is that whoisgrace.com finally has the functionality to play videos directly on the site. Last summer, I asked a question on this blog as to whether people would prefer Vimeo or YouTube as a host site for the videos that we create at Grace. Although opinions were divided more or less right down the middle, I decided to abandon YouTube and switch completely over to Vimeo. I believe the quality is better on uploaded videos at Vimeo, and the interface is definitely nicer as well (it's grown on me). You can see the videos yourself by going to whoisgrace.com, clicking on "connect" on the left side of the page, and then clicking on "Vimeo".

Another thing I like about Vimeo is that a Plus membership allows you to create a personalized channel for your videos. In fact, the Grace Church channel is the page that is linked directly off of the front page on the whoisgrace.com.

Finally, directly underneath the connect button on the front page is a button for "The 411". The 411 is what we have begun calling our weekly video announcements at Grace. We have been showing video announcements in our weekend services at Grace since 2005. Now, if you miss them, you will be able to view the video on whoisgrace.com. Although there have been cosmetic changes to the announcement video format over the last four years, there has never been a major overhaul on the way we do them. Starting earlier this month with the countdown [it's all part of the package], we are in the beginning stages of a brand new way of doing video announcements at Grace. I think that the people of Grace will be very pleased with The 411. I am working with the communications team as we speak and am so excited to unveil the new format sometime over the next few weeks.

Grace may be over 110 years old now, but I believe we're as cutting-edge as ever. As time goes by, the message always always stays the same, but the methods of delivering that message can and should change. At Grace, we are 100% convinced that Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. But shame on us if we think that the methods used for communicating this Hope in the church of yesterday will work in the church of today. Yes, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But that doesn't mean that we should sit idly by as we watch technology, time, and relevance pass the church by.

So check out whoisgrace.com, check out our new Vimeo channel, and get excited by what God is doing at Grace Church in Erie, Pennsylvania!! Oh, and if you happen to be reading this and don't currently have a church home, I encourage you to check Grace out "in person". :-)

Ams and Am Nots

9 things I am:

• glad last week is over. Wow, it was insane
  
• impressed with this beautiful fall weather
  
• excited to spend a few days with my best friend Chris
  
• nervous about all the stuff I need to do within the next few weeks
  
• happy that gas prices are falling falling falling
• thankful that I was able to spend some time with Aaron and the boys on the boat yesterday
• in awe of what God continues to do at Grace. Yesterday was awesome. Kat was baptized and MAN! what an incredible testimony of what God has done in that young woman's life. She rocks.
• excited about some awesome changes coming up in the communications department at Grace, including my area of expertise: video announcements.
• excited about the doors God is opening in Danielle's life
  

5 things I am not:

• impressed with the movie Eagle Eye
• ready for Chris to come
  
• content
• ready for Christmas
• loving enough towards my wife

As I sign off for the day, I leave you with this video. It is a hilarious look by The Onion at the sensationalism of weather events by the news media (which, I believe, is adding to the "climate change" hysteria going on right now):

Granger Film Festival

Well, the results [click on Granger Film Festival then 2008 Entries] from the Granger Film Festival are in, and - sadly - Grace did not win the grand prize. However, the good news is that out of the many videos they received, one of Grace's was chosen. (I submitted three). So, despite the fact that we didn't win anything, I am extremely pleased that my work and our church got some national exposure at a renowned event like the Granger Film Festival. That, in and of itself, is huge!

The irony of it all is that the video that they chose was a video that was created PRIOR to the purchase of our new and incredible video camera. Oh well.

I hope it's not too lofty to set a goal of Grace being one of the winners in next year's festival.

I wish you guys got to do what I've been doing...

I am currently in the middle of shooting a bunch of segments for a DVD that we (Grace) is sending out for our small groups to watch, along with a bunch of videos for the weekend services in October. It has been an incredibly busy couple of weeks, especially because this past Sunday was our annual meeting, which - for me - means the biggest project of the year: the year in review video. This year's video was especially fun to make because we have been through an incredibly historic year at Grace.

In order to pick out the most important images of this past year, I had to sift through almost 45 hours of footage. When it all came together in the video, it really put into perspective the amazing work that God is doing through His people at Grace. As I said in the year in review video: this year we learned to dream bigger. And I wasn't referring to the building. Yes, our new facility is a tool that God is using to bring people to Jesus in ways way beyond what anyone could have dreamed of. I was referring to having people dream bigger about what God will do and is doing. People from all over this community are stepping foot into the church -- A church -- for the first time. Healing is taking place. Restoration has begun in the hearts of many. Salvations. Baptisms. Discipleship. Helping the downtrodden in our community. In so many ways, Grace is an awesome, albeit imperfect example of what a New Testament church should look like. And people are responding en masse.

In going out over the last couple of weeks to film peoples' testimonies for our upcoming We Will Tell (Part II) campaign, it has been an INCREDIBLE blessing for me to meet all sorts of new people whom I have never met before even though we attend the same church. I feel like, sometimes, we get in our own little bubbles and we tend to lose perspective of the stuff going on all around us at all times. I have met with young and old, new believers and veterans of the faith, newcomers to Grace and others that have attended for many decades. And the underlying message in each of their stories goes something like this: I never thought a place like Grace existed. Then, for whatever reason, I became part of this body of believers and my life has never been the same.

Today, for instance, I filmed a lady from Australia who moved to the United States to become a professor here at Penn State all because she met somebody from Grace at a conference in London, England. I mean, what an awesome story!? She spoke with incredible passion tonight about what God is doing in her heart and how incredibly grateful she is that she found Grace and how at home she feels there. She said she never expected to find a church like Grace in America, as she came from a very similar church in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. I also filmed a precious lady today who has been at Grace for nearly 30 years. She spoke of how, in 1998, when they first announced that they had purchased the land on Grubb Road, she could barely contain herself. She didn't even know if she'd be around another ten years, so the wait was excruciating for her. She wanted so badly to see the finished product, as she knew that God had amazing plans for His work here. Well, she's still here, and she spoke today about how Grace is positioning itself for the future. This incredible and godly woman, who was born before TV's were even in existence, spoke of how vital it is for Grace to embrace change, progress, and innovation. She knows that in order to reach this generation, we must adapt to the culture and meet the lost where they are. Her testimony literally brought me to tears. I can't wait for everybody to see what she had to say.

Another overwhelming theme in everybody's stories is the immense amount of respect that these people have for our pastors. People love Al, our senior pastor. I mean, they ADORE him. They appreciate his honesty, his vulnerability, and his humility. And the respect that people have for Derek and Mike -- while not surprising -- is simply incredible. What they say is true: we are so blessed to have such incredible leaders guiding us and doing their best to bring us closer to Christ.

If one thing has become ABUNDANTLY clear over these last couple weeks, it is this: God is moving at Grace Church in ways I think few - if any - people can possibly comprehend. In fact, I fully believe that we are only seeing the tip of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what He is going to do at Grace. Innovation and change is never easy. Sacrifices must be made and there will be bumps along the way. But I ask any Grace attender who is not excited about what they are seeing happen all around them: how can you NOT be excited about what God is doing? And for those who are sitting on the sidelines watching the action, I beg of you to jump on board and be part of the incredible story that is being written at 7300 Grubb Road.

I think Derek summed it up nicely tonight:

Giddyup.

Allow me to brag a bit...

Things are really crazy right now. I have about 200 video projects going on, which I am very happy about. Some are for church, others are not. I'm glad that things are so busy with that right now, but it doesn't allow me much time to do other things...ya know, like blog.

One of the big projects I am working on this week is the video for the 2008 annual meeting being held this Sunday at Grace. I have had the privilege (some wouldn't call it that, but I consider it as such) of going through hours and hours and hours of video from this past year. In doing so, I feel the need to brag a little bit about this place called Grace. I have much to say, but for now, I am going to just say a couple things:

• Grace Church is an absolutely amazing place. If you live in Erie and you're reading this and you have yet to visit Grace, I just need to say that you are missing out big time. PLEASE VISIT! We welcome you with open arms. But I have to warn you: when you do finally visit, please know that you have entered into a movement of God that is thriving like crazy.
• This past year has been incredible. If somebody would have told me one year ago that we would have just under 1,000 people worshiping at Grace on any given weekend, I wouldn't have believed them. But in going back through the footage of this past year and seeing everything that makes Grace tick and everyone that makes Grace tick, it has brought me to tears several times as I realize how God is moving amongst His people and how He is leading so many in our community to begin a relationship with Him.
• When I walked through the doors of Grace on Easter Sunday 2003, I had no idea that God had placed me in the middle of something so amazing. Over five years later, I continue to be grateful that I am a tiny little part of His story as it unfolds at Grace.
• When I think about the future of Grace, I get goosebumps. I know it's going to be incredible. And the best part? This is only the beginning.

I have so much more to say about all this, but I must get some sleep right now.

Have a great Thursday, all!