Master Proclaim: 3 Tools for the Unexpected

Even working from a preaching calendar—planning weeks or months ahead of time—church services are bound to take an unexpected turn every now and then. Thankfully, Proclaim has three powerful features to help you improvise smoothly.

1. Quick screens

You seldom get any advance notice when the worship leader, preacher, or designated announcement giver goes off script, so Proclaim keeps three important options always close at hand: blank, logo, and no text. Blank is always black, so if you need to darken the room for a set change or other reason, pressing F10 will eliminate any ambient light from your projector or TV. Set the logo slide to display your church’s logo, or your current sermon series’ art. Then if you need to blank the screens, but prefer art over a vacuum of black, you have that option by pressing F11. No text maintains the background of your current service element, but removes any content that you have on it. This is perfect for transitions between songs if the worship leader decides to tell a story while he’s moving his capo.

2. Live editing

If the worship leader decides on the spot to close with a song the pastor mentioned in the final point of his message, you can get lyrics for it without going off air. In the top right, select “Edit” and add a new service element matching the style of your previous songs. This can all happen without altering the projected image. Live editing can also be helpful if you find a typo. Hover over the slide in question and an edit option will appear. You can make a quick fix and be back in time for the next slide.

3. Pager & crawl text

Emergency announcements are a rarely used—but important—feature. If someone left their headlights on in the parking lot, or their child needs attention in the nursery, you have two options for notifying them. Pager places a short bit of text in the corner of the active slide, where it remains until you remove it. Crawl text is better suited for longer sentences, like, “There is a blue car in the south lot with its lights on.”

Crazy things can happen in church services, and you probably have a great story to share. What’s the wildest thing that you’ve seen interrupt a church service? Tell us in the comments.

Proclaim Church Presentation Software lives in the cloud, so you can collaborate with your team from wherever they work best. No more emailing large files or fumbling with flash drives. Best of all, it connects with many of the tools you already use, like Planning Center Online, CCLI SongSelect, and Graceway Media. Try Faithlife Proclaim free.