It's not exactly a thunderbolt from the heavens, but high-tech wizardry that can match it in sight and sound is changing how the faithful worship the Almighty at many churches.
Giant video screens, cameras, pyrotechnics, high-tech lighting and digital sound systems are becoming almost as common as baptismals. The technical capabilities at some churches border on the amazing, says Shelagh Rogers, organizer of a convention for church tekkies last week in Cincinnati.
Inspiration Technology 2003 was expected to draw about 1,600 pastors and other church officials and members wanting to learn how to adapt technology to services.
Proponents of the technology said it's the best way to reach a generation reared on TV, DVDs and video games.
Many churches project song lyrics, announcements or images onto large video screens during services. Some houses of worship also present video clips or music videos as part of services.
With high-tech lighting, cameras and sound systems included in the blueprints for new buildings these days, the quality of sound and lighting at many churches is comparable to technology at concert halls, said Rogers, publisher of Ontario-based Technologies For Worship Magazine. Churches can easily spend upward of $100,000 on technology, depending on what they want.
Rogers said churches with drama ministries are most likely to use pyrotechnics in worship. She recalled a drama at one church where a character pointed her finger and a flame shot out.
But it's not just big churches with fancy drama ministries that are getting more digital on Sunday.
"It used to be only five or 10 mega-churches," she said. "But today, any church big enough to use a microphone is probably using some other type of other technology, too."
Near Cincinnati, Florence Baptist Church, which draws 1,000 to 1,200 people each Sunday, uses three TV cameras to relay live shots from the service onto large screens. The pastors also use PowerPoint to display graphics or photos on the screens as part of services.
Many technological upgrades occurred simply as a result of church growth, said the Rev. Pete Coleman, associate pastor.
Florence Baptist installed video screens and cameras because church leaders were looking for a way to fit more people into the building. Putting in the screens meant another 100 people could sit in the balcony and see services
"We were a little concerned at first," Coleman said. "We wondered if the older people were going to like it. They love it.
"One of the first comments I heard was, 'I can finally see his lips,' " Coleman said, explaining that an older church member who had a hard time seeing the pastor's facial expressions found them easily visible on the large screen.
Horizon Community Church, which meets at Cincinnati County Day High School, uses technology to create a service "almost like a dramatic production," said operations manager John Kirby.
"Thirty years ago, the pastor would have said, 'Can you picture being on a mountaintop?' " Kirby said. "Today, it's very economical to use a (video) clip to take you to a mountaintop."
The use of technology crosses all denominational barriers, Rogers said.
But church leaders who are big technology users are sensitive to the criticism that the message can get swallowed up in the delivery system, or that church services are becoming more entertainment than worship.
"Some people have been called to entertain, but that's not our calling," Coleman said. "We're not here to entertain. We just use technology to get our message out."