Grady Russell

As the pastor of a new church I am constantly searching for the best deals for our church needs. Here is one that is so good I wanted to share it with all of my pastor friends. I know that you will all like it because it is free!

Since March I have been looking for the best price on song presentation software. We have actually been using PowerPoint, but the lack of flexibility has been frustrating. There are dozens of programs available for purchase from $149 to close to $1,000. Last week, I discovered the free one, openlp.org.

It is written especially for church presentations. In fact the fellows behind the project share on the website that it was “custom built from the ground up with churches in mind.” I like that fact! The software is intuitive and user friendly. It even has a built in song database and the ability to download through CCCLI and Song Select. Don’t skimp there; pay the annual fee for CCCLI and Song Select!

Since I was actually alive when Lotus 1-2-3 first came on the scene, I really love keyboard shortcuts (if you haven’t heard of Lotus 1-2-3, you are just too young!). Anyway, this program has several “hotkeys” that improve the presentation functionality. Its display monitor setup is a breeze! There are preview, live and order of service windows as well as easy to manage and almost effortless programmable slide background themes. They even offer a theme gallery on their website!

It is such a good program that I thought there might be a few friends out there who could benefit from it as well. Check it out at www.openlp.org and let me know what you think about it.

This blog was written by a real person. I am not an actor and I am not compensated for my statements except for the satisfaction of knowing that I may have helped a friend!

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