Taking your time.

A leader I greatly respect recently reminded me of the reality that, when it comes to people, slow is fast.  You've probably heard that before, but it sure is easy to forget.  I'm an activator.  My number one Strengths Finder result was Achiever.  I'm always ready to get it done and get it done now.  But that attitude can actually make it harder to get things done, especially when other people are involved.  All of the expertise and energy in the world can't compare to the power of relationship.  And relationships take time to develop.

So maybe the best way to move your next big idea forward is to put it on hold for a while.  Go help someone else with their big idea.  Start by serving where you're at before trying to lead people to some where new. It will give you some new perspective and it will definitely develop a relationship.  Take your time rolling out your plan.  Get input from those it will impact.  It never hurts to get buy-in from people up front.  It may take more time but it makes for better plans.  Going slow in the beginning and arriving at your destination is way faster then going fast in the beginning and not getting there at all.  So take your time.

Giving your job away.

After you've spent months or years pouring into a system, process, or team, it can be really hard to pass that responsibility on to someone else.   For technical leaders, it's easy to invest so much of our passion and efforts into our craft that it becomes very personal.  But we miss the opportunity to raise up other leaders if we are always trying to hold on to all of the things that are currently "our job". 

Organizations change and grow, and as a result our roles will change and grow.   And I'm sure that you don't want to be an obstacle to that growth.  I know I don't.  The truth is, we have to push responsibility down, because that is the best thing for our organizations. Delegating to others accomplishes two key things.  First, it grows and develops other people and prepares them to step into new roles with new responsibilities.  Secondly, it frees you up to spend time on other important projects and even take on new responsibilities yourself.   It makes you even more available to the organization when something changes and you're needed somewhere new. 

My pastor shared something very inspiring today.  He said, "One of my greatest joys is giving my job away."  Think about that.  He's not worried about up and coming leaders stealing his time in the spotlight.  Instead, he's encouraging it!  Its probably because he knows the secret that a leader who raises up other leaders will always have a job.  

You may wonder what you'll do all day if you delegate more.  That thought has crossed my mind as well.  Right now I'm in the process of giving some things away to a member of my team.  Does it feel weird?  Totally.  Is it the best thing for the church?  Absolutely.  What am I going to do with my spare time?  I'll spend time and energy planning the future, building into volunteers, trying my hand at something new and who knows what else!  Tech leaders in the church always seem to have a never ending to-do list anyway, so maybe you can just make a dent in that!  

So what is one thing you can give away this week?  Could you give away one thing every week?  Wow, that's a tough one.  It might be difficult to let go of some things, but it's the best way to empower and equip the volunteers and/or staff that you lead.  It communicates to your team that you believe in them and that you trust them, and those are life giving feelings.  

Back in the saddle.

It has been forever since I wrote anything for this blog.  Its been 6 months to be exact. What in the world have I been doing you may ask? Well, moving across the country for one thing.  And starting a new job.  And catching up with all the relatives I haven't seen for years.  (Living in Topeka will do that to you.)  So yeah, I've been a bit busy.  But its time to start writing again!

In February of 2013, my wife and I moved to Chicago and I joined the staff at Willow Creek Community Church's North Shore campus as the Technical Arts Director.  It has been an exciting and challenging journey, but I'm blessed to work with some wonderful and talented people and God is doing great things on the North Shore!

So while I work up some content for this blog, I thought it might be fun to revisit a post from October of 2011.  Time flies but the content is still good and it's a good reminder to all of us who do services every week of the importance of planning and preparation.



It might not be said out loud very much, but sometimes it seems a lot of churches have the mentality that church shouldn't require a lot of preparation.  I've seen pastors choosing songs with the pianist five minutes before the service.  I've seen tech guys run frantically to the stage to change a battery nobody checked on.  But for some reason, these situations don't seem to encourage people to act differently in the future.  Hopefully this is not an attitude that you find yourself or those on your team struggling with. But if it is, let me encourage you to readjust your thinking on the issue. I would argue that, contrary to "making it up as we go", the work we do in the church deserves our very best preparation and planning. This is especially true for those of us working in the technical arts. As the complexity and detail of our service production increases, the more time must be spent preparing and documenting things in advance. Here are some things that I do weekly to streamline our rehearsals and services:

#1. Input Lists.

These are indispensable. Even if your stage doesn't change that much from week to week, having all stage inputs, console inputs, console outputs, and monitor assignments in one place is a lifesaver when trouble shooting. Taking the time to create this sheet ahead of time also ensures that you know how many console channels you'll need, if you're running low on mics, or, if you're like me, if you're running low on outputs! Better to discover and deal with these issues the day before a show than while the band is on stage. That is just unacceptable.

#2 Stage Plots.

These don't have to be perfectly to scale CAD drawing of your stage. (It helps if they're close though.) These are helpful for two reasons. Its always good to pre-visualize how the band, choir, drama, teaching pastor, or whatever else you have going on will interact within the confines of your stage. There have to be paths of entrance and exit. Musicians should not feel or appear cramped on stage. There has to be space for the pastor to preach from. That may sound silly, but the pastor shouldn't be nestled in the string section. Drawing it out helps you think through those issues. The second reason for stage plots is figuring out all your stage inputs. Should the bass be plugged into input 49 or 11? Well if I have a plot, I can easily see which will be best, based on the bass players location and what is happening around him or her.

#3. Aviom Labels (or Hearback or M-48 or MyMix or aux sends).

No matter what system you use, there has to be a way for the musicians to hear themselves and the other musicians. We happen to use the Aviom system but this applies to any form of monitor mixing. Musicians get frustrated (and rightly so) when they can't figure out where stuff is on the Aviom. There is really no excuse for that. Clearly labeling the unit is very important. You may have a set up that changes very little and so you can make one label that stays the same. More likely there is enough change week to week to warrant new labels. Using the band's names will really add a personal touch. And lets face it, it lets the band know that you thought about them in advance. A spreadsheet and a tabletop paper cutter will go a long way.

#4. Laying Out the Console.

Whether you use a digital desk or an analog desk, you should take the time before hand to label, assign, route, patch, insert, and whatever else you need to do to be ready for the rehearsal. This is really beneficial because it gives you a chance as the engineer to think through your set up, your routing, your effects, and really optimize your work space. Because it is your workspace. And it should be optimized.  Enough said.

#5. Line Check.

This may be the most important step. This step of the "documentation" process is to document that stuff works! Its the culmination of all the previous steps. (By the way, while the band is going through their first song is NOT the time to line check.) Just go through and make sure that all the mics, DIs, video feeds, and monitor sends are correctly set up. The band shouldn't have to wait while you try to figure out where the acoustic is patched and why there is no signal.

All of this basically comes down to professionalism and courtesy. Do the work before hand, and the day of will be much smoother. It shows that you value the work that you do and that you value the time and commitment of the other musicians and techs involved. It eliminates distraction and frustration and allows the end product to be that much better and more effective. And since the end product is worshiping our great God and leading others to Him, I'd say its pretty important.

Finding Patterns.

At a recent Thursday night rehearsal, one of our musicians shared a brief devotional about healthy patterns in our lives.  It was a powerful reminder that God is a God of pattern and order and because we are made in His image, we also develop patterns and rhythms in our lives. But because we are so dramatically impacted by sin, our patterns are often unhealthy and destructive.  Paul writes in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." As worship leaders in our churches, which technical leaders are, we need to be conscious of the patterns we are developing.  We must constantly be renewing our minds in the truth of Scripture so that we create healthy patterns of worship and service.

We need to be aware of patterns that develop in our work habits as technical leaders.  You are always developing some sort of habit.  The question is what kind of habits and patterns are you developing?  Lazy, complacent, short tempered, abrupt, dismissive patterns are all too easy to slip into.  Remember that the technical arts are inherently a service ministry.  Is our pattern one of consistent, reliable service?  Consistent, reliable service will win us the trust and the ear of leadership.  Is our pattern one of cheerful, self-sacrificing service?  Cheerful self-sacrifice will win us the love and respect of our volunteers and coworkers.  Is our pattern one of tactful honesty and edifying feedback?  Honesty will develop those around you and create opportunities for others to speak honestly into your life and work.  Is our pattern one of excellence and dedication?  Excellence and dedication will ignite passion in your team and attract other dedicated team members.

Just like any other area in life, anything that is worth doing takes hard work.  Cultivating healthy patterns in your ministry takes intentionality, persistence, and continual self-evaluation.  But the fruit that it yields has the potential to bless you, your team, and your entire congregation.

Creativity is hard...

Anyone who tells you that the creative process is fast, easy, or simple is telling you a lie (Or they haven't created much).  The truth is that creativity, especially collaborative creativity, is a process that takes a great deal of time, false starts, discussion, frustration, and discipline.  For every #1 song or brilliant movie, there are a hundred more that were dumped along the creative journey.  Creative people often make the process seem easy to the audience, because the audience only sees the end result: a polished, well thought out, well executed presentation.  But the ease with which it is presented to the audience belies the hours and hours of preparation, rehearsal, and deliberation that transformed a glimmer of an idea into the final product.

A great example of this is the process that goes into creating the stage designs we use at Topeka Bible Church.  When we decide to create a new design, I arrive at our stage building sessions with a rough idea and all the materials I think we'll need.  However, never once has my initial idea been the design that ended up on the stage.  For one thing, whenever an idea is honed by a group of creatives, it evolves for the better.  For another, you never know how an idea on paper will work in the real world.  We often find ourselves ending up with designs that we never would have thought of without going through the hours and hours of experimentation and deliberation.  We often completely abandon our original plan and go in a completely different direction, even after spending a great deal of time developing the first idea!  Being willing to scrap a bad idea is as important as developing a great idea.  The fact is, not all of your ideas will be good.  If you can't edit yourself, you'll have a slew of mediocre ideas, at the expense of your great ideas.  Get your ideas out into a community of creatives.  They'll help you weed out the bad ones and develop the great ones, just like our team of creative volunteers at TBC collaborate to create wonderful worship environments.

Check out some of TBC's past stage designs on ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com

Keep Calm and Carry On.

Just when something has worked consistently enough to be deemed reliable, it goes wrong.

We recently had an LED light fixture malfunction during a worship service.  But it didn't just malfunction.  It malfunctioned in such a way that it caused all the other LEDs in the light rig to strobe randomly.  In the middle of the pastor's message.  Pretty much a TD's nightmare.  Fortunately it was the last light in that particular DMX chain and it was on the ground so I was able to nonchalantly unplug it from the rest of the lights, thereby ensuring an uneventful conclusion to the service.  After switching the fixture out between services, the rest of the morning went smoothly.

I'm sure you've experienced a similar situation.  Something is going really wrong and you have a few minutes (or a few seconds) to decide what to do about it.  Staying calm and taking time to think through the situation are the keys to solving issues during a live production in the least painful way possible.

Stay calm.  If you start to sweat and hyperventilate, you're not doing anyone any good.  You'll figure it out and the world will go on.  This is especially important if you are a team leader.  Nothing will freak your team out faster than seeing their leader fall apart.

Take your time.  If you react abruptly and suddenly to a situation, the likelihood of your reaction being a distraction or not best course of action is pretty high. Sometimes problems work themselves out after a moment.  If the pastor's mic crackles once and you immediately sprint to the stage with a spare hand held, only to realize that it rubbed briefly against his beard, you've probably caused a larger distraction then necessary.  Ask yourself which is more disruptive to the service, letting the situation play out or stepping in to change something?

Decide and act calmly and with authority.  If you decide to go on stage and unplug a malfunctioning light, then just do it. Don't run, don't look around at the audience, don't apologize, don't fiddle, just do it and leave.  Act like it was part of the show.

Tell your leadership that the problem is fixed.  They don't necessarily need to know how, they just need to know you've got everything under control.

Analyze afterwards.  Take the time later to go over the event and see what could have been done to prevent the issue, what contingencies could be put in place, and if your response could have been different.  Learn from these experiences, unpleasant as they may be at the time.

Justin Bieber and Theology.

If you follow pop music at all, then you've heard Justin Bieber's latest song "As Long as You Love Me".  Although the song is primarily focused on Bieber's romantic relationships, the bridge of the song (featuring Big Sean, of course) contains a lyric that is applicable to all areas of life.

"But the grass ain't always greener on the other side,
It's green where you water it..."

We've all heard the saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence".  In most cases that's the end of the phrase, leaving us with the idea that what looks good from a distance, isn't always what it seems.  But in this case, the lyric takes it one step further - "It's green where you water it..."

What a profound idea.  Any place you find "green grass", remember that it didn't get that way by accident.  This truth applies to relationships, careers, the arts, and even church tech.  Its easy to look at some churches and think they have it all together.  They've got the gear, the resources, the personnel, the healthy culture, the creativity, the vision, and the buy-in from their leadership.  And you may think that you could never achieve anything worthwhile or effective because of the "limitations" of your situation.  However, as you dig deeper you may discover that they experience limitations and frustrations that dwarf yours and your situation is really not so bad.  Now, while its good to keep that fact in mind, thats not my main point.  

Here's the truth that could change your team and inspire your church.  There are many churches that have developed a vibrant and effective creative arts ministry, in which worship and production are aligned and church leadership supports their efforts with resources and personnel.  In those organizations, the grass really is green.   But remember the caveat from before: "Its green where you water it."  Those teams did not become effective and powerful forces for the Kingdom of God by focusing on the things other teams had and being discouraged by the things they didn't have.  Rather, they built into their people and focused on getting the most out of their resources and equipment.  It wasn't easy and nothing changed overnight.  But being consitently faithful with what they had eventually resulted in the growth of their ministry.

Jesus teaches us this same principle in the Gospel of Matthew.  In chapter 25:14-30 Jesus shares the Parable of the Talents, in which a master gives his three servants varying amounts of resources, each according to his ability (v. 15).   When the master returns from his trip he finds that two of the servants have been faithful with what they were given and he gives them even more!  But the third servant had not done anything with the resources he had been given and in the end even that was taken from him and given to another.  

Whether you're a volunteer, a leader of volunteers, or a leader of staff, these are sobering words but so very applicable to our work in the Church.  So how are you doing with the resources you've been given?  What are you doing to water the grass where you are now?

Who knew Justin Bieber was such a theologian?

Keep it Simple.

Simple.

Live production has the potential to be incredibly complex.  Just look at any of the stadium tours that are currently out and you'll find intricately choreographed lighting, automated rigging, LED video walls, media servers, and ProTools rigs playing back a dozen backing tracks.  Teams of seasoned pros keep all this equipment up and running in sync night after night.  Often, the result is an amazing and exciting show that thrills audiences.  As technical artists in the Church, we are called, not to produce the most technically amazing services, but to point people to our Almighty God through worship and teaching.  We still desire quality, but for a different reason and with a different goal.

At my church, like most, we rely the skills and passions of volunteers to execute our services.  These are people who invest their time and energy to build into the Kingdom.  They are doctors, salesmen, I.T. professionals, but they are not production professionals.  So how do I as their leader set them up to succeed at executing great worship services?  Maybe you are on staff at a church and want to empower your volunteers.  Maybe you’re a volunteer tech leader who wants to help your team grow in confidence and consistency.  The answer may not lie in more gear or better gear or different volunteers.  I’ve discovered that it’s much simpler than that.  Since I came on staff at my current church, we’ve been making our production positions and processes simpler...


Simpler? Yes, simpler.  There was a time when late lyrics, missed audio cues, clunky lighting changes, and missing video clips were common.  Dedicated volunteers showed up week after week to fill positions and week after week there were issues.  What was the problem? Systems and processes were too complex.  One person managing too many details results in frustration and mistakes.  So in order to take the quality of our services to the next level, we didn’t need to do more tech or add more gear.  Instead, we had to do the opposite.  

First, we simply eliminated some processes.  If something was was not clearly contributing to our goal we just stopped doing it.  Second, we streamlined processes.  Does the computer graphics operator need two computers, or can we streamline that position down to just one machine?  Does the video director need to be responsible for video content playback or can he be freed up to just focus on directing?  Third, we divided some positions into two separate positions, allowing each person to focus their attention more specifically on the task.  

The same approach applies to actually operating in various technical positions.  I would rather have a lighting operator who programs a handful of well timed cues and can hit transitions with precision than one who programs twenty cues per song and then gets lost halfway through.  I would rather have an audio engineer who has the right mics on at the right times than one who is so busy adjusting the acoustic guitar reverb that he doesn’t notice the pastor taking the stage.

Once I began to implement this concept and communicate these values, a different pattern began to emerge.  Videos played at the right times, mics were on when needed, lighting transitions were seamless.  Volunteers who had been serving in the same positions for years expressed how they’ve never had so much fun serving.  The stress was off, the objectives clear, the task attainable.  Success boosted confidence, which in turn generated more success.  By simplifying, we actually enabled our team to accomplish more than ever before.   As technical leaders in the Church, whether you’re paid staff or “volunteer staff”, part of our role is to help our volunteers succeed in this ministry.  And when that happens, our entire body of believers reaps the benefits.  

What are ways you’ve found to help volunteer teams succeed?



Check out more great articles at churchtechleaders.org!

5 Things My Worship Pastor Wants Me to Know.

If you haven't read the previous post in this series, 5 Things I Want My Worship Pastor to Know, go do that now and then come back.

We're picking up with the rest of the content that my worship pastor, Bryan, and I shared at the Gurus of Tech conference in May.  While there are things that every worship pastor should know about their technical directors/volunteers, there are just as many thing that technical directors need to know about worship pastors.  Here are the five things that Bryan shared:

#1.  I need to trust you.

Character trumps competence every time - but trust in both are important.  I need to be able to trust that your intentions are the best, trust your ability, and trust that you have my back.  It creates a situation where an answer of "No" can actually be an invitation to discuss and learn. This can lead to new ideas and initiatives that will lead people to new or deeper life in Christ.

#2.  I need to have healthy conflict.

I need to have healthy conflict.  Create a win-win.  Tell me what you don't want to say - and tell me in love.  Don't email me. Don't allow what you cannot do to get in the way of what you CAN do. This leads to a culture where you spend time on the right stuff.  If you have conflict, do it privately. If, and only if, the conflict spills into the public - make sure people see the resolution.

#3.  Function trumps friendship in the short run.  Friendship trumps function for the long term.

Functionality is expected.  Friendship is considered icing on the cake.  Don't get me wrong, you have to function, but that alone will only work in the short term.   Developing a friendship will help you survive difficult times in ministry that might have destroyed your "working relationship."  An African proverb says, "If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together."  That's the situation we find ourselves in.  Worship and tech are completely interrelated and if we want to succeed in ministry in the long term, we need to start operating as friends, co-laborers, team mates, because we each have a stake in the success of the other.  Even if you work with a jerk, remember that you can only control your response and you will be held into account for how you respond in love.  You may win them over after all.

#4.  I need you to replace yourself.

This has everything to do with the success of your ministry in the long term and with enabling your ministry to achieve greater impact.  The fact is that you can't do everything alone.  There's just too much to do.  The ministry can't expand if you become the bottleneck to growth.  In different situations this may mean building into volunteers or training other staff members.  But its never a good thing when one person "holds the keys to the kingdom."  As a technical leader, there are times when you have to let go of control and enable others around you to step into the gap.


#5.  I'm intimidated by your world.

Many worship leaders may not admit it, but the world of tech arts can seem pretty daunting.  Shoot, it can seem daunting to techs.  I am intimidated by your world. I want to invite myself into your world more, but I won't unless you show me you're interested in mine first.  Be approachable and open about what you're working on and let me know about stuff that might pertain to what I do.  Strike up a conversation about a new piece of gear or ask me about something I'm working on.  When we each understand the each other's world, it allows us to collaborate more effectively and relate to the triumphs and struggles that we each experience.


Just like any good relationship, the Technical Director/Worship Leader relationship takes work and intentionality.  By thinking about the other person's needs and point of view, we can come alongside one another and achieve much more for the Kingdom together then we ever could alone.

5 Things I Want My Worship Pastor to Know.

A few months ago, my worship pastor and I had the privilege of speaking to a group of technical leaders at the Gurus of Tech conference in Chicago.  The title of our session was "Working Effectively with your Worship Pastor" and we shared just a little bit about how we've successfully structured our relationship in order to promote healthy interaction.  Unfortunately, the relationship between worship pastors and techs can be a strenuous one.   But with intentional relationship-building it can actually be one of the most effective collaborations in a church.  But in order to harness that potential, we need to work on understanding the other person.  Sounds simple, but its huge.

We organized our session into ten points:

5 Things Every Tech Director Wants Their Worship Pastor to Know

followed by

5 Things Every Worship Pastor Wants Their Tech Director to Know

See, its a two way street.  Effort is required on both sides.  Today we'll unpack the 5 topics from the Tech Directors side of things.

#1.  You can never share too much information when planning services.

This is important.  As technical artist, our job is to support whatever is happening on stage.  We amplify, clarify, and enhance.  In order to do that effectively we need to know what the goal is.  What is the mood, the message, impact?  Where are we going with this?  What is the next element and how do they tie together? What's the worship pastor's vision?  These details determine choices made in audio,  lighting, graphics, video, from what color palette to use to transition timings.  When the techs understand the end goal, effectiveness can increase exponentially.

#2.  I'm an artist too. Collaborate with me on more than just tech.

Some of you may be saying, "Yeah but I don't know anything about music."  Well guess what.  The congregation is filled with people just like you who don't "know" anything about music.  But they know what they like and they know what feels wrong to them.  They know what feels fluid and natural and they know what feels disjointed and incoherent.  The tech perspective is important.  The technical director is ideally positioned to be a part of the "art" conversation.  They are there every week, for every service, and also see the inner workings of the service.  What that conversation looks like will be different at every church, depending on your strengths, experiences, and (gasp) trust earned.  But more on that later.

#3.  The way you interact with me will be a model for the relationship between the music and tech volunteer teams.

Mutual respect and civility is imperative.  If you need to have a disagreement or discussion about something, do it when volunteers are not around.  Always present a unified front and demonstrate to volunteer musicians and techs that this is a team effort and everyone on the team is valued and respected. If the worship leader is berating or belittling or blaming with the tech director (or vice versa), that attitude will quickly spread.


#4.  I will do everything I can to serve you and your team.  That means that when I say "no",  its for a good reason.  

BUT, this is one that has to be earned.  As the technical director, its your job to support what the worship pastor is trying to accomplish.  That means finding solutions, thinking outside the box, getting creative, and getting it done!  If your first response is always no, then your no will never be respected.  You have to earn the right to say no.  If your worship pastor knows that you go out of your way, stay late, work overtime, and pretty much do whatever it takes to "make it happen", then he knows that when you say it can't be done or needs to be done a different way, you aren't just throwing in the towel.  At that point you've proven that you're a team player who is looking out for the best interests of the ministry.  Oh, and always bring a solution to the table...


#5.  Be up front with me about technical frustrations, needs, or dreams.  I want to help!

Since the goal is to serve, its important for me to know what the needs are.  If my worship pastor dreams of "X" stage configuration or "Y" hookup for his guitar, but he never tells me, I can't help him out.  Again, it seems simple but is often overlooked.  If an IEM mix is bad, I'd love to fix it!  But I have to know about it.  Don't just grin and bear it; that's not helpful to anyone.  Its important for the tech director to take the lead on this.  Go to your worship leader (and your band for that matter) and ask what you can do to improve their experience.  What else can you provide?  What can you change?  What would make their lives easier?  Sometimes its an easy fix and sometimes its something that has to be put in the budget for next year!  But the conversations must be had.


These are things that Bryan (my worship pastor) and I had to be intentional about from day 1.  And its always a work in progress.  But building that relationship and trust will open doors for your team to be more and more effective.

In my next post we'll look at 5 Things Every Worship Pastor Wants Their Tech Director to Know.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, but sometimes free is best

[by guest blogger Carrie Davidson]

At 9:00 am on a Tuesday, my normal routine is sitting in my climate-controlled cubicle and wrapping up my previous day’s work in the financial industry. Fortunately, my normal routine got a bit mixed up
on Tuesday, May 22nd at 9:00 am when I piled into a 15-passenger van/bus with 12 other tech-minded folks from Northeast Kansas. We were in for the long haul to Chicago to attend the 2012 Gurus of Tech conference at Willow Creek’s Crystal Lake campus. The mission of the Gurus conference is to give church tech staff and volunteers an opportunity to learn new skills, connect with Christian brothers and sisters who share skills and interests, relax, and return to our home churches feeling refreshed. Did I
mention that the conference is free?

Most of you have either been to a conference before or can imagine what one is like, so I won’t divulge
every single detail about the sessions, speakers, or schedule. In short, the conference was comprised of
three main sessions each day, featuring some superb keynote speakers, a time to worship, and last but
not least: games, nearly all of which resulted in some completely random prizes for the winners (i.e. an
alarm clock belt buckle, a bag of cotton candy). The main sessions were exciting, fun, and refreshing.
In addition to the main sessions, the conference featured a number of breakout sessions, which could
be attended at one’s leisure. In these sessions, speakers from various churches helped attendees build
upon their audio, video, lighting, and leadership skills. There were also a few product vendors on site to
highlight some of their super cool gear and rub shoulders with the conference attendees.

The conference filled my little nerdy brain with all sorts of great techy ideas and takeaways, but you
probably don’t want to hear about every single thing I learned or every geeky conversation I had. For
your reading pleasure, I’ll summarize my lessons learned by subject in the most concise manner I can.

Technical knowledge:

Being a light designer myself led me to attend every lighting class I could.
Personally, I am at a point where I aim to make my light programming faster and more efficient. The
lighting classes at Gurus of Tech emphasized that the purpose of lighting is visibility, composition of
form, revelation of select objects or areas of the stage, and to influence mood. If my primary aim is
to influence mood, then I am probably missing the most important part of lighting (and have perhaps
discovered the reason why lighting is so time consuming for me). Lesson learned: Go back to the basics; improve as a light designer by learning neighboring arts, reading trade magazines, and watching concert DVDs. Be more efficient by using tools that are perhaps a bit unorthodox, such as mannequin heads mounted on microphone stands. When it comes to designing sets, think outside the box. Use everyday materials like straws and plastic cups to help build an interesting set. And, oh yeah, pink foam might very well be the best friend of an engaging set design.

Spiritual applications:

One of the keynote speakers, Nancy Beach from the Sling Shot Group, touched
on a subject that I have rarely considered in my lifetime: honoring the Sabbath. For techies, this one’s
NOT easy. In addition to their responsibilities at church, many technical artists have full-time jobs and
families. But this doesn’t mean we should ignore the Sabbath altogether. It’s OK to start small. Perhaps
we can just set aside two or four hours on a Wednesday to stop doing all of the things on our to-do list
that we HAVE to do and spend time embracing that which gives us life. God rested after he created the
world so he could glory in His creation. Remember, techs are not the one-and-only exception to the 4 th
commandment!

Heart issues: 

1) Remember the job you signed up for and give as you have purposed in your heart, not
begrudgingly or under compulsion. Know that you will likely have some long nights working on projects or you will have some stuff go majorly wrong. When this happens, just brush it off and move on.

2) In ministry, relationships are of utmost importance. We serve so that we can bring Glory to God and grow His kingdom. There is no better way to do this than building genuine, Christ-like relationships with those around us.

3) Never underestimate the value of encouraging those we serve under. Be the first one to
reach out to your lead pastor and tell him that he’s doing a great job.

Refreshing/encouraging times: 

The best part of the main sessions was attending a big service and NOT being preoccupied with making the service run smoothly. Not one of the conference attendees thought
twice about making sure the slides appeared on the screen in the right order, making sure the keynote
speaker grabbed the correct microphone, or cuing the lighting sequences at just the right moment. Now
THAT was refreshing. The pinnacle of my conference experience occurred on the first evening when
I enjoyed a long acoustic worship time and communion. The only lights on in the auditorium were a
few simple face lights to accentuate the features of the three musicians on stage. It was an excellent
reminder that a big band illuminated by beautiful LEDs is not a prerequisite for genuine and meaningful
worship.

Fun:

It’s seriously fun to have the opportunity to get to know the people that you serve with every week
at church. Not to mention, it’s pretty cool to bond with tech people from other churches in your area.
How often can you start a conversation with “Screen sharing has eliminated the need for media servers”
or “The Jands is sooooooo much more intuitive than the SmartFade for novice light designers” and have someone actually listen to you? An eleven-hour car ride isn’t necessarily how anyone wants to spend a day, but with 8 laptops, 8 iPhones, and 3 wireless networks an eleven-hour car ride isn’t really a normal car ride. It’s a barrel of laughs, fellowship, and a whole lot of geeking out! And that’s OK when you’re going to and from a free tech conference. The adage “you get what you pay for” couldn’t be any further from the truth when referring to the Gurus of Tech conference.

What does it cost?

How many man-hours do you think go into a typical weekend service at TBC? 20 hours? 40? 70?

Our services are completely volunteer driven, which means that these people are giving up their time and energy to serve you and to serve God.  Lets break it down...

It takes 8 volunteers to run the technical systems each weekend and there are normally 8 people in the band.  On a weekend where the choir or orchestra are performing, there are 20 more people involved.  Then there are 3 vocalists leading in the Lower Auditorium.

Lets say 39 people.

31 of them have this schedule: 2 hours of Thursday rehearsal + 5 hours on Sunday mornings = 217
5 of them have this schedule: 5 hours on Sunday mornings = 25
3 of them have this schedule: 1 hour on Sunday morning = 3

Total hours = 245

That is the equivalent of 6 people working a 40 hour week and thats just counting the time the volunteers were physically in the building.  It doesn't include the hours of practice they do on their own time or the hours of work that Bryan and I invest each week.  If TBC were to pay even minimum wage for this work it would cost $1,776.25 each week and $92,365 each year.

We have incredible talent at TBC and I'm so thankful that so many great artists are willing to give their talent away to build the Church.  So thanks to all our Worship Arts volunteers for all the great work you do!

WFX Highlight Video 2011

*Edited by Carrie Davidson*

What a Non-Techy, Normal Person Learned at a Tech Conference

*A Guest Post by Carrie Davidson*

I’m not techy by nature. I don’t have a knack for understanding networks, audio systems, or anything that requires electricity. In my home, I delegate the operation and maintenance of items that have wires to my electrical engineer husband, Chris. Given my propensity to not understand technology, it was definitely a “God thing” that, about a year ago, I somehow ended up as a volunteer in the technical arts department at Topeka Bible Church. And by some additional miracle (or accident maybe?), I recently travelled to Dallas with a group of technical arts staff and volunteers from Topeka Bible Church and Fellowship Bible Church to attend a technical arts conference. What follows is a plain, simple, non-technical recap of the tidbits I gleaned from a few days at WFX.

My conference began with a tech leaders retreat intended to help tech leaders and laborers network, relax, and figure out ways to do our jobs more effectively. This part of the conference featured a panel of industry professionals who had some serious competence in the field of church technical arts. They spent time answering questions posed by the larger group as well as facilitating smaller group discussions on various topics including audio, video, lighting, burnout, and volunteers. At these sessions, I was introduced to a few helpful online resources (churchtechleaders.org and lightingtrainer.com). Most significantly, I came to understand that the technical arts department is a ministry to all the people in the church, as well as the staff and volunteers who comprise the department. And as a ministry, the calling of tech leaders goes beyond making all of the audio, video, and lighting in the church work. The main focus of a tech leader is to minister to their churches and teams, and that’s an exciting assignment. That’s the reason that I find technical arts so exciting and energizing; it’s not about the DMX protocol or the equipment, it’s about building the body of Christ!

The only thing I know about video cameras is how to turn one on (and even that little bit required some training). So I was really jumping into the conference with both feet when I began my Wednesday morning in a hands-on-training session taught by Anthony Coppedge called Directing a Live Production. I still don’t really know how to do anything other than turn on the camera, but I appreciated leaving the session with dozens of practical principles regarding video. Here are the highlights, as best as I can recall them:

Consider why you are doing video before you actually begin doing video. If you are not leveraging video to accomplish the purpose of your church, do NOT use video. It’s a major black hole for money and bad video is worse than no video.

It’s important to capture the heart of the worship experience and not just the beat and rhythm of the worship.

Define the terms that you are using (does wide angle mean zoomed all the way out or just zoomed out to the edge of the stage?)

Love your group, whether paid or volunteer. You will never get the results you are looking for if all you ever talk about is “I need a wide angle on camera 2.”

Good stewardship is less about how much you save and more about what you don’t waste.

Directly following my video class, I attended a session called Lighting, Stage Elements, Set Design, and Effects taught by Alex Castro. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE lighting. I love designing and executing a show, I love trying to figure out how lights work, and I love thinking of ways to program better. Lighting is definitely more up my alley than video or audio. I tell you this just so you understand that I thought that I would be learning about the technical side of lighting when I attended this lighting class. Instead, Alex Castro drilled home the fact those who are involved in building anything in the FOH (front of house) are called to do so, just as God called workmen to build the sanctuary in Exodus 36:1. As people who are chosen, God enables us through wisdom and experience to do excellent work and He equips us by providing the skills and resources needed to do His work. This was a valuable point to learn because it is a reminder that it is a privilege to do a job that brings the attention of the church to the altar of God. We should do so joyfully for an audience of One.

The keynote speakers focused on the purpose of using technology in worship. TBC’s purpose is to lead people to life in Christ, and it’s that very purpose that should drive the technology that we use as a church (not the other way around). Determining the technology we use involves classifying it as either necessary or helpful and to not confuse the two (this doesn’t mean that we can’t ever use helpful things). For example, in a 1,500 seat auditorium, a way to project sound is necessary. Having a video projection system is helpful. It’s the church that drives the technology, not the other way around.

When it comes to tech gear, I’m a little bit behind the times; hence, it was majorly great that a large part of my trip to Dallas was spent walking around the expo hall looking at gear. I had a wonderful time hearing about some really great new gear that my group found (example: Elation Platinum Spot 5R Pro Moving Head w/ CMY Color Mixing System) and discovering some cool technology that I thought was new but had been around for a long time (example: rear and short throw projectors). I even got to talk to the manufacturer of TBC’s lighting console (ETC’s Smartfade ML) and ask every question I could possibly think of. As an added bonus, I came home with some decent swag (some of which will possibly end up in my small group’s white elephant gift exchange)!

Last but not least, the most beneficial part of this conference for me was not the product demos or lecture sessions. It was getting to spend time getting to know the techs that I minister with on a regular basis. Like me, these are people who are passionate about serving in order to enhance the experience of everyone who walks through the same doors as I do each Sunday. Yeah, we had some good laughs (Bryan: I think we should go to the gas station. Cory: What do you mean? We just ate Mexican food; we ARE the gas station) and we talked geeky tech specs (Kaleb “The encoder on Citygate is really bad”), but most importantly, we grew together as a team. The technical arts ministry spans so far beyond pushing the right buttons and executing a flawless church service. It’s all about pouring into the lives of those we serve and those we serve with.

Simplify. Everything.

There comes a point in every ministry at which you need to revisit the things you are doing and clarify why you are doing them. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about why are we doing ministry at all, but rather asking about the nuts and bolts, hands-on methodology of the ministry. If your goal is to help kids grow in their faith, there are dozens of approaches you could take. In the tech world we have the same situation. If I want to provide a way for people to view the message from this past Sunday, I could take several approaches. As I've worked through these choices in various areas of the tech ministry, the theme that emerges is "simplify".

I recently had a conversation about this very thing with a volunteer who has been serving faithfully in tech arts at TBC for a many years. He mentioned that he was enjoying serving more now than ever before because his role was "simpler". Now that doesn't mean he sits around all morning with hardly anything to do. On the contrary, he has a job that keeps him busy from 7:45am to 12:15pm! Here's the difference. We've clarified the purpose of the job and we've removed any extraneous things that don't contribute to that purpose. This provides a focus and a simplicity that results in a better end product.

This idea of simplicity can apply to all areas of ministry. If you take time to define goals, then it becomes easier to see what things don't propel you towards those goals. This is especially helpful in areas that are largely staffed by volunteers. Volunteers are not staff. (Seems obvious right?) They are there to serve for a few hours and its the job of staff to equip them in order make the most of that time. By providing clear goals, a streamlined work environment, and by eliminating distracting responsibilities, staff can exponentially increases the return-on-investment of that volunteers valuable time. It also provides a much better experience for volunteers. I want my volunteers to feel like they've accomplished a goal and not to be frustrated or overwhelmed by having too many responsibilities (or in my world, too much gear to manage).

This process of simplification will look different for everyone but has universal benefits. You'll probably find that you save time and energy and that the quality of your end results improve. Win/win!

What's With All the Lights?

Wow, its been a while since I posted anything here. Easter has come and gone and now the pre-summer lull is almost over too. I knew if I didn't grab this chance to post, I probably wouldn't get around to it for a while.

Here at Topeka Bible Church we are blessed to have many talented and creative people volunteering their artistic talents for God's Kingdom. In many cases, we also have the privilege of providing them with the resources to do so. If you have been coming to TBC for more than 6 months, you'll notice that a lot has changed at TBC in a specific area of our worship services: Lighting.

Initially, this took the form of adding some simple color washes to the stage walls and dimming the house lights during music to minimize distraction and maximize the focus on whatever worship element was taking place. However, in the past two months, we have been able to expand our lighting capabilities to include a variety of very flexible light fixtures. These fixtures allow us to control the color, intensity, and in some cases the position and pattern of the lights. Our talented volunteer lighting operators have tackled this new system and done a great job using these tools as another artistic element in our services. But you may be asking, "Why? Whats with all the lights?"

This use of light in churches is really nothing new, it has simply changed form. For a thousand years architects have been creating churches that use stained glass to create amazing scenes of light and color, to remind people of the glory and beauty of God. In the even more distant past, God instructed the Israelites to create a beautiful and ornate Tabernacle (Exodus 25) and later on, an even more ornate and extraordinary Temple (1 Kings 6-7). Why does God command what is seemingly so opulent? It is because beauty and art esteem glory and value to God and point people to Him.

Lighting is a powerful tool. When used effectively, it can be used to convey joy, reflection, excitement, awe, etc. It can help focus attention and eliminate distraction. Its is also an art that adds beauty, depth, and creativity to a space. Humans are creative beings, made in the image of our great Creator. Creativity naturally inspires and moves us. That is what prompts composers to write breathtaking music, painters to create masterworks, and authors to formulate gripping prose and poetry. God is honored when we use these creative gifts in worship.

So why do we use creative lighting? We use creative lighting, along with compelling visuals, engaging media, excellent music, meaningful words, and carefully crafted teaching in order to do two things and two things only: 1.) to ascribe glory to our magnificent God and 2.) to communicate the Truth of the Gospel in order to lead people to life in Christ. All of those creative elements work together to present an engaging, cohesive, sometimes somber, sometimes inspiring environment where people can be encouraged to freely and authentically worship.

Feel free to chime in on the discussion. I welcome your comments!

5 Days Until Christmas Eve Services

Only five days left to prepare for that afternoon/evening of the year when churches have the largest crowds of the year (Easter may come in close). This can be a nerve racking service as well, when you start to think about all the people who will experience the Gospel message for the first time or experience your church for the first time. The desire to effectively and creatively communicate the most important message ever can understandably add to the stress of this already busy and hectic time of year. Those working in tech ministry are especially stretched, as we juggle Christmas productions, special outreach events, and special service days and times in addition to normal weekly duties. But, to put all this in perspective, this is one of the best opportunities we have all year to reach people for Christ. They are often open, they are coming to church for the first time since April, and they are often thinking about the meaning of the season.

So do put extra effort and creative work into your Christmas Eve productions. Do work on that special video or dramatic piece or extra stage element. But don't put so much faith in human efforts that you allow the details overwhelm the fact that God is the one who will bring all the elements together to work in hearts. I love for things to be perfect on the production and creative content end, so this is often hard for me. But we all have a great opportunity to be a part of what God is doing this Christmas season and I for one don't want to miss out because I was buried in worry over details.

Technology as Worship

As ministers of the Gospel who just happen to be involved in technology, it is critical that we remember the whole point of what we do. Technology is a tool that can clarify and present the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that people can connect with.  Graphics, sound, video, all of it is for nothing if the focus is on the technology and not on Christ.  As volunteers and staff involved in media ministry, we have to remember that our work in the church is worship.

The sound engineer and the graphics operator and the video guy are just as important as the worship leader on stage and are crucial in the presentation of the message of the Gospel. Tech can either be invisible, enhancing and supporting the service imperceptibly, or it can be a massive distraction, creating barriers in the service. This is the power that rests in the hands of tech volunteers, whether or not you or the congregation realizes it. When we grasp the seriousness of our role, our specific jobs take on a whole new importance as both worship and service. But remember, the technology should never distract from message.

For more on technology in worship, check out this article by Bob Rognlien...

A Fresh Start

Hey there! My name is Kaleb Wilcox and this is my new blog. Thanks for checking it out and hopefully you'll enjoy what you find here. We'll talk about all aspects of media, from audio and video, to lighting and photography; new gear, tips, advice, and encouragement all in one place.

As of July 12th my wife and I will be heading out to the great state of Kansas to begin serving at Topeka Bible Church. It will be a new experience for both of us. My role as Technical Arts Director promises to be filled with challenges and excitement I'm sure. I'll be posting thoughts, helpful info, useful readings, and other fun items here so keep checking up on this blog.