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.

TBC Stage Design on CSDI

Check out TBC's latest set design at ChurchStageDesignIdeas.  Thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen! It seems like just yesterday that this set went up, but our next one is just around the corner! Make sure to check out the other great stage designs at ChurchStageDesignIdeas.

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.

Video World: Before and After

It's been 4 months since we overhauled our video system at TBC and since then we've been firing on all cylinders!  Our volunteers have been rapidly gaining experience and confidence on the gear and the video all over our campus has never looked better.  I thought it would be fun to post some "before and after" photos of the video booth, as well as of our video capture quality. 

This is before - 

Here's the makeover in progress -

And here's what the finished product looks like -

Now for the results of this makeover...

This is footage from our old video system, taken in 2009.

This is footage shot in 2011 with the same old equipment as the first picture. However, with some improved techniques, we're able to end up with a better end product.

This is footage shot in the past month with our new gear.  Dramatic difference, right?