Being a church tech can be a lonely, thankless job. (Maybe not as lonely or as thankless of job as pastor, but pretty close.)
No one notices you when you succeed, but everyone sees when you fail. You never get complemented when the worship service sounds good, but you always get blamed when it sounds bad. On any given Sunday, a missionary can pop up out of nowhere, and you’re expected to take his seven-year old presentation work seamlessly with the brand new presentation software that the church just invested in.
What a job!
Of course, it isn’t always just uninitiated non-techs who cast a derisive glance at us: sometimes, we do it to each other! Admit it, volunteer techs, you often dream of the cushy life of a “professional” church tech, whose unlimited budget could solve all of your problems. And you pro techs, don’t act like you’ve never wished you were just a volunteer, free of the pressure of producing a “perfect” worship experience.
Let’s put our differences and our budgets aside and see what we can learn from each other. To that end, I thought it would be cool to ask some questions from some volunteer techs and a pro tech to see the pro’s and con’s of both sides.
We’ll start with the professional.
The Professional Church Tech [Part 1]
Matt Drury is a Technical Director with Willow Creek Community Church’s North Shore campus and has been for three years, having served Willow Creek as a whole—both as a staff member and intern—for five years. I’ve known Matt since fourth grade (almost nineteen years!), and he is easily one of the smartest people I know.
What are some of the biggest obstacles you face as a church tech?
I think the most important thing a church tech must know is the goal of the church leadership as it pertains to tech. While professional grade production equipment is by far the most expensive items a church will ever buy (except for maybe a building), a larger budget will be approved when production is important to the church body and leadership. I could spend $10k today on 4 intelligent lighting fixtures, but if I work for a church that doesn’t want any creative color on stage or any moving effects, it’s a complete waste of money and will probably never get approved. However, as I understand the production level my leadership expects, I can plan purchases/upgrades around these targets and even raise the production level to exceed their expectations while still not being told “That’s too much.”
What—if any—new areas of technology are you wanting to add to your church’s repertoire?
We’ve dabbled in a few technologies on an infrequent basis that I think have potential for a permanent installation. The biggest has to do with video projection as a function of lighting & stage design. When you’re projecting abstract designs instead of precise text or live video, you don’t have to worry about a perfect projection surface, which means you can project ANYWHERE! So shooting those designs in certain places can give a lot more interesting visuals than basic lighting can do. My guess is that it’s a few years down the road before that becomes priority enough to offset the costs. Other technologies would just be building on top of what we already have. I’m constantly researching more LED-based lighting fixtures to get more color lighting around our stage. These fixtures provide excellent colors with lower power consumption, heat dissipation, and maintenance than conventional fixtures. I will NEVER have enough of these fixtures. Our audio system is pretty solid. My next big technology would be a plugin-based effects rack called Waves. It allows you to use software plugins as processors for a channel of audio. I’ve heard this can greatly increase the quality of vocals, instruments, and pretty much anything you put through it. I’ll probably be adding that next year. And finally I’m always ready to upgrade our cameras and video system to HD. It’s a major cost barrier and not something you can easily phase in.
In the meantime, weigh-in!
Are you a pro and volunteer Church tech?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
[Image via mikael altemark]
Margo, Children's Ministry Academy says
What an interesting blog post! I try my best to show all the people who work for the church that I appreciate what they do—including the church technicians. I plan on forwarding this blog post to all the staff of my church, with the emphasis that we all play important roles in the church—and we all deserve recognition!
Phil Schneider says
Wow! Thanks, Margo. Glad you enjoyed the post! And I’m sure that your church techs are glad that you appreciate them.