[This is part of the “Tech the Halls” series. Be sure to read: Let’s Be Thankful, Giving Thanks for Lay-People and Giving Thanks for Pastors.]
The holidays equal stress, especially at church, right?
No one’s shocked, I’m sure.
So what’s a great to combat this stress?
Having fun!
But how do we have fun as a tech team? How do we make our work more fun and exciting during this stressful holiday season? Here are a few ways:
Decorate the A/V Booth
Match the beauty of your blinking LED sound level indicators with a bunch of gaudy, yet adorable Christmas lights. Get a stuffed turkey to hang around for the month of November. Find a tiny, Christmas tree (Charlie Brown style, if you like) to enhance the atmosphere. Make your team wear Santa hats or elf ears. Be silly. It’s ok; God created humor. He’ll appreciate the joy and fun you’re having.
Celebrate Together
Why does it sound so novel, so unheard of to have a tech team Christmas party? This is an area of church ministry that has bred isolation for its workers for far too long. Have a party. Play some games. Give white elephant gifts. Eat some food. A lot of food. Celebrate the arrival of Christ as church tech family. You’ll feel closer, more unified, and it will make you a better team throughout the coming new year.
Make Church Fun
What does your church play, music-wise, before the service starts? Our church moves from streaming the area Christian radio station and a selection of current praise and worship songs that our worship team is currently learning. Instead of the usual, throw down some awesome Christmas music—but only after Thanksgiving, if you please! And skip the Kenny G album. Find some classic Christmas songs that have been covered by current Christian artists. Mix up the styles, as well. Play high-energy, fun songs that truly communicate the joy and beauty of the holiday season. Basically, spread the fun! Ask your pastor and janitorial staff first and if they give the go ahead, drop fake snow from the sound booth—if it’s elevated—onto the crowd below during your Christmas carol service.
Take the fun to the Internet, too. If you’re in charge of the church site, why not install a plugin, if your site is powered by WordPress, like Let It Snow? Post the opening lines to Christmas carols on social media sites and offer a prize for the first person to finish the line. I don’t know how better to say this than to just say, “Have fun!”
Bless Another Church
This one might be a bitter tougher to imagine and/or execute depending on your church and your community’s culture, but what would better communicate “peace on earth” to your community than to see one church help another? We Christians are not usually known for our “team spirit” when it comes to helping the “competition” across town. This is a shame. We ought to live as members of a larger family, God’s family. So, to start redeeming the reputation of the Church in your town, why not get your tech team together and dream of how to bless another church in your community? Why not—with your pastor’s permission—donate some older but still functional equipment to a church that would be blessed to have it. Even better, raise some money to buy them some new equipment. If you’re church can’t swing that bat all by itself, why not see if another church that’s about your size would team up to bless a smaller one? We all know that it’s better—and way more fun—to give than to receive, so why not apply that to your tech team?
The point is to find ways to make the holidays fun. Between Christmas programs, practices, and midnight services, you’re tech team may very well be seeing a lot of each other before the year is out. Make the best of that time, and you’ll see your team grow as a result.
What does your tech team do to have fun during the holidays?
Speak your mind...