I find an increasing trend is occurring in the smaller church arena. 

The sound guy is no longer just the sound guy.  As video projection has become very affordable, the sound guy is now also the “PowerPoint” guy. 

This person (let’s call him the AV guy) has to not only be concern about the quality of the mix, but also whether the right words to a song are on the projection screen.

What has happened is the expectation for great music and production has pushed all the way down to small churches.

I’ve found that the large “mega” churches have multiple people on staff to handle all of the technical production elements.  These churches also seem very willing to contract (pay) outside professionals to “make church happen”.

The midsized church (500-1500) has moved to multiple volunteers that handle different disciplines of the technical area (sound, lighting, and video) and will have a technical director (sometimes paid, sometime not) that oversees all of the production elements. 

This technical director will make sure all of the volunteers are scheduled and also trained on equipment.  Additional responsibilities often include making sure that the equipment is in working order and acting as technical producer for worship services.

Many of the parishioners of the small church (500 or less) have attended a worship service or production at a mega or mid-sized church and thus the expectation level is raised.  That expectation rightly or not is then placed on the church sound operator, now the AV guy.

This AV guy must now not only make sure that everything is working properly; he also has to execute operation at the level of the larger churches that have full time staff.  This is obviously not an easy task as he is a one man band and usually working with inferior equipment.

Is it fair that parishioners of a small church expect the same quality of production as they have seen at a larger church?  I believe that on a certain level the answer is yes. 

Now I am not talking about production elements like moving lights, slick pre produced videos and the such.  Rather, I am talking about delivering excellence.

For the sake of this discussion, excellence is doing the best you can with what you have, every chance you get.

For the small church this could mean that the sound guy shows up and sets up ahead of time, rehearses with the musicians, has a great attitude and pays attention during the entire service.

The sound guy would also be responsible for making sure that the system is functioning properly during the week, and getting it professionally serviced if not.  Most importantly, an additional volunteer would need to be recruited to run the lyrics or “PowerPoint”.

These actions should lead to a worship service that is free from distractions throughout a service such as pops, clicks or hum. However, a part of these actions is ensuring that every time a microphone is to be used it is turned on and ready to go, thus helping to eliminate feedback during the service.

So, what does all this mean for your church? If you’re keeping score, how many of our “lofty” expectations are your technical ministry hitting? Are you delivering excellence?

I often tell people that I am not the best sound engineer out there; in fact I have heard many mixes put together that sound better than mine. 

But, I have had many opportunities that others have not based on the fact that I usually don’t miss cue’s (all the right mics are on at the right time) or have any feedback (I know the limits of the system). 

A good solid, consistent mix will win over a great mix where cues are missed and feedback occurs.

So for the small, medium sized and mega church the standard should be a good solid technical performance completely free of distractions!

Have some advice to add? Feel free to let me know in the comments below!

 
Gary Zandstra is a professional AV systems integrator with Parkway Electric and has been involved with sound at his church for more than 25 years.