This is also a good time for the tech team members to go on stage and hear what the musicians hear. Just make sure you let the worship leader know ahead of time.
For the tech team, practice time is also where rookies can get some much needed training. It’s also a good time to check your EQ settings and modify them without risk of making Sunday morning sound terrible.
I’ll leave you with this thought. If you knew Jesus was coming down in human form this Sunday to your church how much time would you devote to practice? Would it just be the amount of time you practice now?
Or would you spend every possible waking moment practicing and polishing to perfection the Sunday service?
Troubleshooting
If anything can go wrong with electronics, it usually happens at the worst possible time!
Stuff happens, and how we deal with it—both during the event and after—define our ministry walk. No one likes sullen, yelling people, and as a ministry, there’s no room for it.
Here are some rules that I’ve lived by over the years:
1) Have a sense of humor. Take what you do seriously but don’t take yourself seriously.
2) Any complaints from the congregation or anyone outside the tech team is handled by the complaint department (me). I make it clear to the pastors and the worship team that if anyone has a complaint or suggestion, that as the technical lead, it’s my responsibility to deal with it with my team.
3) Reprimand in private, praise publicly.
4) Always ask what you could do better for next week. Don’t be content to rest on your laurels.
5) Have a quick after-service meeting with your team to see if they had any issues. If you did—and they didn’t—then it’s time for some training.
6) At the next week’s planning meeting, go over any issues with all parties involved.
7) If any equipment failed, take it out of service, mark it inoperable, and either get it fixed, replace it, or throw it away.
8) Praise your team often and publicly.
9) roubleshoot quickly and quietly. Give yourself and your team a definite and limited amount of time to resolve the issue. In the meantime, think about what plan B is going to be. Unless there’s smoke coming out the mixer, there’s no reason to run around with a panicked look on your face in front of the congregation.
10. Remember, the tech team ministry is unique. We have the ability to impact the entire congregation, either positively or negatively. While a musician can miss a note and no one will probably notice, if we miss a cue to turn on a mic or play a video, everyone notices. We are the invisible ministry. If we do our jobs correctly, no one should ever be aware that we’re doing anything.
11) Don’t do anything that will make the entire congregation turn around and stare at you.
12) When in doubt, refer to rule number 1.
I hope this gets you thinking about how much time and effort is worth putting in to get the worship experience to be totally transparent. I’ve intertwined the worship team and the technical team together because they are inseparable. They function together as a symbiotic relationship.
Brian Gowing has helped more than 30 churches meet their technology requirements. He works towards shepherding the church, analyzing their technical requirements, sourcing the equipment, installing the equipment and training the volunteer personnel. As he likes to say, “equipping the saints with technology to help spread the Good News.” Contact Brian here.