Dear Tech Team: Confessions Of A “Luddite” Pastor

Reminder: lots of people can learn tech but not everyone is a joy to work with. (You know pastors who fit the same description. I hope it’s not me, I’ve heard I can be overbearing but delightful. Oh Lord, this confession is going off the rails. Save Us, Tech Team!)

Be a person you’d want to be on a team with. Being authentic, kind, constructive with feedback, consistent, and open minded about receiving feedback goes much further than you might think. And humility – it’s likely you know a heck of a lot more than most of the people around you… and we know it, too.

Church, Meet Tech

Friends, here’s the truth: Help me help you. I recognize my Luddite tendencies put your team at a disadvantage as they are forced to compensate for my lack of knowledge while simultaneously doing their jobs flawlessly. Wouldn’t it be great if tech and leadership collaborated more so that pastors could help to equip and assist their tech teams in meaningful ways?

Bring the leaders more fully into tech. Make it a point to mentor your worship leaders in simple ways they can alleviate your teams, like simple a/v tasks. Have bi-annual mentoring meetings to discuss the latest tech that will be informing your community’s worship experience. Maybe even allow those pastors to pastor you through tough experiences – it’s OK to see us as professionals (we are), and most of us love to help people. At the end of the day, we are all doing our best to answer God’s call together.

In short, build meaningful professional relationships, and don’t be afraid to allow the personal in from time to time. A little well-timed vulnerability (with respect to proper boundaries) can be the catalyst for New Life. And that is what we in the church space are all about.

Pray. Pray solo and pray together as a team. As a pastor and worship leader, I try to make time to pray with my worship team before we begin to lead, but often I’m pulled in so many directions that I skip this step. We can take for granted how much prayer rounds, centers, and connects us. Praying together as a team prioritizes relationships with God and each other, which ultimately says more about who we are than a flawless worship service does.

Engage in some personal reflection. Ask yourself how you see God in your work. How do you see God moving in tech, and where do you see this trajectory going? How was God present in tech before the digital age? Before the machine age? How can you live into your gifts for ministry through your unique skills as a steward of technology?

Finally, a humble word of wisdom from this Luddite pastor: take a few minutes a day to put your phone down and just…be. If that’s too long, start with a few seconds – three deep breaths can change everything. Close your eyes, breathe in and out, and experience the in-between space of what has been and what is yet to come.

Can I get an amen?