As Kofahl knew , Williams was an ideal choice to lead the charge . His career began in 1998 as a worship leader . He then became a recording artist and , in 2006 , helped plant a church in St . Louis . As Williams matured in his calling , he became a creative pastor and developed a passion to coach artists . After continuing to lead worship and helping to plant two more churches in Los Angeles , he was asked to join the team at Summit Integrated Systems . Given Williams ’ ministry background , moving into the integration space might seem like a leap . Yet , he says it actually doesn ’ t feel like he is working in a different space at all . “ Like the rest of our team , it ’ s not the gear or technology that wakes us up in the morning or brings fulfillment ,” he explains . “ It ’ s getting the opportunity to serve local churches all over America .”
A peek into the process All Summit TV content is produced for church leaders and their communities . Amazingly , a team of only three people produces each story . It starts with Zoom interviews , followed by creative meetings with the team , and then a half-day of shooting the interview . “ Because we never have a lot of time , [ we ] have to go in having done as much research as possible ,” Williams explains . “ After editing is final , the process normally takes about two months to complete from start to finish .” While production might be super streamlined , spend some time with one of their compelling stories and the impact is anything but small-scale . The team ’ s intent for the content is clear and effective : to , as Williams says , “ start conversations and allow the local church to be a part of presenting answers .” To this end , many pastors find unique value in the stories ’ ability to initiate important small group discussions or even to play during a service to support a message . Subjects for Summit TV stories emerge organically as the team travels and partners with churches to design AVL systems . Ideas are gathered and presented in creative team meetings . A follow-up with a discovery interview is then scheduled . “ And if we think there ’ s a story be told , we dive in ,” Williams says .
but how houses of worship can unintentionally create an environment where abuse can happen more easily than elsewhere . As evidenced in In Plain Sight , they contend that a big part of preventing child sexual abuse in the Church is understanding that the issue affects every congregation , whether a church body knows it or not . “ It is inevitable ,” Norris says . “ It ' s just a statistical probability .” As Love explains , this is because — even in the absence of known allegations at the church itself — every person in the congregation has likely either been abused themselves , is married to someone who has been abused , or has a child or friend who has endured abuse . Alarmingly , research shows 1 in 5 children will be sexually abused by age 18 . “ You have to talk about it before you can change anything ,” he adds . “ This is a topic that is going to be received , because it ' s being experienced .” Norris emphatically agrees : “ If there were any other subject matter that was impacting one-hundred percent of every congregation in such a prolific manner , it would be addressed repeatedly from the pulpit .” But acknowledging the problem is one thing — what does it look like to address it ? For starters , it requires dispelling common misconceptions about child sexual abuse . For instance , as Norris points out , many people ( especially in a trusted environment like the church ) are afraid to falsely accuse someone of sexual abuse .
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