LIGHTING Sheldon Peterson
[ WM ] Tell us about how you got started in the lighting side of church?
[ Sheldon Peterson ] I started as a volunteer at age 14 at my local church, which happened to be one of the Southeast Christian Church campuses. I jumped into youth ministry production, running ProPresenter and audio at first, but moved into lighting when there was a need. I quickly fell in love with programming and creating immersive environments, and I’ ve been doing it ever since!
[ WM ] Who were your main lighting mentors?
[ Sheldon ] Daniel Smallbone with for King & Country has been a huge influence. I’ ve known Daniel for over 12 years, and he’ s been incredibly generous with his time— answering my many questions about creative design, touring, and lighting, and helping shape me into the designer I am today.
Brad Bramer, our Executive Producer at Southeast, has also been instrumental. His keen creative eye and attention to detail have helped me grow, especially in how lighting works in a streaming context. He’ s always encouraged me to keep pushing the envelope with my designs and programming.
[ WM ] Have you attended training conferences? If so, tell us about them.
[ Sheldon ] I haven’ t attended formal training conferences, but I’ m always learning on the job and through mentors.
[ WM ] How did your role at Southeast Christian Church in Kentucky come about?
[ Sheldon ] In 2018, I was brought in to fill the role of lighting programmer for Southeast’ s Christmas Together program at the main campus. At that time, the Lead Lighting Director position was open, and through working with the team during that event, they encouraged me to apply. I officially joined the staff in January
2019 and have been here ever since!
[ WM ] Do you train other members on your tech teams? What is your approach to that? How is your team structured with volunteer and paid staff?
[ Sheldon ] Historically, lighting has been handled entirely by paid staff, but over the past 3 – 4 years we’ ve made a point to incorporate and develop volunteers. I’ m currently mentoring two of them. As the Lead Lighting Director, it’ s my responsibility to ensure everything is fully programmed and laid out so they can step in and operate with confidence.
My approach begins by having them shadow for a weekend while I explain the basics of the console and how to execute the lighting for each song. From there, we gradually dig deeper into the console, working through programming changes and updates together as they arise. This helps them build both skill and confidence, so that over time they’ re able to take the reins and run the system on their own.
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