TECH TEAM
TECH TEAM HEALTH : INSIDE THE BUBBLE MACHINE | Kent Morris
Being on staff at a church is a complex , multidimensional role designed less for idealists than realists . While ministry is always the overarching goal , what defines and constitutes ministry is not immutable . For a mega church with ten paid tech staff , the purest ministry position may be the admin who handles the schedule and has firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing each tech . With a front-row seat to the action , the admin probably has more insight than the tech director or executive pastor regarding which tech is hurting , which one has a family crisis and which one is considering quitting . From that vantage point , the challenges are clear and present ; but the solutions less so . Here are some thoughts on how to move forward when the ministry need is within the team .
Churches operate in a bubble of their own making . When a senior pastor has a vision for an outdoor ministry night at the local city park , he seldom has the background to comprehend and ascertain the resources necessary to make it happen . Since the tech crew is usually left out of the conversation until after the decision to proceed has been made , any verbalization of caution or requirement list is seen as undermining the ministry vision at hand . By creating an environment where “ the pastor needs this to happen ” rules the day , the tech team is constantly scrambling to travel one hundred miles on a gallon of gas .
There are two options for response to this scenario : work to change the culture or learn to live with it . Senior TDs typically have scars to show their efforts at reforming an entrenched church culture to accommodate preplanning and resource allocation . Occasionally , they are successful , but most of the time , they are simply too exhausted to heft the armor once again for what is inevitably a lost cause . A tangent here is to learn from previous encounters and proactively set aside funds for wireless mic rentals at Christmas and hazers at Easter . With some forethought , it is then easier to say “ yes ” without promising the impossible . Church culture does change ; it just does so at glacial speed .
To the second option of learning to live with it , the point of success is not changing the culture , but changing our reaction to it . Creatives will never systematically lay out a stage plot and input list plus lighting points . They simply do not function that way . They will scribble notes and give vague descriptions ; our job it to translate their hieroglyphics into English . Strive to think as they do and seek to understand their origin and destination points . Instead of giving up and resigning to a life unfulfilled , become a valuable ancillary who speaks into their chaos with calm reassurance .
Church bubbles , as is true with all bubbles , eventually pop ; that is , they implode under their own weight . A wise tech knows to remain close , but not attached to the bubble . Usually , the leadership team either gets too far ahead of the congregation , has some catastrophic failure or develops hubris and alienates themselves from those they are serving .
Do not be drawn into the green room with its cool lighting and esoteric Fiji water bottles . Stay in the harsh fluorescent lighting of the workbench with its crinkly and cheap storebranded water bottles that are refilled at the kitchen sink . Never believe our role is essential to God ’ s plan . He was doing fine before we arrived and will continue to do so long after we are gone . Be the unadorned 1971 Frigidaire refrigerator in harvest gold with fixed metal shelves that has run continuously and without complaint for the past half century and will outlast the latest $ 5000 mega-fridge with translucent doors and Internet connectivity
by decades .
Lastly , stay the course . You only get to quit once , then what ? You can ’ t sit in your current church knowing you could fix things . You can ’ t go to another church because they will find out who you are and have you start fixing things . You can ’ t stop going to church because then you don ’ t get to fix things and you become a backslider and a generally miserable person . No one wants to be around a grumpy former church tech . So , just grow where you are planted . In a difficult situation , eventually , the current regime will change its heart or will be changed out by senior leadership . Everything aside from the human soul and the Word of God is temporary , meaning it ends , so stick it out and cross the finish line .
Kent Morris Kent is a 40-year veteran of the AVL arena driven by passion for excellence tempered by the knowledge digital is a temporary state .