FIRST IN LAST OUT
SAVE YOUR BEST ENERGY FOR WHAT YOU CAN’ T PREDICT | Todd Elliott
One of the biggest lessons I learned in ministry wasn’ t about audio, lighting, or production systems. It was about expectations.
Earlier in my ministry, I believed a successful production meeting meant walking away with every detail nailed down. If something changed during rehearsal, I assumed we’ d failed somewhere in the planning process. It didn’ t take long to realize church ministry simply doesn’ t work that way.
Unlike a concert tour that rehearses the same show for weeks, most churches are creating something new every weekend. Ideas evolve, and creative elements don’ t always feel right until they’ re experienced in the room. Sometimes the best solution doesn’ t reveal itself until rehearsal begins.
Eventually, I stopped expecting to know everything.
Instead, I adopted a simple mindset: we can probably know about 80 % of what’ s going to happen. The remaining 20 % simply isn’ t knowable yet. Ironically, accepting that reality made me far better prepared.
CHASE THE 80 % The 80 % isn’ t permission to wing it, it’ s the opposite.
If you know a graphic needs proofreading, proofread it before rehearsal. If your stage layout can be finalized on Thursday, don’ t wait until Sunday morning. If your input list can be completed ahead of time, finish it early.
Every task you complete before the weekend protects your team’ s attention for the problems that haven’ t shown up yet.
The danger isn’ t the unknown 20 %. The danger is creating another 20 % because we procrastinated on work that could have been finished days earlier.
MARGIN IS A MINISTRY TOOL Every ministry weekend brings surprises: A volunteer calls in sick, a speaker changes their notes. a video doesn’ t play or a microphone develops an issue five minutes before service.
Those moments require creativity, calm leadership, and clear thinking.
But if your team is already overwhelmed because they’ re still trying to finish Thursday’ s work on Sunday morning, they’ ve spent their capacity before the real challenges even arrive.
Margin isn’ t wasted time. It’ s reserved strength.
DON’ T BOX CREATIVITY IN This mindset changed something else for me: I stopped expecting the creative team to predict the future.
Production meetings became less about demanding certainty and more about understanding what everyone knew at that moment.
“ What do we know?”“ What are we still exploring?”“ What won’ t be clear until rehearsal?”
Those conversations built healthier collaboration because creative teams didn’ t feel pressured to promise answers they couldn’ t honestly give. We started from the same place instead of expecting impossible precision.
CAPACITY IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE Church technical artists are problem solvers. We naturally want every variable accounted for before the weekend begins. But ministry isn’ t manufacturing. It’ s living, breathing, collaborative work that changes as people create together.
The goal isn’ t to eliminate every surprise. The goal is to protect enough capacity that when the surprises come, your team has the energy, patience, and margin to handle them well.
Go after the 80 % with everything you’ ve got. Finish Thursday’ s work on Thursday.
Then walk into rehearsal ready for whatever the remaining 20 % brings.
Todd Elliott Todd is a writer, speaker, technical artist in the local church and Founder & President of FILO, which stands for First In, Last Out. FILO was born out of his own need as a technical artist in the local church to be in community with other church tech people, to learn new ways of doing things and to be inspired that what he did mattered. The more FILOtype people he met, the more convinced he was that these are things we all need. That’ s why FILO exists: to equip, encourage and inspire technical artists in the local church to become the best version of ourselves. Formerly the Technical Arts Director at Willow Creek Community Church, he started FILO in 2015 to help other technical artists become more effective so that the local church can be more effective.
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