FIRST IN LAST OUT
WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU DO ? | Todd Elliott
How ’ s everyone doing ? If you ’ re like most churches , you ’ re probably through the busy “ back to school ” season and have started working on Christmas !
This reminded me of a conversation I had while recording a livestream conversation last month . One of the questions I was asked was about the disparity between what a church pays a production person versus what the industry pays . I didn ’ t have a great answer , because there isn ’ t a clear-cut answer . But what it got me talking about was the fact that nobody in our church really understands what you and I do . We are like the auto mechanic . You take your car to the mechanic when it needs to have work done . You don ’ t exactly know what ’ s involved , you just pay for the work and drive away in a working vehicle .
For people attending our churches and the nontechnical people that we work with , they just know that services happen . Mics are on . Lights are aimed . The graphics are on the screen . But nobody really understands how . Some of that comes from the fact that we were designed for production , so we get it ; and other people were designed for something else that we don ’ t get . On another hand , we don ’ t really talk much about what it takes or what is involved ... we just want to get the work done . Stay under the radar . Leave me alone to get it done .
As the busy holiday season ramps up , I would encourage everyone reading this in church production to not just suck it up as the work piles up . Be in contact with your leadership to let them know what it takes to pull off the new ideas this winter . Help them understand the costs of what they are asking of you and your team .
Suggestion : this can ’ t just be a statement like , “ We can ’ t do that ” or “ I ’ m already working too much ”. Since people don ’ t know what you do in the first place , vague statements like this don ’ t help your case . It is important for you to have some data at your disposal that makes sense to the non-technical people on your leadership team .
Before too much time goes by , consider keeping track of your hours and how you spend them . Try documenting each 15-minute increment for a couple of weeks . I know that this sounds like one more thing to add to your already busy plate , but getting a handle on where all the time goes will help you make a case for what you can and can ’ t take on . For me , it helped to figure out what I could accomplish in a “ normal ” week , so that I could adequately gage new ideas against the regular workload of an average week . It also helped my leadership understand a little more about where the hours went and sometimes helped to redirect some of my attention away from non-essential tasks to more critical functions .
While your leadership might not ever totally get your job , you can leverage their leadership to help make better decisions on how and where to spend your time .
“ I can take on X , if you can help me decide what to not do this week ... or help me figure out how to get the task done a different way .”
Todd Elliott Writer , speaker , technical artist in the local church and founder of FILO . 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 . In his free time he enjoys being inspired by Winston Churchill speeches and visiting the gravesites of U . S . presidents . Residing near Chicago , he and his wife Bissy have three kids and a dog ... none of whom are into production . filo . org
What is FILO ? FILO ( First In Last Out ) is for technical artists who serve the local church , designed to provide skill development , community and inspiration to equip technical artists to become effective contributors to their local church .
When we ’ re more effective , the church is more effective . Whether volunteer or staff , FILO aims to provide skill development , community and inspiration to help equip technical artists to become effective contributors to their local church . FILO is a combination of the FILO Conference , FILO Blog , FILO Podcast , and personalized FILO Coaching .