FIRST IN LAST OUT
WHEN YOUR PASTOR SEES YOU , HOW DO THEY FEEL ? | Todd Elliott
When I was 16 and serving in my church , I loved being back at front of house making the music sound amazing . As a teenage volunteer , I wasn ’ t there every week and in the summertime , there were a bunch of weekends that I was on vacation . When I would get back behind the console after being gone for a while , I had so many people come up to me and say , “ Thank God you ’ re back !” It didn ’ t make a ton of sense to me at the time , and I would just wonder what happened last week that could have been so bad that you ’ re so glad to see me ?
One thing I thought was that maybe the other people on the team weren ’ t up to the task . I was just so much better than them . But upon reflection , I was pretty confident that that wasn ’ t the case . I was good , but not that much better than anyone else . And problems were happening on the weekends I was there , so it wasn ’ t like my weekends were flawless .
The more I thought about it and have reflected on it over the years , it was more about how I responded to the problems that came up . When the people on the platform looked back at FOH , they had a sense of relief that things were going to be OK , that I would be able to take care of whatever was going on . It didn ’ t mean that bad things wouldn ’ t happen , but that they would be handled .
When your pastor looks back and sees you in the booth , what are they thinking about you ? Are they relieved to see you or are they wondering if everything will be OK ?
One of the best ways we can support our leaders on the platform is a sense that you have stuff covered . The question is , how can we do that ?
BE VISIBLE When something unplanned happens in a service , become visible so that the person on stage can see you and that you know something happened . When someone is on the platform and they know something isn ’ t happening correctly , it is helpful to see that someone else noticed and that they can stop wondering about it . It has become my knee jerk reaction to stand up as soon as I know that something just happened to become visible .
The other helpful time to be visible is when there is a transition or a question on what ’ s going to happen next . If someone is about to call for a video , I stand . If someone is confused about what ’ s next , I stand up . I want to be the focal point for people on stage who have questions . If they can see me dialed into what is going on , then they can know they aren ’ t alone on stage .
FOLLOW UP After the service , communicate about what happened and what you plan to do about it . This shouldn ’ t involve shrugging your shoulders or pointing out why you need new gear . This should be about immediate solutions … what are we going to do before the next service .
Even if you don ’ t know exactly what happened or what you ’ re going to do about it , it is important to let people know that you know something didn ’ t work and that you ’ re going to do your best to figure it out before the next service . I used to have the luxury of having a Saturday night service , so I had 12 hours or more to figure out a solution . For many , there is only 30 minutes to work something out until the next service , so it is important to have a workaround plan until there is time to really dig into the long-term fix . Communicate all this .
It is so important to get everybody on the same page and agree on how to move forward . It might mean an easy solution . It could also mean a compromise . But one that everyone agrees to and adjusts to . Everybody understanding the plan going into the next service is key .
REMAIN CALM As adjustments are made and solutions figured out , it is important to remain calm . Nobody needs to see you panic . That ’ s not helping anything . Especially if you ’ re visible , watching you lose your bananas doesn ’ t help build confidence . Very rarely is panic the right solution to any problem . It isn ’ t going to speed things up or help you solve the problem sooner . It is also vital to solve problems with intensity . It is key for people to feel the reality of how important it is to come up with a solution . But it is also important to show calmness . Calm intensity will help to build trust between the people on the platform and you as a leader at the back of the room .
And frankly trust is the correct answer for what your pastor feels when they see you at the back of the room . If you answered the question differently , it is important to develop a new way to begin to establish a trusting relationship .
Todd Elliott Todd is a writer , speaker , technical artist in the local church and founder 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 FILO-type 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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104 September 2024 Subscribe for Free ...