Pastor John Williams Leading Worship
EARLY REFLECTIONS everyone’s requirements… his decisions have I am one of the world’s biggest proponents
New people, especially sound techs tend to be reflected that, because that’s where he lives. of not just using Planning Center Online, but
far more aware of what is happening around
harnessing it. I’m also a big fan of actually
them than they tend to let on. If they’ve been In addition to leading the worship team, he printing out the service plan to give sound
hurt at Church in the past, they notice when also heads up the audio-technical team, which teams a script to mix by, dramatically reducing
our words and our actions line up, and when means that if something’s not working on either mixed cues. Setting the team up for success
they don’t. In turn, these are cues for whether a side of the platform, he’s likely to hear about is key and if you take a look at the photo
Church can really walk its talk. it from both. Having a leader who is capable captioned ‘Mixing with PCO’ you’ll see a PCO
of leading both sides of the platform has other run sheet nestled in the upper left corner of the
significant implications and benefits. Allen & Heath console. Again, this kind of smart
IN THE MIX
A Church’s culture also influences who they hire
thinking sets teams up for success, diminishes
and why. You might have heard me mention Leaders tend to replicate themselves, so hiring the chances sound techs will get shamed from
that Churches tend to hire three main types of someone like John is an uber-smart pastoral the platform for missing a cue, and speaks to a
Worship Pastors/Creative Arts Directors: those move on several fronts. By the nature of his ‘let’s do this together culture’!
who a great at leading worship, those who are role, John has to serve everyone he works with great at shepherding a team, and those who and chances are the people who rise to the top BLAST FROM THE PAST
have a draw because of their name. Pastor under his leadership share those values, which As I mentioned before, prior to becoming Action
John Williams, Action Church’s Music Director gets us back to vision and culture. A visionary Church’s Musical Director, Pastor John Williams
brings an entirely different skill set to the table. leader knows that culture never sleeps and if worked on both the install and mix side of the
Not only has John been on the professional you’re not stoking it with renewed vision and live sound equation. In doing so he racked up
install side of the live sound equation, he’s great leadership, like weeds it can and will take a lot of experience that factored into why he
also mixed sets for acts as diverse as Sir your garden, even with the best of intentions. selected Allen & Heath from the get go. Trust
Paul McCartney and Israel Houghton. From
the platform to front-of-house, John knows
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me, when you see a team with a PCO print out
SIGNS AND WONDERS
November 2018
on the mixing desk, this is a team that is always
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