Serving in church media, tech, or production is one of the most important responsibilities in making Sunday services possible. This job is not about just being a button-pusher; it’s about helping people experience Jesus by creating a distraction-free environment that equips them for participation in worship and teaching. You are setting the stage, both literally and figuratively, for people to hear the gospel of Jesus, maybe for the first time ever.
Whether you are a one-man crew or have a team full of staff/volunteers, here are three important rules to live by when you are serving in this area of ministry.
1. Honor Your Leader’s Vision
It is of the utmost importance to honor the vision of your church’s leadership. It can be tempting to chase every new church media trend that pops on Instagram, but this can go off-vision fast. Before making new plans or trying new ideas, ask yourself if this helps to accomplish the goals of the house. Will this help to take your church where your leadership is trying to take it? Will this help your pastor carry out his vision for this season? A church media team that looks great but doesn’t follow the vision of its leaders isn’t great at all.
It’s also important to note that what works in other churches may not necessarily work in your specific community. Before implementing new styles in graphics, screen visuals, social media strategies, etc., ask if this fits with the people that you are trying to reach. Does this reflect the personality of your church and leadership well? If you’re not sure, it never hurts to take the time to ask.
2. Be Ready To Respond
When you’re running the lyrics, video, lights, or sound, you have one of the most important roles on a Sunday morning. Quite literally, no one can see if you don’t turn the lights on. No one can hear the pastor if you don’t unmute the microphone. And, let’s be honest, many people wouldn’t be able to sing along without the lyrics on the screen.
With this much on the line, it’s important to be prepared. The best way to do this is to review the entire order of service, and even more importantly, have a practice run beforehand. This ensures that everything is tested before you have an audience in the seats. Even if you can only run through your specific tasks, it’s better than nothing.
During service, it’s important to be focused on the worship leader, pastor, and anyone else leading a particular section of the service. Watch and listen to any cues that may hint that they are going off-script. You must be able to go with the flow and have a protocol on what to do in times of spontaneous or off-script moments.
3. Serve With Excellence
Serving with excellence doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect. When you are serving with excellence, you are simply striving to give God your best in your area. A few ways to serve with excellence would be by preparing for the service ahead of time, show up to call-time early, working well with others, and staying positive.
Serving with excellence goes beyond the Sunday service, though. You could also strive for excellence by answering scheduling request emails immediately, improving your skills through videos, podcasts and books, or taking care of equipment as if it were your own.
Bonus: Connect With Others Like You
A great way to continue growing in church media is to get connected to other media teams like yours is by joining our Facebook Group filled with over 35,000 church tech leaders and volunteers who are facing the same challenges as you. We encourage you to join our group and share your experience with others. We think you’ll be surprised by how many others are like you and have advice to share.
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