Serving in the church in the AVL World is often a thankless job. In fact, many tech team members and volunteers serve in the tech area because they don’t want to be seen. But, we have those moments where we push the wrong button, slide the wrong fader, or cause some other distraction in worship. We can’t eliminate every issue, but we can work to reduce them as much as possible.

Do Everything With Excellence

The first thing we have to do is follow Colossians 3:23 (AMP): “Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men…” The command is very clear that we aren’t striving for perfection, but excellence (our very best effort) in all that we do. As a team member, don’t come and do your piece so that it is “just good enough.” When you do that, you are cheating yourself from growing and improving and you are cheating God in what he has called and commanded you to do. Even as a volunteer, take time to learn and improve whatever it is you are doing. Watch videos, read manuals, and learn.

Don’t Go Into Battle Alone

In our roles, we are doing Kingdom work here. When we are doing things for the Kingdom, chances are that we will be spiritually attacked. You need to have people around you to lift you up, encourage, and be part of the journey you are on. Even if you are the only person serving in tech, make sure you surround yourself with people that can support you. The key is that you should never feel alone (even if you have a full team of techs and volunteers). These people should remind you that what you do on Sunday mornings is much more than a simple task. And, if you have people to serve alongside you, don’t try to be the hero. Trying to do too much on your own can lead to mistakes and isn’t scalable as the church grows. You instead need to find people who can help (in fact, search for more people than you THINK you need). You may be able to do everything faster and better than training someone else, but if you don’t teach, train, and delegate, you will eventually fail when you can no longer scale with the growth. Instead of scaling with the church, you are actually holding the growth back because you aren’t developing team members and leaders to help.

Focus On the Calling

Remind yourself (and your team) on a regular basis that they aren’t just pushing buttons or sliding faders. They play a major role in leading people in Worship and Praise of our Creator. They may not realize it, but they could be planting a seed, watering it, or even harvesting it in their actions and conversations. God has placed a calling on each of us and by stepping into that calling in obedience, He will give us the gifts and talents needed to accomplish what He wants from us. Don’t forget that. On the flip side, don’t allow yourself to get distracted from what you are supposed to be doing. For instance, cell phones can be an attention grabber and if it gets the attention of the Lyric Operator at the wrong time, they could cause someone to become distracted during Worship. Finally, don’t get so caught up in doing stuff that you miss what is actually happening. WHY you are doing something is more important than WHAT you are doing.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

We all have that dreaded moment when something goes wrong and we’ve tried everything we can to prevent it from happening. Yet, when it does, every eye in the sanctuary turns around and looks at us. It is a daunting feeling. And we are immediately aware of what is happening (often before anyone else). Let me just say to the Pastors and Worship Leaders: trust your tech team and don’t make a scene from the platform that makes them even more stressed or uncomfortable. It does not help to have that pressure in addition to what the tech is already feeling. As a tech, you must stop and calmly think through troubleshooting. When you get stressed, it can cause us to not think rationally and sometimes miss obvious solutions to resolve the issue. Instead, you must not only deal with the issue at the moment but also make changes to prevent the issue from happening again (or at least reducing the frequency it happens). One tip is to create scenarios of things that could go wrong and make a list of things you need to do when it happens. That way, you can have a plan in place for you and your team before it actually happens.

Pray

Although this is the last on the list, it is by far the most important (and probably the one that most overlooked). Pray for your team. Pray for the services. Pray for the congregation. Pray for the gear. Give it all to God and don’t do it on your own power. Trust Him and His plan for you, your team, and your church. Pray as a team (tech, worship, and pastor) before the services. This brings you all together in unity. Also, I encourage you to have a prayer team (if you don’t already) that is praying throughout the service. If you have tech team members who aren’t serving that week, ask them to be a prayer warrior for the church that week.

Ultimate Goal? Worship Jesus.

Continue to glorify God in all that you do. He will honor you when you do that. Make sure that you keep Jesus the center of everything you, your team, and your church do. That way, we can continue to shine the light in this dark world.

Which piece could you work more on? Are there other things you can do to serve without being seen? Feel free to share your comments below.

If your team struggles with serving, we would be happy to offer a free consultation on what steps you can take to help. Just contact us to set up a time.