There’s no better time to think about the future than now. For many churches, this is a great time to perform routine maintenance and get media systems ready to serve your ministry well into the new year. The weeks after Christmas tend to be a quiet time with little or no production needs while most staff members are away from the facility. With decreased staff requests and increased volunteer availability due to time off from work, churches have an opportunity set all things “tech” right once again.
Now that your big Christmas productions are wrapped up, this is prime time to strip the stage of December clutter and start fresh for the new year. Try your best to encourage your leaders to keep the production (tech) requests very simple over the next few weeks, using as few props onstage as possible — really go for the “unplugged” version, if you will. It will be a welcome respite from the production demands of the season and will help provide a healthy sensory reset for the congregation. Use January as a clean slate, refreshing the outlook for the new year.
Put Safety First
If you’re like most teams, you improvised some solutions for your systems to accommodate the demands of a big Christmas production. Now that you have a better idea of your ministry needs, it’s time to clean out any hacks or Band-Aids you used and implement a more permanent solution for your system. If you’ve temporarily rigged anything over the stage for your productions, get those things down and off the stage. As always, safety should be your first concern onstage. In church-tech world, there is a subtle, yet persistent, belief that the laws of physics are somehow mitigated in the sanctuary, but it’s important to adhere to rigorous safety standards in church, as in any venue. Just as the church operates as a safe place spiritually, it should also be the safest physical space available to the public. One of the best ways to ensure safety is to have a certified rigger inspect the facility and deliver a written report on the findings. In a spirit of humility, encourage your leadership to implement the recommendations given, with an eye toward fulfilling Colossians 3:23.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
as working for the Lord, not for human masters…
Inspect the Routine and Mundane Things
It’s time to take inventory and replace the consumable items. Replace aging batteries, restock gaff and spike tape, and repair or replace any frayed cables or connectors. Test and replace any damaged, heavily used items such as bodypacks, microphones, portable projectors, wall plates, channel strips, and so on. Line check and repair any shorted connections on your stage box, floor pockets, and snakes. Check the back panels of your equipment for any cold solder points. Replace aging bulbs and gels in light fixtures, and visually inspect every fixture to be sure they are secure and that the safety cable is attached and intact. A simple procedure is to start at the end of a signal chain and move back through the process in reverse order. This action forces you to see any weak points quickly because you will focus on each step instead of glossing over the signal chain from memory.
Get Organized
Your backstage and FOH areas are probably a wreck from all the Christmas productions. Now is a great time to get things organized and back in place. Wrap any stray cables and put them back where they belong, organizing them by length. Try using different colored hook-and-loop fastener ties to both secure the cables and help identify cable lengths so you can quickly see which cables are which length by the color of the cable tie. For example, you could use green straps to identify 15-foot cables, blue straps to identify 25-foot cables, and red straps to identify 50-foot cables. Since techs like to snack, break out the vacuum and clean up all the Doritos, donuts, and pretzels from the tech booth. Restock the tech fridge with water and no-calorie drinks and clean out that nasty Keurig machine in the corner.
Determine Emergency Planning
Make sure your emergency contingency items are in place — wired microphone with plenty of slack in case another mic fails onstage; flashlights backstage, behind the pulpit, and at FOH in case you lose power; a megaphone behind the pulpit or just offstage so the pastor can give direction in case of an emergency or power outage. It is good stewardship to have at least one extra bodypack with batteries in case a mission-critical one goes out. Now is a good time to cycle out and replace aging rechargeable batteries and walk through emergency procedures with the church security team. The most probable issue will be weather related, so keep a NOAA weather radio in the tech booth to stay abreast of any potentially service-disrupting storm.
Implement System Upgrades
Now that your bigger productions are out of the way, this is the right time to implement any major system upgrades you’ve been considering. You likely have a fresh budget for 2020 and can identify key areas that need improvement before the next season rolls around. Ask the tech team what items most affected their ability to deliver the Christmas program and then develop a consensus as to what is needed to demonstrably improve productions in the new year. Usually, the true needs will be evident to all, but there may be some weak areas unknown to all but a few. Consumer grade camera tripods are a prime example of obscure, inadequate equipment that can create noticeable problems (camera shake) when pro-level replacements are available for a reasonable sum. The difference a few hundred dollars makes when applied to the right area can be astounding.
Assign Team Schedules
Get as much of your January and February schedule knocked out as possible. If you use a scheduling software such as Planning Center Online (PCO), be sure to get your team scheduled for the next eight weeks so you don’t have to think about it until March. Getting all the volunteers lined up and fully committed will help you stay focused on having all the tech needs covered for the beginning of the year. It will also set the bar for what it means to commit to the tech team and show the essential role each person plays in creating seamless events.
Invest in Your Volunteers
Now is a good time to pour into your volunteers. They are likely weary from all the activity of the past few months, and it’s a great time to celebrate their efforts and set the vision for the new year. It’s also a good idea to invest in training for your team. In fact, host an evening or weekend tech party for your team and bring in a trainer to guide them in best practices and answer their questions. This could be a representative from a manufacturer or even a tech lead from another local church. Provide more than the customary pizza party during the training by bringing in a nice meal or a local caterer known for their stellar food. If the team is up for a field trip, schedule a site visit to a nearby church known for executing tech well and glean as much as possible from their leadership to implant their best practices into your church environment.
Jumpstart the New Year’s Success
A new year is tailor-made to start afresh. Church tech teams need to know they are respected, honored, and appreciated. Some healthy snacks and a clean work area give those words meaning, while bringing in an outside resource to train the team validates their role in church practice. The new year is also a perfect time to remove old clutter, outdated accessories, and defunct gear to give the booth and stage new life and functionality. Add in some cases of new expendables such as tape, batteries, and lamps, and you have set the stage for success in 2020.