CPM Celebrates Inaugural T3 Seminar
First Stop on the Technical Training Tour a Success
In late September, technical personnel representing churches in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia congregated at Westover Church in Greensboro, North Carolina for the first installment T3, the Technical Training Tour Series recently launched by Church Production Magazine. Created specifically for those working in technical ministry, the series features seminars led by audio, video, and lighting experts who have worked, or are still working as church technical directors. In addition to the technical sessions, T3 included classes on team building, working with church leadership, and budgeting.
Brian Blackmore, editor and publisher of Church Production Magazine, explains that T3 is held on a regional basis to facilitate participation from small to mid-sized churches. “By and large, the churches that really need technical education are not in a position to fly someone across the country to a major trade show,” he acknowledges. “The best thing we can do is to bring the education to them.”
Several companies supplied technology and products for the event and various giveaways: Artbeats, Califone, FSR, Sharp, WorshipBuilder Software, and Worship Films.
In designing the curriculum for T3, the plan was to address individuals with little knowledge of A/V, as well as those who are more familiar with the technology. “We wanted T3 to be broad-based in its appeal,” Blackmore says. “We wanted to provide something for churches that are just starting out with contemporary worship as well as those that have been doing this for some time.” At Westover, three different classes were taking place simultaneously, giving participants the option of attending the class that best targeted their specific knowledge level.
Armando Fullwood, president of Design 20/20, Inc., a consulting firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina, led the audio sessions. “I wanted to change the way people thought about their technical ministries. I want people to understand that there has to be a balance between the tools that we are given and the vision that you need to have in order to implement [those tools],” he says. “The technology is important, but what may be lacking are the relationships – relationships with the band, the pastor, and each other. We taught people how to work as a team.”
Anthony D. Coppedge, CTS, a church media consultant based in Bedford, Texas, led the video classes. “I wanted a certain ‘wow’ factor to impress the attendees with the quality of media that can be used in their churches,” he explains. “I really focused on ‘oohing’ the churches with eye-opening concepts and practical applications to help them go back to their churches and immediately start making improvements.”
Coppedge also aimed to dispel a common myth surrounding video: “I wanted to demystify the concept that video, in particular, is hard to use. Many churches have the beginnings of some great video work, but haven’t figured out how to use what they have. Now they can take that first step while planning for future upgrades and opportunities.”
Greg Persinger of Vivid Illumination, a Nashville-based firm that provides lighting design, project management, consulting, and training, led the lighting sessions. Persinger’s introductory classes focused on giving attendees a basic working knowledge of production lighting, including the different types of dimming systems and fixtures that are available and how they are best utilized. For his advanced classes, Persinger demonstrated that it doesn’t always take the very best equipment to achieve the desired result.
“The goal behind my more advanced classes was to show the attendees that there is a lot that can be done with the equipment that they already have, and that they can still do good lighting with a minimal amount of equipment,” Persinger explains. “I tried to dispel the notion that if you don’t have all of the latest and greatest gear – and a lot of it – with perfect places from which to hang the lights, you can’t do good work, because you can. It requires a little bit more thought, planning, and trial and error to produce the desired results, but you can do it.”
A concert was staged during the first evening of the two-day event; local Christian rock group 180 performed. “The attendees seemed to appreciate how it all came together [at the concert],” Blackmore recalls. “It went a long way in demonstrating what was possible in a room that size with a rig that was very nice, but not over the top in terms of the equipment.”
Not only were attendees able to witness their instructors in action, they also participated in worship. “When you are mixing a service, or directing video, or running lights, it’s often hard to concentrate and actually participate in worship,” Blackmore says. “We wanted to provide an atmosphere where participants could experience world-class audio, video, and lighting production, but we also wanted it to be a worship experience.”
Darrell Gaines of the Cornerstone Conference & Resource Center International Pentecostal Holiness Church in Browns Summit, North Carolina, attended T3. “We have 150 churches within our conference, and it is part of my job to help these churches when they have audio/video needs and things of that sort,” he explains. “I was most impressed by the fact that [T3] came from a ministry standpoint – it wasn’t just a situation where someone wanted to sell you hardware and tell you things that didn’t relate to ministry.”
Gaines also noted the practical advice that was given during the sessions. “It helped me to see that there are a number of things that our churches can do that would not take a lot of money – just a little bit of creativity and imagination,” he says. “It would help [churches] in reaching out to their communities, just by making a few changes.”
While T3 focuses on providing education about audio, video, and lighting, these elements exist to facilitate worship – not dictate it. “The thing I remember most when I look back on ministry is that it has less to do with the board that the service was mixed on and more to do with the people that were there,” Fullwood reflects. “A lot of times we in technical ministry hide behind the technology. We really need to step out and enjoy the people.”
“It’s not about the gear; these are just tools,” says Blackmore. “If you are not achieving communication, all the tools in the world are worthless.”
Carolyn Heinze (carolyn@churchproduction.com)
works from her office in Vancouver, Canada.
