Greg Linzay
Christ’s Church of the Valley
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| Greg Linzay (right) with Patrick Gourley, Stage and Lighting Director. |
San Dimas, California – At Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV) the goal is simple: deliver the message to people young and old, in a relevant fashion.
The goal may be concise; achieving it isn’t always so easy. To address contemporary tastes, the church’s technical department relies on sophisticated audio, video, and lighting systems to support the message that is delivered each week. Currently, CCV employs a part-time stage and lighting designer, a part-time video support staff, two full-time worship pastors, and a part-time worship pastor. As Pastor of Worship and Technical Ministries, Greg Linzay rolls two jobs into one full-time position, acting as liaison between the worship and technical teams.
Linzay is the first to admit he and his team couldn’t pull things off on their own. “We have many, many volunteers,” he says. “There is no way we could work without them. We empower a lot of different people to do a lot of things. Because I work in two departments, I coordinate that vision. Our whole philosophy as staff members is to duplicate ourselves. As head of the department, I lead the worship once every three weeks. I want to do it less – not because I don’t love it, but because our goal is to have volunteers doing what we do.”
Each week, CCV’s technical ministry oversees a two-camera shoot, as well as full-fledged audio and intelligent lighting systems. “We edit a lot of video and produce it ourselves,” Linzay explains.
Seating approximately 650 to 700 worshippers, CCV offers eight services a week: one on Saturday night, three on Sunday morning, a Sunday evening service, and then services on Wednes- day, Thursday, and Friday evenings. The church offers 10 different ministries: KidZone, Youth, Young Professionals, Men, Women of the World, Woman to Woman, Mom to Mom, Singles, Seniors, and “Exploration” – a ministry for believers and non-believers alike.
Linzay – who has been attending CCV for the last 13 years and has held a full-time position at the church for the last four – recently sat down with Church Production Magazine to point out that when it comes down to it, technical ministry is about people, not gear.
CPM: What are some of the characteristics that you look for when you are building your team?
LINZAY: Obviously, they must love the Lord, first and foremost. Then we try to find somebody that loves Christ’s Church of the Valley, who really loves what we’re doing and loves our philosophy on ministry. We look for people who are sold on the vision of the church, and who want to serve. In terms of technical ministry, this is more important than to have someone who is a great audio person with all kinds of experience. I’d rather find somebody who is technically minded, who may not have any clue about audio, but who likes CCV and wants to serve.
CPM: What is your history with the church?
LINZAY: I started attending CCV when I was 17, and I started playing keyboards on the worship team. From there, I slowly moved into the worship-leading role. I knew they had a position coming up; they wanted to hire a part-time person to take care of all of the technical stuff because it was expanding, and I thought: “I like technical, so I’m just going to learn everything I can and maybe I can be that guy.” So, I got on as a technical director and as time went on, my role expanded in both areas. I found that I have a passion for technical and worship together. It worked out very well.
CPM: Before you started working at CCV, did you have any other technical experience?
LINZAY: Not in technical at all. I was training to be a high school counselor. But I loved worship, and I was going to do it part-time, but as time went on I developed a greater passion for worship. I felt that this was what God called me to do full-time, and it just so happened that the technical position came up also. The more I did it, the more I gained a passion for that also. I don’t think my job would be complete without technical or without worship. I love balancing the two.
CPM: How do you know that this is what you were absolutely meant for?
LINZAY: I think when you go to sleep thinking about technical systems and worship, and then when you wake up thinking about it, you realize that there is nothing else you would rather do, whether you get paid for it or not. That’s when I realized that this is what God has gifted me to do and this is where my passions lie.
CPM: What is your favorite part of the job?
LINZAY: That’s a tough question to answer, because I love every part of my job – whether it’s running cables, wiring up the sound console, or leading worship. It’s really tough for me to try and pinpoint my favorite part of the job; I don’t know if I could. I would say that it encompasses everything that I do. I have a great job.
CPM: What is the most rewarding part of your job?
LINZAY: The most rewarding part of my job is to see lives changed for Christ. It doesn’t have anything to do with the technical or the worship per se. Those two things combined with the message and knowing that I have a little part in seeing someone’s life changed for Christ is the most rewarding part of it.
CPM: How do you impress this upon your staff and volunteers as well? Sometimes your job involves twiddling knobs to get things right. How do you show them that it’s bigger than that?
LINZAY: I think the whole idea of it not being about us, that what we do is serve Christ, whether you are serving Christ as a head worship leader or as a preacher, or whether you are serving Christ by sitting in the back and making sure that people can hear the pastors, or making sure that you are hitting “play” at the right time on the video system so that the message comes across on time with no distractions. If we let people know that their job is just as important as the pastor’s job and that we are all here for the same goal: that’s to serve Christ, no matter how you do it.
CPM: What is your least favorite part of the job?
LINZAY: I would say having so much on my plate that it gets stressful sometimes. Sometimes, I don’t know which way is up because I have so many things going on at the same time.
CPM: What is the most important thing that you have learned so far that you would pass on to others in your position?
LINZAY: That God can do it without me – that although I can do many things, it doesn’t really matter, because God can duplicate me in a second. I just need to serve. It’s not about me and the things I do, it’s about the Lord. He’s the one carrying things and making it happen, not me. I’m just along for the ride.
CPM: What does it take to be a good technical director?
LINZAY: To be a good technical director, obviously you need a heart for the Lord, but you also need a heart for people. You need to realize that your job as a technical director is to be a minister to the people first. Although having all of this technical knowledge is great and it’s important, what is important to me most is to be a pastor to the people and connect with them because they are the ones that are going to make the services happen every week. You can’t do it without the people who volunteer in your ministry.
CPM: Where are technical ministries headed in the future?
LINZAY: Technical ministries are getting more complicated and require more training. It’s going to be more difficult in the future, as digital technology unfolds. A lot more work will be required on the technical person’s side to really stay educated and learn what’s coming up. To me, the goal is not to be 10 years behind. The goal is to stay up with where the rest of the world is, and you can’t do that unless you are constantly asking questions, reading, and studying, and finding out what the next trend is technologically.
CPM: Do you have any other advice for your counterparts at other churches?
LINZAY: Just stay focused. Remember why you do what you do, because there are going to be those times when things are crazy and you are working that 80-hour week. Just remember why you do what you do.
CPM: When you reflect on this yourself, why do you do what you do?
LINZAY: I’m a pastor first, and that is what God has called me to do. I do what I do to see people come to Christ, and that’s it.
