We're missing out on a real ministry opportunity if we run our tech teams strictly to fulfill a function and don't dig deeper into the relationships.
Small groups can be vitally important in helping people grow in their faith. However, it can be difficult for people to join or attend a small group on a regular basis. Technology promised us shorter workweeks and less work, but the reality is that most people work longer and harder that ever before.
As a tech director, you can actually help with this issue. You may see your role primarily as the leader of a ministry or department in your church. I would challenge you, though, to reevaluate your position. Instead of looking at your primary role as one of leveraging technology during your weekend gatherings, look at it as a way of connecting a group of people to each other and to God.
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. - Hebrews 10:24-25
Paul exhorts us in Hebrews to motivate each other to perform good works (serving and ministry) but also to showing acts of love. We're missing out on a real ministry opportunity if we run our tech teams strictly to fulfill a function and don't dig deeper into the relationships. It doesn't take a lot of effort to turn your ministry into a small group where you are not just focused on a task but also on the person performing the task.
Start with prayer
I don't know why we would ever consider serving together without praying first, yet it happens over and over again on ministry teams across the country. It is often because we are rushing in at the last minute. I believe there is nothing more powerful that believers can do than praying together.
I believe there is nothing more powerful that believers can do than praying together.
This may take a change of schedule to accomplish. You may need to encourage your team to arrive a few minutes early, but they really should be coming early anyway. Use the first few moments to pray for each other and for the service that you will be serving in. When you put God first, He will move in a mighty way.
Remain accountable
Just because you are serving together on a tech team doesn't mean that you don't have the right to speak into each other's lives. Use your time together to encourage each other to grow in faith and to pursue a disciplined life of generosity, prayer, and scripture reading.
Be there for each other
We all face challenges in life. There's really no way to escape it. If you find out about a need or a struggle that one of your team members is facing, be the first-responder in that situation. Don't wait for your pastor or another church leader to jump in. You be their pastor. Show up when they are sick. Cry with them when they are crying. Be there to help them through the difficult times.
When we change the way that we look at our tech team, not only are we helping our church be more effective. We are also helping to connect someone that may not be connected otherwise. In doing this, we are truly living our life as a member of the Body of Christ.
[Editor's Note: This piece was originally posted in September 2019.]
