Classroom education, hands-on training, new technology and meaningful connections are all part of the CFX experience—bringing together people from across church production, facilities, creativity and leadership.
The next improvement to your church’s production may not require another camera, a new lighting fixture or a bigger budget.
It might require a better idea.
That’s one reason Will Chapman keeps coming back to CFX and Capture Summit. The Online Minister at Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, is a veteran presenter at both events, but he doesn’t come just to teach.
He comes to learn.
Will Chapman is the Online Minister at Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, TX, and has served in technical ministry for over 30 years.
“I look forward to attending classes and seminars to be able to learn more from people that I follow and people whose ministry and work that I respect,” Chapman says. Just as importantly, he values discovering people and ideas he didn’t know about before arriving.
When CFX 2026 comes to Birmingham, Alabama, September 14–16, Chapman will contribute two sessions of his own—each addressing an area where churches may be able to make significant improvements without necessarily making significant investments.
Your Camera May Not Be the Problem
Chapman’s first session, “Lighting for Broadcast: How to Create the Ideal Look for the Most Important Moment of Our Worship Services,” tackles an issue he sees repeatedly.
Churches devote tremendous creative energy to lighting worship. Then the pastor walks onstage and much of that intentionality disappears.
Yet the sermon is arguably the moment when good broadcast lighting matters most.
Chapman plans to cover everything from basic three- and four-point lighting to more advanced techniques for churches dealing with pastors who move throughout the stage, LED video walls, inconsistent color temperatures and other challenges.
He’ll also explore tools such as light meters and waveform monitors that can help teams evaluate what the cameras are actually seeing.
That last point is important because when church leaders aren't happy with the appearance of the livestream, the camera frequently gets blamed.
“Most people put cameras before lighting because cameras are the fun part of things,” Chapman says.
But another camera may not solve the problem.
“You think it’s the camera when it’s not actually the camera,” he says. “It’s the lighting. You’ve got to have good lighting to be able to set up your cameras for success.”
Better lighting can improve the performance of an any camera. More importantly for churches with limited budgets, it can help them get considerably better results from the cameras they already own.
What Happened to Your Livestream Engagement?
Chapman’s second session, “Pro Tips for Engaging Your Live Stream Audience,” tackles another problem many churches are encountering: online viewers aren't interacting like they once did.
Chapman calls part of the problem “chat fatigue.”
Viewers may say hello when they arrive, but then the comments stop. They turn the video full screen on a phone, tablet, computer or television—and the chat disappears.
For Chapman, that changing behavior requires a change in strategy.
“You have to think more and more like a broadcaster and less like a social media digital influencer,” he says.
Rather than depending upon a chat window for engagement, churches can learn from television, sports broadcasts, YouTube creators and other forms of programming. Chapman will explore ways churches can use scripting, on-camera communication, graphics and other elements of the broadcast itself to encourage engagement.
The session is aimed particularly at the church leader who knows the church remains committed to online ministry but is asking a frustrating question: Why aren't people interacting with us anymore?
The Part of CFX You Won't Find on the Schedule
As valuable as Chapman believes the sessions are, his strongest advice for CFX attendees has nothing to do with choosing which ones to attend.
Don't disappear when they're over.
“Hang out in the hallways,” he says. “Walk around and meet different vendors.”
And talk to people.
Last year, Chapman met someone at CFX whom he didn't know before attending one of his sessions. They stayed in contact throughout the year and developed what Chapman describes as a ministry friendship—one that would never have existed without that initial connection at CFX.
That matters because church production can be isolating.
“What we do as church techs can get very lonely,” Chapman says. CFX provides an opportunity to become part of a broader church production community and develop relationships that can provide ideas, answers and encouragement throughout the year.
So attend the sessions. Explore the exhibit floor. Ask questions. Learn something you can take home and put to work with the equipment you already have.
But don't leave with only notes and brochures.
Leave with a few new names and phone numbers, too.
They may ultimately be the most valuable things you bring home from CFX.
