“My belief is that church tech is the conduit between God and His people.”
Rock Church is one of San Bernardino, Calif.’s, largest churches. Production veteran Darwin Tillery toured as FOH engineer or production manager for entertainers like New Edition, Sheila E, The Platters and many more before his move to Rock Church. He describes it as “a church that is all about loving God and people.”
CPM: You’ve heard a lot of different systems in a lot of different venues, how does that experience benefit you in a fixed installation environment in a church?
Tillery: I attempt to alter an installed system to fit the type of event. An example would be editing the K-array System EQ settings to produce a high energy listening field for our weekly worship sets. But for theater productions, I have a system EQ preset stored in the K-array K-frame software that produces less low frequency energy. To be more “surgical,” I choose to adjust in K-frame rather than use the console mix EQ. I try to mimic speaker systems I have used in various types of productions.
CPM: It’s much different dealing with professionals out on tour than with church techs that may be volunteers with little experience. How do you communicate with church techs in a way that’s most effective?
Tillery: I have recently implemented AVIXA.org certification training to level the playing field. Our team can be most effective after everyone understands the AV vocabulary and workflow. This is the first phase of our AV/events job training program.
CPM: How do you personally see the Holy Spirit showing up and transforming the lives of the people on your team?
TIllery: I have seen first-hand how someone being part of a team, having spiritually healthy leadership examples, team prayer, and a safe team environment helps them get through trials. We can grow as individuals, but the path is much more fulfilling and less bumpy with support from the team around us. Church tech is so much more than "getting it right" or having the latest and greatest gear. It's about striving to have the best walk with God imaginable. Period. My belief is that church tech is the conduit between God and His people. But this only works when our team is individually and corporately pursuing God.
CPM: From your wide range of experience inside the church world and out, in terms of live production, what can the church world learn from secular production techs and what could secular techs glean from the church camp?
Tillery: The secular world can teach us that working as a team leads to successful productions, [because] knowing how to be a "follower" is hugely important in getting the job done and gaining knowledge of tech never ends. Church tech can teach secular that we can live godly lives, even in the most ungodly work environments. And that we can be a "light" in [potentially] dark environments.
CPM: Rock Church has a new K-array sound system. What are the top two or three things that make their gear right for your venue and team?
Tillery: We rely on K-array because it is dependable and audibly accurate. Their gear is first of all vocal forward, musical, and versatile. Secondly, it has an extremely high audio resolution and output, and third, it is lightweight and sightline friendly.
