For anyone who’s ever had two bosses (and some of us in ministry may be living this reality on a daily basis!), they know how challenging that situation can be. Each may have different vision, priorities, or expectations, and you can feel caught in the middle, wanting to please them both, not wanting to let either one down, and needing both to feel like they’re the priority.
For the last year or so, many of us have been putting all of our energy into serving an audience that is exclusively online. So programming decisions, creative energy, vision, etc., have all been put into the basket of making sure that an online experience is a high priority for our congregation.
And as tech staff, that’s where all our energy has gone. Most of us haven’t had in-person services to pull off (save those who have been doing drive-in services), so our focus has been in prerecording content or making the live online experience great.
But the reality is that even though states are reopening, a large portion of our congregants likely won’t be coming back to church anytime soon. [And] that means our attention will soon have to be split.
But the reality is that even though states are reopening, a large portion of our congregants likely won’t be coming back to church anytime soon. So, that means our attention will soon have to be split. People will be back in our church buildings expecting the same high-quality experience they had been used to in the past. But everyone still watching at home will also still be expecting the same high-quality experience they’ve been getting for the past year.
There’s only one me. But now we have to equally serve two masters. How do we do it?
Here are three key action steps to keep in mind as we try to navigate the situation.
1-Plan to set expectations.
The beginning of the whole process is to have a clear, open conversation with your ministry leaders to determine where priorities need to lie. We have limited time and energy in a given week, where should our main focus go?
The last thing we want is to assume we know what the focus should be, only to later find out that our leaders were expecting something different. So, there has to be clarity up front regarding where our time should be spent.
This should also include an honest conversation about what is going to have to fall by the wayside since our time and energy are limited. There needs to also be clear discussion as to where our personal boundaries lie so we can ensure we're still able to spend time with our families and have a healthy Sabbath. After all, we can’t spend 100 hours a week trying to fulfill ministry vision and ruin our own life and family… it’s counterproductive.
Some of this conversation should likely include leaders from other ministry areas who may have grown accustomed to a certain level of access to tech resources during the pandemic shutdown. Maybe they no longer have the flexibility to record things last minute and need to adhere to a fixed schedule for content moving forward. Maybe there needs to be an updated process as to how they’re relating to their audience moving forward.
But there may be some things that we can’t decide on my own, and we’ll need a broader conversation with leadership to help clarity. The last thing we want is to feel stuck in the middle, forced to decide something on our own that we don’t feel capable of doing.
We can also ask our leaders to offer higher-level communication of vision and expectations so they can perhaps share in their own words to the congregation or ministry team leaders what will be the same (or different) moving forward. Again, this helps keep us from having to be the tiebreaker caught in the middle.
But there has to be clarity up front regarding vision and expectations or else everything down the line will fall apart and fail.
2-Plan to evaluate.
There has to be the ability to step back and review things to see what’s working and what needs to be adjusted.
We can’t “go back to normal” the way things were in 2019; it just isn’t possible. But we can’t be so married to processes that we place more emphasis on the process than the particular vision.
We can create a great worship experience in-person at our facilities, but we may need to do it with less vocalists, band members, or production team.
... we can’t be so married to a particular process that we prioritize it above the vision itself.
Likewise, we may be able to still give a great experience to online audiences, but how we deliver it may need to change. Perhaps we can’t prerecord everything during the week and make a bunch of post-production video edits or remix the audio, simply because we no longer have the time to do it. Or maybe we have to start recording things in bulk on certain days and have a plan and schedule set farther in advance, because we no longer have week-to-week flexibility.
Either way, we can’t be so married to a particular process that we prioritize it above the vision itself.
And as people bring new ideas or suggestions to the table, we can’t take them personally. People aren’t attacking our personal character or abilities--they’re simply passionate about their particular ministry area and want it to be the best it possibly can be. Feedback is going to help make the process better.
3-Plan to improve.
After we’ve spent time evaluating the job we’re doing in balancing both live and online experiences, let’s also be open to a plan of strategically improving them both.
Can we take advantage of online resources (like MxU podcasts and training, or SALT University sessions) to better understand how to use the FOH console to provide a viable online audio mix? Can we reach out to other churches to see how they design their lighting plot to have full, even coverage on stage so their talent doesn’t hit hot spots or dead zones on the camera feed that we're sending online? Can we use forums to ask others how they are navigating white balance/color temperature tension for how talent looks in the room as compared to on-camera?
Can we use forums to ask others how they are navigating white balance/color temperature tension for how talent looks in the room as compared to on-camera?
Part of the conversation about improvements should also be centered around people resources, not just technology. Perhaps we’re learning that it’s not feasible for one person to effectively oversee or manage all that’s on the plate. Is the leadership team willing to bring someone else on the team to help lead a certain area since we're spread too thin? After all, there are certain things that will never improve if they’re only getting divided attention.
Plus, if we're seeing things that we feel need to be improved, the best bet for the plan getting accepted or acknowledged is to have thoroughly thought out ideas and solutions for solving the problem. No leader wants to just hear about problems.
But if we present an issue along with several possible proposals for how to handle it, that increases the odds that our voice will be heard during the process.
It is possible to have a great in-person experience and a great online experience. It’s possible to do it with the same team and the same equipment that we already have. But if there’s no clarity regarding expectations, resource investment, priorities, and an action plan, then it will be almost impossible to keep both sides engaged and happy.
Serving two masters is a constant exercise of give-and-take, but without clarity up front, it will become a game nobody can win.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in May 2020.
