One of the most commonly used, abused, and misused words in the world of church production is “excellence.”
It is somewhat of a nebulous, shapeless word that, although completely subjective, has become the driving force behind vision and execution in probably every tech booth in America.
However, without fully understanding what it is and what it isn’t, it’s impossible for any church tech to have confidence that he or she is walking the right path. And since we have become a society so focused on public perception and comparison, thanks to social media among other things, it can be easy to become demoralized if I’m living my life through a lens of comparison.
So, in an effort to bring some sense of peace amidst the restless pursuit of excellence, let’s first define what it’s not.
What excellence isn’t
1-A budget
Excellence has nothing to do with how much money is spent, how much tithe dollars are taken in, or how long someone has to wait to pull off an urgent capital project.
Excellence has nothing to do with how much money is spent....
It’s not a dollar amount, because there are some problems that money can’t solve.
2-Gear
Similarly, excellence isn’t inherently attached to a list of equipment, a specific manufacturer, a contractor/consultant, or a high-dollar integrator. It’s not having the newest, baddest thing that was shown off at NAB, and it should never lead to any sense of shame or self-consciousness of “only” having “Gear X” when everyone else on Instagram has already upgraded to “Gear Y.”
3-A style
Yes, the idea of “excellence” is subjective, but it is absolutely not exclusive to any particular church style. It’s not restricted to multisite or single-site, theological preference or non-denominational, traditional worship or conventional. It’s not tied to one’s preference about how to direct cameras for IMAG or whether or not haze ruins your lungs and theatrical lights cause unrelenting seizures.
4-Size
Large churches are no keener on excellence than smaller ones. Bigger isn’t indicative of better, and a church of 50 can be just as excellent as a church of 50,000. And having more campuses isn’t a guarantee either. Having more campuses often means having more problems.
Bigger isn’t indicative of better, and a church of 50 can be just as excellent as a church of 50,000.
5-A paycheck
It’s a lie to think the only way to have an excellent service experience is by paying someone to manage it. Paid musicians, contract audio engineers, and an army of full-time staff can bring value to the table for sure. However, that is by no means the only way to have an excellent service experience, and throwing money at a ministry “problem” is never a guarantee if solving it.
6-Perfection
The idea of perfection is bondage. As imperfect people, we’ll never be able to create a fully “perfect” experience this side of heaven. So, the thought that any mistakes during a worship service keep it from being excellent is simply untrue. Mistakes are going to happen, and if we fall slave to the idea that an unblemished service is the goal, we’ll be striving to no end.
So, if excellence isn’t one of the above, then what is it?
1-A process
More than anything, excellence is a journey. It’s a relentless pursuit of improvement. It’s a process of personal growth, of learning, of investment, and of the patient passing of time.
Excellence can’t be achieved overnight, and it hinges greatly on wisdom, which is the application of knowledge that only comes through time and personal experience.
So, as a leader, I need to not only understand that concept, but I must wholeheartedly embrace it. What am I doing to grow myself and learn how to improve my craft? What am I doing to improve my ability to both execute my own tasks and develop others’ ability to do so?
Can a service be full of mistakes, but also excellent? Sure, but only if there is also an incredible sense of self-awareness to root out the cause of the mistakes and aggressively pursue solutions.
At the end of the day, excellence really boils down to doing the best I can with what I have.
A service will cease to be excellent when we begin to accept mistakes as normal, or “the way things have always been,” or we make excuses as to why we can’t invest the time and effort to change and improve. The team that uses limited resources (items from the first list of this article) as a crutch has become a team that’s not capable of being excellent.
2-Attention to detail
Being excellent comes from an understanding that there are no little things.
It can get easy in our world to become so focused on pulling off big events or trying to deal with big equipment that we forget about all of the small things that come first, before those big things are even possible.
Big events fall apart without focusing on the minutiae of an event flow in Planning Center, or properly training camera operators on how to set the tension on their tripod. Big events can quickly become a disaster when I need to replace a cable on stage, but my storage area is so disorganized that I can’t find the one I need.
... we have to own the fact that big things are comprised of thousands of little things....
Big equipment is great and can certainly do a lot of things, but if I’ve never shown the lighting volunteer how to safely turn fixtures on and off, a lot of very expensive damage can be done.
We all yearn to be part of something big, but we have to own the fact that big things are comprised of thousands of little things, and if our focus slips on any of those, the whole big thing can come crashing down.
3-A focus on stewardship
At the end of the day, excellence really boils down to doing the best I can with what I have. I may not control how or when resources come my way, but I can certainly control how well I’m using the ones I already have.
I might wish I had a better audio guy, but that shouldn’t stop me from continuing to invest in the one I already have. I might long for better lights, but that shouldn’t keep me from doing regular preventive maintenance on my current ones to get as much mileage out of them as possible.
I can’t spend so much time focusing on what I wish I had that I neglect what I actually do have.
I’m a steward of the resources I’ve been given, and getting more/better/newer of anything isn’t necessarily the silver bullet that will fix all of my problems. If I don’t have a mentality of nurturing and developing what I have, then I surely won’t have the necessary discipline to magically start doing those things as our team grows.
Plus, I can’t spend so much time focusing on what I wish I had that I neglect what I actually do have. We should never overlook or diminish the resources we currently have, but should instead focus on how to steward them as best we can.
With the right attitude and perspective, any church in America can be excellent, and that focus can make an untold impact as we strive to impact lives each weekend.
