If you’re reading this article, maybe you can relate.
Production life is fast. Events are like a high speed train that rolls in and doesn’t slow down. If you’re fully prepared you’ll be able to jump on as it thunders by, but if you’re caught off guard you’ll get run over before you know what hit you. There is the pressure of performance and execution. It’s one thing to have someone in place to be sure mics are turned on and off … it’s an entirely different thing to expect a room to sound a certain way. Production can lend itself to extremely long days. Because often you are not only operating systems—you are setting them up, testing them, running them, and then breaking them down or reconfiguring them back to their normal operating state. Then you have the occasional but very real issue of gear failure, and that can throw a major wrench into your work. And when gear failure isn’t actually the issue, sometimes gear doesn’t work because of operator error. Production systems can be complex, and it’s possible that we take someone who isn’t ready or fully comfortable on a system and ask them to operate it out of necessity. As a result, a well-meaning person can press the wrong thing and wreak havoc on an overall production.
All aboard?
Ministry life is 24/7. Your job may be production, but in reality, you are in place to shepherd those who are serving under you—plus execute your responsibilities. Typically, ministries also operate seven days a week, and even if your work hours are technically 9-5, how often are there events happening in the evenings? This can create huge gray areas that don’t exist in the marketplace and that can be excruciatingly awkward to navigate with both your employer and family. Not to mention that production is the oil that facilitates the message of a ministry, so when you add up all the different departments in a church organization and their production needs, it gets pretty bonkers.
Leading a team can be a lot. You have to sort through and constantly play around with many different skill sets, personalities, and interpersonal dynamics to create efficiency and harmony. You also have to build a culture that supports your team in a healthy way. Easier said than done. Then you have to continually develop the people on your team, both technically and personally, if you plan on progressing and taking any ground. Then there is the logistics side of a team, coordinating rosters and dealing with scheduling conflicts.
On top of all that, it’s also critical that you care for your team. Every human goes through life, and life is not easy. Despite their own issues and needs, a good leader will always look after the people on their team.
Further down the tracks
If you work in production for a ministry and have any sort of leadership role, this is probably a pretty accurate description of your job. So if it gets to the point you find yourself in a bad place, where do you go for help? Don’t look to your organization, your boss, your reports, your job title, or your own experience to provide you with everything you need. They can help, for sure. But with our heads down, running 200mph, I think it’s really easy to overlook the deepest, furthest reaching and most available source of provision. In Matthew 6 Jesus says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” How often is it that we ask God to provide what we need, believing in faith that He actually will provide it and then resting in that? So whether the present circumstances are great or totally mental, if you’re trusting Him you can rest assured you’ll always have what you need. In 1 Kings 17 after Elijah obeys God and travels to King Ahab to deliver some less than ideal news about an imminent drought, God instructs him to go hide out in an odd place. So Elijah travels to the Kerith valley, and as a result of his obedience, despite the drought plaguing the land, God provides him with water and food in a miraculous way. If you’re short three wireless mics, then ask for the budget to get what you need. If you’re down two volunteers to run sound and lights on Sunday and are desperately trying to find people, put the word out. But then let’s trust and put our faith in the ultimate Conductor, and see if it doesn’t work out in the end.
