Hannah Doria, Teen Tech Lead, Thrive.Church, Connecticut.
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It’s constantly challenging to find volunteers for any ministry, especially a ministry that is behind the scenes such as tech and production. So how do you grow and strengthen our ministry? Well, utilizing kids and teens in your tech ministry is one way to grow your team and become more efficient.
Kids and teens have so much energy and excitement—they love to belong. If you can utilize these young resources, it can also be inspiring to adults who haven’t stepped up yet.
Thrive.Church, a church with three locations in Connecticut, has always been open to kids serving in every area of ministry. Lead Pastor Judah Thomas (who has a background in children’s ministry, worship leading, and tech ministry as well as teaching) emphasizes how important it is to have teens involved in ministry. He says that it helps them see the church as their church, not just their parent’s church.
George Blanchard, the tech director at Thrive.Church, seconds that idea, saying it’s awesome to see kids interested in tech ministry, especially since he started in the ministry at the age of 11.
“[Teens are] untapped resources who have availability and are quick to learn when it comes to technology.”
Judah Thomas, Pastor, Thrive.Church, Connecticut
Kids in action
When 11-year-old Hannah Doria started working on the tech team at Thrive it was something for her to do since she was too old to go to children’s church anymore. It made the transition smoother and gave her something to work for. Working in tech also provided her a vast opportunity to grow.
Blanchard recalls how before Doria began in tech, she wouldn’t talk to anyone and would more or less hide. Now, she is taking the lead in various areas and getting other kids in the church to serve alongside her.
Little did Doria know that tech and tech ministry would become her passion and, perhaps, pave the way for her future career. Now, at the age of 15, she says, “I found my passion for tech at a pretty young age. Since day one I just fell in love with the idea of it.”
Doria and many other teens in tech are helping create a church service and an online presence that draws people to the physical church, closer to God, and nearer to their communities.
She is interested in working in a career field that involves some of the skills she has learned in tech and production, such as photography, video shooting, editing, and more.
Today, Doria is a tenth-grade homeschooler in Waterbury, Connecticut, and she sees herself as a typical teen who has a love for the tech ministry and Jesus. Some of her favorite things to do (other than serving in tech) are hanging out with her friends, swimming, and going to the mall. In addition, she says that working in tech ministry has greatly grown her relationship with God. Every week she is serving Him and can learn about Him and hear His word while she does something she loves, she says.
Teen volunteer Rueben Thomas runs slides from the tech room at Thrive.Church.
Long-term benefits
Kids, in general, are a valuable asset to tech ministry, not only because they grew up in a world of technology, but because they have passion, skill, and are open to learning how to do new things. While Blanchard admits it can sometimes be difficult having kids in tech ministry and in the tech booth, he finds they quickly grow in the ministry—and now he knows that Thrive.Church’s tech team wouldn’t be able to do all it does without them.
Pastor Thomas says he wants kids to be able to discover their talents and passions in church because it’s an experience they’ll never forget. That way, no matter where life takes them, they can always look back with fond memories of the church and the support the leaders gave them.
If a church has trouble finding reliable adults to serve in tech and production ministry, kids and teens can be the answer to that issue, too. For example, Pastor Thomas sees teens, in particular, as “untapped resources who have availability and are quick to learn when it comes to technology.” And he says that when young people are excited about serving, they will not want to miss a week.
As in Doria’s case, once kids grow to know how the systems are run, they can learn how to confidently lead within that ministry, greatly helping tech directors. Doria, for instance, is now fully confident in what she is doing, and she can run almost every element of the service.
One teen’s growing tech duties
Doria went from operating lights under guidance to running the whole video and worship lyrics elements of the Sunday service with only a few other kids she has trained to help her.
Every Sunday she arrives at church early to get everything turned on and set up, she says. Her process looks like this: she flips the switch on the power rack, then turns on all of the computers, screens, and the camera switcher. She then opens ProPresenter for the pre-service slides, videos for each week, and the sermon notes. She opens up the Blackmagic Design ATEM Control to restore the cameras. She turns the Blackmagic cameras on and sets them up at the right camera angles. Once that is complete, she takes a walk around the church building to turn on all of the projectors and TVs. Then the volunteers gather together for a time of prayer. Afterwards, she rolls the pre-service slides. Then when the service begins, Doria or one of the other kids on her team starts the welcome video.
Doria reports that she currently has four kids who work with her on Sundays. During worship, they will run the song lyrics and change the camera angles occasionally. Some of the kids also know how to operate the cameras. She says she is proud of the progress they have all made since they started serving with her.
“When a service runs smoothly there are no distractions production-wise, and people attending church can just focus on God.”
Hannah Doria, Teen Tech Lead, Thrive.Church, Connecticut
After worship, there is a short service opening and announcements, which gives Doria’s team time to get the sermon bumper video and notes in order. Following the sermon, the worship team does one more song, and then the person who did the announcements will come out and briefly share something that stood out to them in the service. Then, Doria says, she and the crew can sit back and take a deep breath.
Doria and her team’s understanding of how a service should run have made the tech directors in the church feel comfortable leaving her in charge. This is great timing, Pastor Judah notes, because the church has opened up two video campuses in addition to the main campus, as well as starting up a weekly TV show that plays on a local channel. Having the teen tech squad in place has given the adults more freedom and has taken off some of their strain.
Pastor Thomas sees teens, in particular, as “untapped resources who have availability and are quick to learn when it comes to technology.” And he says that when young people are excited about serving, they will not want to miss a week. Here, teen tech Maci Thomas operates Thrive.Church's Blackmagic Camera.
Thinking on your feet
Everyone knows that the tech team has a big job and a lot of control over how the service runs. Some weeks at Thrive.Church, when Pastor Thomas is absent, the tech team has to play a video recording. In addition, every Wednesday the church service is recorded for the video campuses, online, and wherever Pastor Thomas isn’t preaching live.
Once, in the hectic flow of it all, Doria confesses she almost deleted the sermon video. Almost, but it didn’t happen, and she learned a lesson that every tech of any age must learn.
Maci Thomas, who also serves on the tech team, says that at one service she forgot to push play on the video. (If you’re an adult tech, this will definitely sound familiar.)
There is a lot of responsibility when serving in tech, but kids can handle it, Pastor Thomas finds. They were trained and they know how responsible they are for the equipment and the service.
Despite some hiccups here or there, Blanchard doesn’t think there is a negative to kids serving in tech. He trained them by letting them fail, he says, showing them how to do things, and letting them do the things they are interested in. And he makes an effort to check in on them and make sure they know what they are supposed to be doing. In turn, the kids know that there are always adults who can help them out and train them.
No age limits
Doria and her team are examples of how valuable kids are in the church and the body of Christ. When churches involve kids in ministry, they give them a great opportunity—an opportunity to make a difference. Although tech ministry is “behind the scenes,” it is one of many pieces that draw people to Jesus.
As Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV), Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
God doesn’t set age limits on who can serve and on who can make a difference for His kingdom. He uses us no matter who we are, what our skill set is, or how old we are. God qualifies us when we choose to serve.
Volunteers can learn how to do things they never knew how to do and it can give them great advantages in college and when looking for a job. Doria, for example, is thrilled with the unique production skills and equipment she has learned to use by serving in tech, and it’s a passion that will influence her future education and employment choices.
There is a lot of responsibility when serving in tech, but kids can handle it, Pastor Thomas finds. They were trained and they know how responsible they are for the equipment and the service.
Pastor Thomas concurs that kids getting their start in tech ministry, like Doria, take away a great deal of experience running programs and cameras, and that this both benefits them personally as well as their employers. And Blanchard wholeheartedly agrees, being a living example of an adult that got his tech start as a kid in church.
Another important thing teens and kids take away from working on a church tech team is leadership skills. Doria finds, for instance, that her leadership skills have grown immensely. Leading has taught her how to talk more and how to lead with confidence. As Blanchard notes, it’s been amazing to see the way she has grown.
For Doria’s part, she sees one important aspect of her job as making the online services look good, and therefore, sparking people’s interest to come to church in person and grow closer to God.
Doria also notes that it is especially important in a post-COVID world to ensure that online services look as good as they do in person. She also shares that no matter how many people come to church, it is important to make things look good, and run smoothly. “When a service runs smoothly there are no distractions production-wise, and people attending church can just focus on God,” she says.
Teamwork and good works
Doria and many other teens in tech are helping create a church service and an online presence that draws people to the physical church, closer to God, and nearer to their communities.
She says to other kids in ministry, “If something sparks your interest, ask someone ... it’s important to ask questions to your leader.” And this remains true for church techs of any age.
In this vein, Blanchard stresses how important it is to be aware, to ask questions, and ask where you can help.
Being open to teens and kids in ministry is beneficial on many levels, but also it echoes the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 19:14: Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those such as these.”
The young people in your church belong to Jesus, and being open to their interest in tech ministry helps everyone. This is for the Kingdom of God!
