When it comes to the technical arts of church production there are always a lot of moving parts, a lot of people to coordinate with, and a lot of tasks to accomplish. Most of us find that at any given time during a weekend we are likely wearing a number of different hats. It’s not uncommon for us to be systems engineers, mixers, designers, leaders, encouragers, ministers, or even some combination thereof—and to be doing so all at once. But do we take the time to think about what it means to be in those roles? More importantly, do we take ownership of them?
It’s not uncommon for us to be systems engineers, mixers, designers, leaders, encouragers, ministers, or even some combination thereof—and to be doing so all at once.
In this case, let’s talk about the role of minister. Some of you are likely in a formal ministerial role, whether it be a worship minister, a teaching minister, or some other recognized position within your organization. But I might suggest that all of us, even those who are "just" engineers, whether it be for mix, lighting, or broadcast, have a ministerial role to fulfill somewhere when we are serving. While your first inclination might be about tending to those who are also on the production team through leadership and caring, I would suggest considering yourself to be in that role for a broader group, one that we are specifically and uniquely empowered to care for: those that we are serving on the platform.
In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul paints a beautiful picture of the body of Christ where it is made up of many parts, each with a different role, bound together by Christ and working together to fulfill His calling. One of the most beautiful aspects of this picture is what it says about those members of the body that are weaker:
“21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” 22On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, 23and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,” - 1 Corinthians 12:21-13
Enter the minister
Let me ask you this: How many times have you served when someone who was part of the presentation was struggling? Whether it be a singer who is having pitch issues or a presenter whose choice of attire left few flattering shots, likely all of us have encountered a situation where doing our normal job would have brought an audience to someone else’s weakness. I suggest that this is where we get to make a choice between ministering to people and simply being a tech.
Our ability to cover, support, and minister to one another is a foundational component that makes the Church body strong, healthy, and effective.
One approach to take with these types of situations is to move forward without any accommodation on our part—and to not get involved beyond our responsibly of including them in the production as we would anyone else. Now honestly, while this might seem a bit inhumane to just leave them out there as they are, it can sometimes be tempting from the perspective that someone (presumably in a leadership role) created this situation and we may not feel empowered to intervene. It’s easy to think "there must be a reason for this so who am I to get involved," right? But the issue with this is that it doesn’t sound like clothing someone with honor or dignity. It sounds more like hanging them out to dry. It also doesn’t acknowledge the possibility that you may have a perspective that had yet to be seen.
Another approach to take could be to simply hide them. We could bury that person in the mix, cut them out of the shots, dim their lighting, or otherwise work around them as if their contribution was neither important to God or those that they are trying to serve. In reality, I would be surprised if we all haven’t done this to some extent, whether we want to admit it or not. And while it may feel like we created some cover for the situation, throwing their participation away doesn’t seem to align with the essentialness of such a member (v 22).
So, what are we to do? It can sometimes feel like being between a rock and a hard place and if these are the only alternatives that we give ourselves then I would agree. But maybe the true issue here is that both ends of this spectrum represent decisions that alleviate our responsibility of ministering to those who are having a rough go of it. If we choose to press on unchanged or if we choose to just "turn them off" we have gone with the easy way out and not taken the opportunity to hold those people up.
Lifting others up
The important thing to keep in mind is that handling these types of situations demands us to get involved to the point that we respond with the perspective of a minister and not simply that of a tech. The question to ask is what can be done to shepherd them through this moment that is both encouraging and honoring to them while also providing them cover from the issue at hand. Whatever the answer, that will likely be a better course of action to take.
No matter what we do though, our responsibility is to do something that provides honor and dignity towards all of those involved without simply discarding them as an unnecessary element.
From a mechanical perspective there are likely many things we could do. Maybe we just duck the faders during pitchy moments, create some new shots, provide verbal encouragement, fix issues that are causing them difficulties (i.e., bad IEM mix), or maybe we work with production leaders to find alternatives. No matter what we do though, our responsibility is to do something that provides honor and dignity towards all of those involved without simply discarding them as an unnecessary element.
And to keep it real, it’s worth noting that at some point while serving all of us have been the weaker member and will likely be so again in the future. Our ability to cover, support, and minister to one another is a foundational component that makes the Church body strong, healthy, and effective. It’s the vision that Paul put forth for us and it's one that we should hold to, especially when we are empowered to do so.
