Today, I worked in the media booth of our local church. This was the first time in several years that I have been the guy sending Scriptures and media to the projection screen. I have been in a managerial role for many years in church media and have not worked in some of these integral roles on a weekly basis. I was reminded that being involved in the routine church media tasks is not only somewhat stressful (everyone will see your mistakes on large screens), but also taxing on a worker’s spiritual connection with the worship and the Word of God.
For those who get to experience inspiring and anointed preaching with no task other than being a hearer, it’s easy to be moved to a faith response to God. However, media team members are actively engaged throughout the services, and typically a wall or glass barrier is between them and the ministry going on from the stage. The response dynamic is sharply different between a media team worker and a member sitting in the audience. Media workers are usually not as engaged in the services as a normal attendee. This presents a problem.
We all need nourishment from the Word of God no matter where we are positioned in the church. It’s imperative that each person in the media team make a conscious decision to be engaged in the worship and the preaching, and not be consumed completely by the tasks they are assigned. A continual disengagement from the preaching of the Word can mean spiritual malnutrition. If your media team is small, the negative effects of this can be even greater. I have seen strong followers of Christ brought to a place of spiritual stagnation serving in routine duties the church. Duties can easily become priority over relationship with Christ. Excellence is important, but not at the expense of the growth and maturity of the media team members.
The longer team members are disengaged from what’s happening in the service, the more exposure they have to bitterness and resentment toward the ministry of the Word. Their service is not producing growth or fulfillment and frustration ensues. We understand fulfillment comes through our interaction and relationship to Christ. It is vitally important that team leaders to not only care about the tasks needing to be accomplished, but also the spiritual atmosphere of the media room as well. Here are a few tips I’ve come up with to help guide leaders.
- Make sure your schedule accommodates team members to attend multiple services on a monthly basis. If your media team is not large enough to do so, start a training program to gain new team members. If your church is small and there isn’t anyone to volunteer, taper your media ministry down so it doesn’t burn out your team members.
- Build a relationship with each of your team members and communicate with them about their spiritual growth.
- Set the atmosphere in the media room. Pray before services as a team. Set a monthly prayer meeting with the team on a weeknight to pray for the ministry and those who need to come to Christ.
- Create guidelines in the media room that foster order and reverence for worship and the ministry of the Word. This should include some/all of the following:
- No eating/drinking during services
- Only essential staff in the room during services
- No surfing Internet sites during down times
- No personal conversations during services, this includes texting/mobile chatting
- Work with the pastor and worship leader to plan services so that your media team can respond to the Word through prayer and worship outside of the booth. This might mean a stationary image on the screens during this time, or no video recording during altar service.
- All team members should have a salvation experience.
- If you identify a spiritual need or malnourishment in a team member, allow them to take a break and sit in the congregation during services. This means you also need to build a strong team that can fill in during these times.
- Make it a habit to frequently pray for your team members
These are just a few tips to help your team keep a balance of service to the church and their personal relationship to Christ. Above all, we are striving to get to Heaven, and the last thing we want to be a stumbling block to the spiritual growth of our team is our media program. Take stock today and take action to ensure you have a not only a skilled team but a spiritually strong team.
