This is the scenario for most production team volunteers in the local church around the world–this is just a snapshot of the lives that God uses to support His church and of people who continue to give of their time sacrificially. How do you find people to join in this endeavor? Once they’ve joined, how do you go about training them?
Finding Key Players
Volunteers are the glue to the local church. Without them, things just don’t happen. It’s important to build a team of volunteers that are committed and possess the necessary skill set to accomplish the production elements of a church service. By creating this team, you’re saving the money your church would otherwise have to spend hiring freelancers, and you’re also bringing people into the fold and giving them ownership of a significant role in the way the church works. The more ownership they have, the more passion they’ll throw into making your weekly services happen.
Finding volunteers can be difficult, however — along the lines of finding a needle in a haystack. Churches have various ways of finding willing people. I’ve known churches that hold a “Volunteer Fair”, creating an environment similar to the college fair we were all exposed to in high school, except that there’s no pressure to launch yourself into debt for 5-6 years. At this volunteer fair event, the various ministries of the church will create booths that showcase the serving opportunity they have and congregation members are encouraged to investigate each booth and eventually sign-up to serve.
Every now and then, typically in the smaller ministries such as the middle school or high school group, we’ll make an announcement during the service or create a graphic that appears before the service that communicates the need for volunteers. When using a live announcement, try to spice it up a little by inviting one of your existing volunteers on stage with you to share how volunteering on the production team has been impactful. Remember though, there’s a reason why tech folks are behind-the-scenes. Most of us are shy and hesitant to get in front of an audience. Try turning the announcement into more of an interview, using chairs or stools to bring the comfort level up a bit. Even go so far as to rehearse the verbal exchange so they don’t get stuck in the moment. Don’t rehearse it so that the “heart” is removed but just enough so they feel more comfortable.
Friends Inviting Friends
Friends inviting friends seems to be the best way to get new people as your existing volunteers can share all that goes into serving, better than any graphic or announcement. When your team is getting low on volunteers or you’re starting something new, tell your existing volunteers first as they already have ownership in what you’re doing. There are times when we don’t want to over-extend our volunteers by asking them to do yet another thing. This would not be one of those times. It’s pretty easy for them to have it in the back of their mind when talking to friends and to get the word out in a very personal, one-on-one environment. (Shameless Plug: If you currently attend a church and aren’t serving in any ministry, I’m sure they’d welcome your time to help things run more smoothly!)
Okay, you’ve gotten the word out and you have some people that are willing to join but they don’t have any previous experience. Now what do you do? It’s not disrespectful to the volunteer to make sure they are plugged into the right serving opportunity. Here at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, we firmly believe that not everyone is suited for every volunteer opportunity. For instance, not everyone enjoys spending a few hours with 10 crying babies and you know what, that’s completely OK. Same applies to production: not everyone has the eye for lighting or the eye to frame a camera shot in a fast-paced environment. It’s at that point that we have to make a decision. Do we keep someone in a position that they’re just not getting the hang of or do we find another opportunity that is more to their strengths and allow them to flourish? I personally would choose the latter.
Getting Them Acclimated
When we have a new person express an interest in volunteering as a lighting designer, there’s a process we put them through. The first step of the process is to have them shadow an existing lighting volunteer so they can see what all is involved, get an idea of the culture of the team and make sure it’s something they’re truly interested in. Once we’ve confirmed that, we determine where their skill level is. Some volunteers come to us with previous lighting knowledge and it’s just a matter of getting them up-to-speed on our specific console and our style of lighting. If they have no previous experience, then we start a several month process of teaching them lighting theory and some programming basics. At Willow, we are actually in the process of pulling from several existing training resources and creating a curriculum that will be used across the organization to make sure all of our lighting volunteers are getting the same information, no matter who teaches them.
For a volunteer who knows nothing about lighting, we may also start them off in one of our smaller venues to get the foundation in place before handing them the keys to the larger system. When purchasing lighting gear, make sure you’re thinking of the future and scalability. Purchase lighting fixtures that you’ll be able to afford to place across your campus, in both your main meeting space as well as your children’s rooms, even if it’s a few years down the road. Also decide on a console manufacturer that has various sizes of their console. For instance, in our main auditorium, we have the full-size console from MA Lighting. In our children’s venues, we’ve placed the smallest console option from MA Lighting so everyone on the campus is learning the exact same console. This will help in the long run. As the volunteers in the children’s area graduate through the church they will already have experience on the console. Its better to spend a little extra money to stick with the same console manufacturer, because you’re investing in the future of your volunteer program. Another benefit is when a younger volunteer needs assistance, you can call on your experienced volunteers to help out without them having to spend the time to learn another console.
Offering Guidance
Once a volunteer has the basics down and he or she ready to be unleashed on their own, my job isn’t done. A normal weekend goes like this: At around 5 p.m., the volunteer arrives at the church to begin programming and will leave around 10 p.m. or midnight, depending on the complexity of the service and how efficient they are at programming. When Saturday morning rolls around, they’re back in the chair around 9 a.m. to put the finishing touches on their design. I arrive at 11 a.m., and we proceed to spend the next hour doing a cue-to-cue where I’m speaking into their programming and giving feedback. At Willow, we have to light for not only the live experience in the room but also for the camera, since most of the room watches the I-MAG screens. This is not a difficult task, but something that I watch for as I’m sitting down with the volunteer. To me, doing the cue-to-cue at this point in the day is incredibly important. It allows me to give feedback before we’ve entered into rehearsals for the weekend service, which can sometimes get stressful and escalate in pace. It sets the volunteer up to succeed instead of fail.
“Having been serving at Willow Creek for 20 years now, and having been through many changes, I think adding a lighting coach was a real ‘game changer’ in serving as a volunteer,” says Steve Shoup, one of the Willow Creek lighting volunteers. “Prior to having the lighting coach, the majority of the criticism that I would receive would be from other volunteer LDs, and sometimes from the TD. The problem with this criticism was it was after the fact, or in the heat of the moment. With the lighting coach, now things are discussed ahead of time in a low-key environment. This low-key presentation and discussion makes for a great learning environment and since the coach has been implemented, I have expanded my lighting knowledge and capabilities dramatically.”
Finding and training volunteers takes a lot of effort. But once you have them on the team, make sure you place effort in keeping them, honoring and showing appreciation in a way that strikes a chord with them. Learn what makes them tick through building relationships and taking the time to listen. Build time into your training events to also invest in their lives. Don’t abuse them. After all, God has placed them in your church for a reason and it’s not to serve you, it’s to serve Him.
Chris Thomas is the lighting director at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. He has also toured and worked in the entertainment industry while at VLPS Nashville (now part of PRG).
