A Taste of Technical Arts 

By Audra Simenson, with additional contributions from Technical Arts Team members

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes on a Sunday morning? As a member of the Technical Arts Ministry Team, I can give you a glance into our little corner.

It all begins about a year in advance. Pastor Dan is busy scheduling worship teams, choir, brass, orchestra, Hallelujah! Kids Choir, FreeZone worship team, drama productions, Christmas and Easter events, and a whole host of other things about which we don’t even have to think. Factor in weather and other unforeseen happenings, and you have a schedule that is set in (flexible) stone!

Fast forward…it’s Wednesday around 7:30 p.m., the technical team is setting up, the instruments are tuning, the sound guys are busy running around getting last-minute things set up and sound checks made, and the projectionist is finalizing slides. Pastor Dan has everything planned for us and all we need to do are the little tweaks, comparatively speaking.

Around 8 p.m., everyone comes together and we start! We get to praise God with song and music for the next couple of hours. It is absolutely wonderful. It’s a great mid-week lift for the spirit. It is a time of friendships and laughter, ministry and music, praise and prayer. It’s a time to connect with our loving Father along with a few others from our congregation.

Around 7 a.m. Sunday morning, we are back “tuning up” and handling final details for the service. After some final checks and run-throughs, and it’s time to worship!

One challenge a team member mentioned was “being on top of everything when the service has a lot going on.” However, this team member also said that the most rewarding part is when “no one really notices you and what you did.”

I must say, I agree with that statement. If no one notices me and what I did, it means my timing on the slides was good and nothing distracted from the flow of the service, as can happen. Also, as a projectionist, the most difficult thing for me is determining what background would go best for a particular song. Even though so much work has already been done in getting backgrounds for the songs already saved in our computer system, you never know what “color” mood I’m in when Wednesday night comes along! The saved backgrounds are usually perfect for the song, however, and no change is needed at all.

Do you have a heart for serving? Would you like to serve “behind the scenes?” If you can say “yes” to either one of those, please see someone from the team or Pastor Dan. We would love the opportunity to speak with you and answer any questions you have. If you can’t say “yes” to one of those questions, what is your biggest fear? Is it that the sound board is the size of your child’s bed? Is it the possibility that finding the “on” button is a challenge, let alone putting a slide show together?

Have no fear! Each one of us has been there. Not one of us has had to go through a 4 year college education and then on to 2 years of apprenticeship in order to run the sound board. The sound guys will even tell you that it’s easier than it looks! Even with projection, if you know how to use a mouse and a keyboard, you’ve got the hard part done (the “on” button is clearly marked already)!

Fast forward again . . . can you feel God tugging at your heart to serve in some way? Do you want to give it a try? Just come see what goes on back there in our booth on a Wednesday night or a Sunday morning. Maybe you have done sound productions before and can give a few tips to make our job easier. Maybe you know a shortcut way to do projection. We’re always looking for ways to streamline, make the sound better, or make the slides easier to read. Maybe you’re just new and curious. Please contact Pastor Dan, our team leader Joel Minchinton, or any one of us. We’d love to speak with you!