No Hiding
8 Comments Published by Camron Ware - Visual Worshiper January 19th, 2009 in Visual WorshipIf you operate some kind of button-covered piece of gear for a worship service; how often do you leave that tech area/booth/room and actually go out and worship?
I’m always reminded by my former youth pastor that the tech booth is not to be hidden behind. I love being in a time of worship with fellow Christians and running lights or visuals, and being able to step away from the console or computer, and worship. My heart and mind shift from being responsible from hitting buttons, to worshiping God.
Obviously one way to do this is to take a Sunday off, but if you’re like me, you would probably have to close your eyes and ears so you aren’t critiquing everything. And if you do that…you’re probably missing something during the worship music. I’ve tried to do this when working at a church, (take a Sunday off from running things and sit in the seats) and for some reason I couldn’t truly worship.
It’s interesting; lately during the responsive worship on the Planet Wisdom tour, I like to just step away from the lighting console, and worship with the people around me. I’ll set the appropriate look, and just walk into the crowd for the whole worship set.
Somehow, every time, I feel more engaged than if I wasn’t doing lights at all. I worship visually – and if I don’t have a hand in crafting some part of the visual worship; I’m distracted. I notice every little thing. Maybe it’s just me being human and wanting it “my way”, but I’m sure it happens to everyone in our field.
It’s hard to explain; but if you struggle with critiquing when not having any say in the visuals/audio, try stepping out for a minute or two during a song, and worshiping with those around you.
I’m right there with you. I can BARELY step away even after I’ve created looks that I know will be great for an entire set.
Not being able to worship while working gets so bad sometimes that I will step into another local church and enjoy a Sunday night. It’s amazing how much you can worship when you’re somewhere you are unable to program and control everything
I think part of every techs problem is that we have ADHD and have to have something shiny and distracting around stimulating us!
I can not agree more. At my church, if I am not running the sound, I still feel like I need to sneak back to the booth and tweak a few things. And if the easyworship runner starts to slip, I might as well have stayed home. Unlike what you posted, I seem to get more out of the service when I am “forced” to pay attention and follow along so that I can pull up verses as needed.
Camron,
You’ve touched on something that I was talking to my wife about this weekend. I did take the sunday off but unfortunately I noticed everything that I didn’t like or didn’t go right. I almost think that if I want to go to a worship service and not be distracted by what is going on I need to go a different church. But then I look around and see what others are doing to see if it something I can do it my church. Anyway thank you for bringing this up.
Nate wrote what I was thinking. And all the best on the new adventure!
I’ll chime in from a worship leaders prospective. My first reaction is that leaving the booth is a terrible idea. There have been some times that there are missed cues, muted mic’s, etc., and this can happen;
1. Because of distractions in or just outside the booth.
2. The sound guy steps outside the booth to stand with the congregation sing along.
3. People in the booth that shouldn’t be there distracting those who are trying to focus on the service.
Although I think experiencing fellowship and worship first hand is absolutely essential, I think if you walk out of the booth or step away from the controls for a bit, you may not be ready for that impromptu song chorus, or the mic that’s feeding back, etc.. I truly believe that those taking on the technical, behind the scenes roles, and doing them the best that they can, is a form of worship in itself. There is still a need for worship outside of that medium though, but there lies the problem with getting easily distracted and critiquing, etc..
Which kinda brings us back to the question…
Practically speaking, I think it’s extremely healthy to have a solid schedule rotation. This can obviously be challenging with smaller churches due to a lack of resources, but I think that you can find someone to train and get involved if you looked hard enough. I schedule the sound and lighting / words tech’s and always try to keep a constant rotation to give people breaks to participate in church as part of the congregation. Also, feeling like you need to go and make some changes in the mix that someone else is running, may be a sign that there needs to be a trust and cohesiveness among the tech team. You should have trust that they are doing the best job given the band they are working with and situation / room at hand.
With all this being said, as a worship leader, I also find it very hard to enter into a place of worship when I’m not leading. Doesn’t matter whether that’s at my church or another church. I CAN say, however, that the best worship experiences for me have been the when it’s been most simplest, broken down sets. One guy on an acoustic just singing songs. No fancy lights, no fancy drum fills. Just simplicity. It allows me to really focus on God and the meaning each word and phrase. Nothing to get distracted by.
Good thoughts — definitely something I have struggled with for the past year and a half. I started teching two summers ago and now have progressed into the lead designer/lighting director and it is nearly impossible for me to worship outside of teching. Something about volunteering my lighting knowledge and pushing the buttons, changing moods for those in the congregation is worship in itself for me
Hard though to transition out of that role when there are a lack of volunteers to step in though… That’s my problem right now because I think I’ve accepted the 80% rule — volunteers or others can only accomplish 80% of what you want them to do so when the get to that point, be happy with it and rejoice
Don’t nit-pick everything to death because that will only drive you nuts.
Like your blog and thoughts though — subscribing to keep in touch here
Blessings!
ER
Great blog and great thoughts by those responding. I am not on staff at my church, but am on the audio and lighting schedules. Also I am often the person looked to to fill in for those that dont show up (happens way too often and I know sometimes they inform the worship pastor but not always) for camera, switching or projection. I find that when I am in the service I am overly aware of what is going on with the technical side of the service. It doesn’t change when I go to another church as my long suffering wife can attest. I will go looking for the FOH to check it out and talk to the techs before or after the service, and be taking not of the good and bad during the service. For me it becomes a self-discipline thing where I need to make a decision to focus on God and not on what is going on around me. Not an easy thing to do and I dont know that I am very successful most of the time.
I agree with what you have said, but I truly feel more in tune with God when I am in the booth. I feel that I am using my God-given talents to worship God in my own way. I definitely don’t get the same feeling by sitting in the congregation. Just my 2 cents.